His record against the dominant side of his era is outstanding. His great batting display came in a series against the formidable West Indian side. The master batsmen had great battles with West Indian attack of unprecedented hostility.
Moreover, against the likes of Andy Roberts, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Joel-Garner-c67141, Michael Holding and Colin Croft he scored 621 runs at a remarkable average of 69 in 5 Super Test matches in the Caribbean, though they left no trace on record books as the matches were unauthorised.
Chappell knew that he was better than the most and he ensured that his talent doesn’t go wasted. The discipline and professionalism he imposed on himself was a severe one as he made sure that he is known by many as of the true professionals of the game.
As a result he became prolific and consistent.
Furthermore, his consistency can be seen through his statistics in 12 calendar years he played for Australia. Apart from one year, Chappell scored runs at an average of over 40. In 21 Test series, Chappell’s average dipped only five times below 40.
Chappell was a man for the big occasion. Throughout his brilliant Test career, he relished special occasions. Evidently, he cracked up a century in the first Test and later on, he score a remarkable 131-run innings at Lords, where no other player scored
a hundred.
In 1977-78 season, the master craftsman played for Kerry Packer. In World Series of cricket, Greg was the top run scorer as he mustered 1,415 runs at an average of 56.60 with five centuries.
Furthermore, when Chappell overtook the captaincy form his elder brother Ian, he celebrated it with a century in each innings and that too against the West Indian attack.
Captaincy brought the best out of his batting talent as he enjoyed the responsibility of leading the Australian side. As a captain, Chappell scored 4,209 runs at an average of 55.38 with 14 centuries and 19 fifties. He is only one of seven batsmen to score
over 4,000 Test runs as a captain.
Moreover, he led http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in 48 matches and registered 21 wins, including an emphatic 5-1 win over the mighty West Indians at home in 1975-76.
On the contrary, his limited overs captaincy will be remembered for that underarm incident in MCG, where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 required seven runs to win off just one ball and Greg ordered his brother Trevor Chappell to bowl an underarm delivery.
Australian cricket is about applying oneself on the crease, controlled aggression, coming at the opposition hard as there is no time for elegance, but Greg Chappell was an exception among his countrymen.
He achieved his feat with a mixture of tight defence, complete array of stroke play and a touch of arrogance. Chappell was one of the dazzling stroke makers of his time. Some of the Australian players will look effective and everybody will know as what to
expect from them.
On the other hand, with Chappell they knew that it will come and come through sheer class and brilliance. He was equally good in attacking the opposition bowlers as he was in defence. The master batsman will play 15 dot deliveries in a row and can easily
increase the scoring rate by smashing 25 runs of the next 15 balls. His first fifty might take 100 balls, but the next half century will take not more than 35 deliveries.
Greg Chappell was named in the all-time Australian Test eleven. Among his brothers he remains the best cricketer. He imparted his knowledge to the younger players of his time. He has been an influence on his brother Ian also as Ian’s Test average boosted
12 runs higher, when Greg joined him.
History will remember him not only as one of the greatest batsmen ever to grace the game of cricket, but also a brilliant slip fielder and a very astute captain. His achievements as a batsman will remain unparalleled in the history of cricket.
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