Greg Chappell 112 v England ( Ashes 1977 )

[noddy27redbankrd]

what a masterclass from god chappell which is what queenslanders used to call him including thommo & dennis lillee said eat your heart out viv when he scored a 100 b4 lunch in christchurch on a greentop in 1982 against hadlee in his prime. i think he was the 1st captain to do this in test matches & still the only captain to score a 100 in each innings of his 1st test in that role.

[toby2011ism]

Can't imagine Greg Chappell in 20 20

[noddy27redbankrd]

@toby2011ism who classes 20/20 as real cricket because i don't.the pitches don't give any encouragement at all to the bowlers which is totally unfair.i think g.chappell would have adapted to 20/20 because he always found gaps through & over the field in most of his ODI matches & was a very useful medium pace bowler as well & arguably 1 of the best allround fieldsmen in the slips or out in the outfield ever seen.

[stellaviolens]

Fantastic to see classic BBC TM coverage. Lovely looking ground at OT then .

Wasn't Bob Willis fast back then and nasty too !

[DonOfTheWorldMall]

Record of Most runs in a series is with Greg Chappell : 686 runs in 1980/81 (Benson & Hedges World Series Cup)

[sweetnothing1977]

I don't understand why people keep saying GC was one of the best of his generation. He was one of the best batsmen of ALL TIME ! His record against the fisnest bowling attacks/bowlers is matched only by a select few. In contrast to the dime a dozen 50 plus averages of today, GC earned every bit of his. We are talking about technical AND statistical perfection here. All hail.

[ghabcdef]

One of the best ever players of real fast bowling, and a real gentleman (well, as much of a gentleman as an Aussie can ever be :) )

[CM13492]

I remember when people were comparing Harmison to Willis what a joke that would be now

[tain36]

If Richie Benaud reckons this was one of the greatest innings he ever saw then that's good enough for me.

Definitely one of the greatest I've seen, even though I was only nine at the time.

But I was there.

[nphanlon1973]

boy oh boy the fielding was crap back then

[alibombardment]

man these batsmen must have been so brave to be batting without helmets against these quick bowlers..

[whouster]

Greg Chappell certainly was the outstanding Aussie batsman of his generation. Like all great batsmen, could make batting look very easy.

[LivintiPak09]

what terrible fielding at times

[olebaj]

Bob Willis... my favorite

[adam872]

Just about the most technically correct batsman I've ever seen. He's mentioned far too infrequently in the discussion of great batsmen these days. Averaging what he did against the great bowlers he faced was no mean feat. Back then, over 50 was considered absolutely world class.

[TheSinnical]

i agree. I dont know why few people call Ponting as best batsman after The Don. Let alone 2nd best, he doesnt feature even in top 5.

2. Harvey 3. McCabe 4. Greg Chappell 5. Walters/Steve Waugh

[Imrankniazi]

I reckon Allan Border should be there on that list as well!

[thecrucifer]

Doug Walters? Not on the swinging wickets in England. Scoring runs in England is vital to be considered great. I am also a fan of Doug W. Alas his technique just was not up to par on the swinging wickets. He would murder you on a hard turf, though. Ian Chappel belongs there ahead of the genius from NSW. Curious: Why no Border on your list? I thought Allan was a magnificent batsman. Possibly better than all you have mentioned. A man for the crisis(Waugh second) more so than Greg. Cheers.

[TheSinnical]

yeah dude you are right. I didnt know about Walters' susceptibility towards swing. Border was as tough an Australian cricketer has ever been & his contributions in the troubled 80s are worth their weight in gold. But Greg Chappell remains supreme though.

[thecrucifer]

Greg was a handsome stroke maker. One of the all time greatest. I wonder if you can answer a question: I heard he was a very ruthless cricketer and captain. How true is this? Would you know?

[TheSinnical]

you bet he was. He started off well...handed WI a 5-1 mauling.(sounds kinda incredible considering WI team of 70s/80s) then joined the rebel Packer group. Came back & retained Ashes. But a definite low point, which shows he could go to any extent to win a game, was *THAT* underarm delivery incident in '81.

[TheSinnical]

Though after that, he had a mixed record..against a good PAK team, a capable IND team, retained Ashes (in reply to Botham's Ashes in '81) & a fierce WI team. But one thing about Greg, he never let his captaincy affect his huge talent as a batsman. He was relentless in pursuit of centuries: made against best attacks. Thats what set him apart. And ya, his elder brother, Ian, was probably a better (read:aggressive) captain, if not a better batsman.

[thecrucifer]

You certainly are up on Greg C. I also remember that he had a brilliant 'Super Tests" series in the West Indies. But as he got older in the early to mid eighties, he just could not handle the pace of Holding, Roberts and company. Thanks for the great info and I do agree that the bottom line is Greg was one of the best ever. Not as good as Viv (probably the best and most destructive I have seen - including Sachin, Lara and Ponting), I dare say. What say you on this?

[TheSinnical]

Yea ..he was super in the Super-tests too :). I guess it was then that the famed WI pace attack admitted that GC is the best batter they've bowled to. So (& otherwise too) i dont think he could have fared badly in his twilight years. in fact one of rarest record he holds is hittin a ton in first & last tests, so that proves he was professional till last. Well, there is a difference between being destructive &

being successfully so!. Afridi, for example is a below-par batsman in tests ...

[TheSinnical]

contd:

(of all such sloggers, Sehwag remains most astonishingly successful).All names you've taken have managed to marry destructiveness, elegance AND success, though wid little varying degrees. Viv was definitely more 'violent' & authoritative but you see, he averaged in 30s in last coupla years. i already talkd abt GC. Oh & anyway the best batsman debate: its almost endless ('cept the #1 spot!). And personally my 'Order of the Three' :) would be Lara->Sachin->Ponting. Separated by a whisker.

[thecrucifer]

Thanks for your thoughts. I respect your opinions though may not agree with all.

[TheSinnical]

No you have to agree else i will sue you! Just kiddin! Are you an Australian btw?

[thecrucifer]

Living in America, New York. Born in Guyana. I try to be as fair minded as possible. Some of my favorites (naturally not necessarily the best) are: Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers, Alvin Kallicharran, Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Roy Fredericks, Majid Khan, Doug Walters, Graeme Pollock. I like the entertainers. Stroke makers that make the game live.

[TheSinnical]

oh wow! darn good selection!! they were like most exhilarating cricketers of their times...crowd-pullers..mostly from 70s...& all the WI guys you mentioned are known for their typical carribbean flair.. (which is so woefully lacking now)... look for Kallicharan's onslaught against Lillee on youtube..its incredible....

& yes you are pretty balanced in your opinions, many people here on youtube just cross the line easily.You'd get lot of nice cricketing videos on my channel btw :)

[thecrucifer]

I will check out your channel. BTW where are you from?

[TheSinnical]

i m from India. Sachin's first Australian tour/92 Wcup are the earliest memories. So for 18 years i have been livin cricket, nothing has diminished my love for it; not even IPL. My top 10 cricketers (thats first sign of a fanatic, he'd always talk abt this): Flintoff/Dravid, Yunus, Donald, S Waugh, Tendulkar, McGrath, Akram, Ambrose, Lara & Warne. I am just praying for emergence of some good bowlers (frm anywhere & all paces) & implosion of 2020 cricket. Amen! :)

[grezzbop]

i agree

he's elegant, stylish. i bet non-cricket tragics born after 1974 have little idea who he was/is

[Imrankniazi]

Born in Dec 1986, I know that Greg Chappell was one of the finest ever. Along with Gavaskar, Rohan Kanhai, Richards, Doug Walters and Boycott from the 70s era.

[filoboy88]

holding, garner and marhall all said that chappell was the best australian batsman they ever bowled to.

[Dovelike]

Just watching Chappell he seems a technically perfect batsmen. Attractive to watch.

[alfaaston]

one of the most elegant batsmen of all time.

A great one to, in my top 10.

[hirdy6]

He was so good he was pretty to watch.

[timmytosser]

Everything looks so easy... the mark of a true genius

[Spiritualseeker2007]

What a batsman and what a cricketer one of the best ian his brother was also a top cricketer

[azkatro]

Those hook shots off Willis, I can't hit hook shots that well in my dreams.

[richardcwelsh]

I remember thinking this was the best innings I'd seen at the time. Is it really 30 years ago? What a player!

[z1010]

Australia's second greatest batsman after Sir Donald Bradman

[damo3805]

Agreed mate, It's a shame that Greg's most remembered for one moment of madness with the underarm incident rather than being a brilliant batsman. I idolised him as a kid.