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 In consultations with the then-president of the ACTU, Bob Hawke, he explored the possibility of unionising the players. Approached to lead an Australian team in World Series Cricket (WSC), a breakaway professional competition organised by Kerry Packer for Channel Nine, Chappell signed a three-year contract worth A$75,000 in 1976. His participation was, "fundamental to the credibility of the enterprise". Chappell devised the list of Australian players to be signed, and was involved in the organisation and marketing of WSC. His central role was the result of, "years of personal disaffection with cricket officialdom", in particular Don Bradman. Recently, Chappell wrote: