Australian cricket team in Australia in 1974–75 of out-and-out gamesmanship that made old pros like me wince. It was an open secret that he used to encourage his players to give a lot of verbal abuse to rival batsman when they were at the wicket in an attempt to break their concentration. Ian Chappell came from a South Australian cricket dynasty, his maternal grandfather Vic Richardson had been captain of Australia and his younger brothers Greg and Trevor Chappell also played for Australia. In the 1960s the young Ian Chappell had been noted as an aggressive batsman and gifted slip fielder who played for South Australia when
Ian Chappell the fourth Test at Leeds. "Wisden" lauded his play off the back foot and judged him the most difficult Australian batsman to dismiss. In a summer severely affected by rain, Australia drew the series and retained The Ashes. A string of big scores and a record number of catches during the 1968–69 season earned Chappell the Australian Cricketer of the Year award. Against the touring West Indies, Chappell hit 188 not out, 123, 117, 180 and 165 before the New Year. Two of these centuries came in the Test series, when Chappell's average for 548 runs was 68.50. Chappell was