It looks like Greg Chappell may have a regular newspaper column. He's also been quoted a fair bit recently by others. e.g. Green is the best young batting talent he's seen since Ponting ( https://magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.p ... 21#1999621 ).
His Dec. 11 article:
Hail to the King: How Virat Kohli became the best player in the world
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ha ... 56mnx.html
On Virat the leader:
"As captain of India, Kohli is tremendously influential. He is also under the most pressure. It cannot be underestimated how hard it must be to go out to bat with the hopes, aspirations and mood of a billion people, riding on your every performance.
The fact that Kohli champions Test cricket is a huge plus for a format under pressure for time and space in a crowded schedule.
...
If the captain of India is ambivalent towards Test cricket, some administrators would be happy for it to slide into ignominy, as they are seduced by the newer, shinier models.
An aspect of Test cricket that needs to be improved, he believes, is the preparation of more challenging wickets so as to increase the number of results."
This part on batting technique is interesting:
"As a batsman, Kohli is a ‘feel’ player. Heavy bats are not for him, he tells me. He relies on timing and precision more than muscle. His double-handed style is both powerful and freakish.
I am in awe of the way sub-continental batsmen generate power on slower wickets because of their two-handed style, similar to a hockey hit. Most Australian batsmen try to add power by the use of the bottom hand, but it is inefficient and, usually, ineffective on slow pitches."
Greg Chappell says...
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Brother Ian Chappell (before the Fourth Test):
"The SCG surface was the flattest of the pitches for the first three Tests, which adds to the perception that modern batsmen are better at power-hitting than surviving sustained spells of hostile bowling. In truth it is more likely that there are batsmen in each era more adept at survival than others; it's just there are currently fewer of them relatively because of the drastically changed landscape of the game.
...
The fragility of both teams' batting has contributed greatly to the enthralling nature of the series. A collapse seems never far from happening, and consequently neither team has been able to establish absolute authority."
(cricinfo)
[Ian does seem to buy the Myth of Smith. He obviously doesn't look at the stats carefully. The stats reveal an ugly story.]
"The SCG surface was the flattest of the pitches for the first three Tests, which adds to the perception that modern batsmen are better at power-hitting than surviving sustained spells of hostile bowling. In truth it is more likely that there are batsmen in each era more adept at survival than others; it's just there are currently fewer of them relatively because of the drastically changed landscape of the game.
...
The fragility of both teams' batting has contributed greatly to the enthralling nature of the series. A collapse seems never far from happening, and consequently neither team has been able to establish absolute authority."
(cricinfo)
[Ian does seem to buy the Myth of Smith. He obviously doesn't look at the stats carefully. The stats reveal an ugly story.]
Greg Chappell:
"The biggest mistake was playing the same four bowlers in every Test. For pacemen, playing four Tests in five weeks is akin to running four marathons in as many weeks. There were signs in Sydney that Mitchell Starc, in particular, was jaded.
However, when the team saw the colour of the Gabba pitch, alarm bells should have been ringing. This was never going to be the "Gabbatoir". It was more like a T20 pitch on day one, not the Gabba of old. How did they not see that?
...
I was taken aback, however, at the shrill response of the Australian media and various pundits. One would think the Indian victory was a surprise! The only surprise to me is that anyone can compete with India at all.
...
If Cricket Australia doesn’t realise what it takes to be competitive in Test cricket and our entire cricket administration does not change its attitude on where to invest in talent, we will be also-rans in no time.
...
I don’t blame Tim Paine and our bowlers for this defeat. The culpability lies fairly and squarely with the batsmen, who simply didn’t make enough runs on friendly wickets."
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/on ... 56w4d.html
"The biggest mistake was playing the same four bowlers in every Test. For pacemen, playing four Tests in five weeks is akin to running four marathons in as many weeks. There were signs in Sydney that Mitchell Starc, in particular, was jaded.
However, when the team saw the colour of the Gabba pitch, alarm bells should have been ringing. This was never going to be the "Gabbatoir". It was more like a T20 pitch on day one, not the Gabba of old. How did they not see that?
...
I was taken aback, however, at the shrill response of the Australian media and various pundits. One would think the Indian victory was a surprise! The only surprise to me is that anyone can compete with India at all.
...
If Cricket Australia doesn’t realise what it takes to be competitive in Test cricket and our entire cricket administration does not change its attitude on where to invest in talent, we will be also-rans in no time.
...
I don’t blame Tim Paine and our bowlers for this defeat. The culpability lies fairly and squarely with the batsmen, who simply didn’t make enough runs on friendly wickets."
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/on ... 56w4d.html
Greg Chappell:
The radical blueprint to reverse our Test decline
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/th ... 56zw2.html
"The biggest issue with our current program of games is that young batsmen are finding it extremely difficult to develop the solid batting foundations that can survive the close examination that Test match cricket provides.
If we continue at this rate, the danger is that we will find it increasingly hard to remain competitive in the longest format.
...
The big change occurred when T20 cricket was introduced into the equation. The first Big Bash League game was played at the WACA between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers on the 12th of January 2005. The sell-out crowd of 20,000 had no idea of the deleterious impact that occasion would have on the production of batsmen in this country over the next 16 years.
...
In that eight-week period, emerging players on the BBL lists are improving their hitting skills, but hardly enhancing their batting education. Defensive techniques in particular are often flawed. Building an innings or batting on sporting wickets for 100 overs has almost become an alien concept.
What I have seen regularly in the last 15 years is that emerging players begin the Sheffield Shield season well and, just as they are getting into their stride, the mid-season BBL break occurs. After the white-ball hiatus, many of them come back for the second half of the Shield season, but struggle to pick up where they left off, and the season finishes up as a lost opportunity."
The radical blueprint to reverse our Test decline
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/th ... 56zw2.html
"The biggest issue with our current program of games is that young batsmen are finding it extremely difficult to develop the solid batting foundations that can survive the close examination that Test match cricket provides.
If we continue at this rate, the danger is that we will find it increasingly hard to remain competitive in the longest format.
...
The big change occurred when T20 cricket was introduced into the equation. The first Big Bash League game was played at the WACA between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers on the 12th of January 2005. The sell-out crowd of 20,000 had no idea of the deleterious impact that occasion would have on the production of batsmen in this country over the next 16 years.
...
In that eight-week period, emerging players on the BBL lists are improving their hitting skills, but hardly enhancing their batting education. Defensive techniques in particular are often flawed. Building an innings or batting on sporting wickets for 100 overs has almost become an alien concept.
What I have seen regularly in the last 15 years is that emerging players begin the Sheffield Shield season well and, just as they are getting into their stride, the mid-season BBL break occurs. After the white-ball hiatus, many of them come back for the second half of the Shield season, but struggle to pick up where they left off, and the season finishes up as a lost opportunity."
Ian Chappell warns about the perils of Smith captaining again:
"There are a number of questions Cricket Australia has to answer before deciding who permanently inherits the captaincy from Paine. The first one probably won't be answered, on the basis that it could be incriminating. Why didn't Smith and David Warner receive the same punishment regarding their captaincy future?
Smith and Warner were guilty of the same crime - cheating. If anything, Smith's crime was greater...
...
Next question: will the players accept Smith as their leader bearing in mind his serious error of judgement the last time he was in charge?
The incorrect answer is, "He's served his punishment so the slate is now clean." That might pass in a court of law, but it doesn't work that way in a cricket dressing room. Respect is a cricket captain's greatest ally and without it, he's floundering.
The correct question is, will the players unconditionally accept Smith as their captain? I'd be surprised if the answer was a unanimous yes.
...
The dilemma CA faces is the lack of obvious candidates to take over when Paine decides to retire.
...
Those considerations could leave Smith as captain by default. This is not a good reason to put any player in charge - especially one whose credentials already involve a murky captaincy past."
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ian- ... ce-1258443
"There are a number of questions Cricket Australia has to answer before deciding who permanently inherits the captaincy from Paine. The first one probably won't be answered, on the basis that it could be incriminating. Why didn't Smith and David Warner receive the same punishment regarding their captaincy future?
Smith and Warner were guilty of the same crime - cheating. If anything, Smith's crime was greater...
...
Next question: will the players accept Smith as their leader bearing in mind his serious error of judgement the last time he was in charge?
The incorrect answer is, "He's served his punishment so the slate is now clean." That might pass in a court of law, but it doesn't work that way in a cricket dressing room. Respect is a cricket captain's greatest ally and without it, he's floundering.
The correct question is, will the players unconditionally accept Smith as their captain? I'd be surprised if the answer was a unanimous yes.
...
The dilemma CA faces is the lack of obvious candidates to take over when Paine decides to retire.
...
Those considerations could leave Smith as captain by default. This is not a good reason to put any player in charge - especially one whose credentials already involve a murky captaincy past."
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ian- ... ce-1258443
Greg:
Cleanskin Cummins can restore faith in Australian captaincy
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 59adk.html
"The fortunate thing is that in Pat Cummins, they have an excellent candidate, ready to go. I expect Cummins to be announced as the 47th Australian men’s Test captain. Like Paine before him, Cummins will be required to not merely lead the team but again rebuild faith in the role and Australian cricket.
Pat is extremely intelligent, an outstanding player and has an excellent cricket brain, so is ideal for the role. Besides, he is not lippy, preferring the bat and ball to do the talking. Naturally athletic, a terrific fielder with a rocket arm, I expect him to improve in leaps and bounds as a batter with the responsibility of captaincy. He is easily the world’s best No.8 batter currently, but capable of batting a notch higher.
...
Before Paine, it was also thought the role of wicketkeeper was onerous enough without the extra pressure and workload required of a captain. Hopefully, Paine (and briefly, Adam Gilchrist in 2004) has put that notion to bed. I have no doubt Cummins will do the same for the fast-bowling fraternity.
...
My biggest fear? The workload, which could preclude him playing a full, five-Test series, without a rest. So, it would be interesting to see who is appointed as his deputy."
["World's best No.8"?? Hmm... His batting has fallen off a cliff in Tests. But he worked out how to slog well in the IPL slogathons... Probably better than how to bowl well in slogathons!!]
Cleanskin Cummins can restore faith in Australian captaincy
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 59adk.html
"The fortunate thing is that in Pat Cummins, they have an excellent candidate, ready to go. I expect Cummins to be announced as the 47th Australian men’s Test captain. Like Paine before him, Cummins will be required to not merely lead the team but again rebuild faith in the role and Australian cricket.
Pat is extremely intelligent, an outstanding player and has an excellent cricket brain, so is ideal for the role. Besides, he is not lippy, preferring the bat and ball to do the talking. Naturally athletic, a terrific fielder with a rocket arm, I expect him to improve in leaps and bounds as a batter with the responsibility of captaincy. He is easily the world’s best No.8 batter currently, but capable of batting a notch higher.
...
Before Paine, it was also thought the role of wicketkeeper was onerous enough without the extra pressure and workload required of a captain. Hopefully, Paine (and briefly, Adam Gilchrist in 2004) has put that notion to bed. I have no doubt Cummins will do the same for the fast-bowling fraternity.
...
My biggest fear? The workload, which could preclude him playing a full, five-Test series, without a rest. So, it would be interesting to see who is appointed as his deputy."
["World's best No.8"?? Hmm... His batting has fallen off a cliff in Tests. But he worked out how to slog well in the IPL slogathons... Probably better than how to bowl well in slogathons!!]
Ian:
T20 has gone too far in the direction of entertainment
When bowlers are reduced to deliberately bowling wide and wickets come off batters' errors, you know the balance isn't right
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ian- ... nt-1290212
"[Australia] also had the good fortune to win the toss when it really mattered, in a tournament where the major matches too often became a "win the coin flip, win the game" event.
That was one of the major flaws in a tournament that achieved quite a lot of success.
...
To make it even more popular than it is, tournaments have to include a way to ensure the game doesn't become a matter of winning the toss.
...
There seem to be two widely diverging views on T20 cricket. There is the long-term cricket fan's fear that the game will become an all-power event that favours muscle-bound six-hitting batters in matches of the sort that are too often won by the chasing team. Then there is the opinion of the not-so-discerning fan, who is unworried by the seeming lack of contest between bat and ball and can't get enough of the mammoth six-hitting.
...
It is fine when middled deliveries finish up in the stands but a bowler should be extremely angry if a blatant mis-hit still clears the ropes. ... I'm not sure what genius produced the ludicrous mixture of better bats and smaller boundaries. This combination is reducing bowlers to virtual bowling machines."
T20 has gone too far in the direction of entertainment
When bowlers are reduced to deliberately bowling wide and wickets come off batters' errors, you know the balance isn't right
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ian- ... nt-1290212
"[Australia] also had the good fortune to win the toss when it really mattered, in a tournament where the major matches too often became a "win the coin flip, win the game" event.
That was one of the major flaws in a tournament that achieved quite a lot of success.
...
To make it even more popular than it is, tournaments have to include a way to ensure the game doesn't become a matter of winning the toss.
...
There seem to be two widely diverging views on T20 cricket. There is the long-term cricket fan's fear that the game will become an all-power event that favours muscle-bound six-hitting batters in matches of the sort that are too often won by the chasing team. Then there is the opinion of the not-so-discerning fan, who is unworried by the seeming lack of contest between bat and ball and can't get enough of the mammoth six-hitting.
...
It is fine when middled deliveries finish up in the stands but a bowler should be extremely angry if a blatant mis-hit still clears the ropes. ... I'm not sure what genius produced the ludicrous mixture of better bats and smaller boundaries. This combination is reducing bowlers to virtual bowling machines."
Greg:
Why CA missed mark by making Smith vice-captain
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/wh ... 59cfl.html
"Cricket Australia has thrown [Paine] under the bus and there is speculation he could soon be joined by two serving CA directors, John Harnden and Michelle Tredenick, who were on the board in 2018 when Paine was initially investigated.
...
The woes of skipper Joe Root, who was in the limelight after his former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq made explosive allegations of institutional racism, have been overshadowed. Australia’s cricket administration is in disarray; its former captain probably won’t even play in the series (if again at Test level), a green captain has been appointed, a new wicketkeeper needs to be chosen and now the teams will play in England-like atmospheric conditions (the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted that eastern Australia will likely have a wet La Nina summer).
If, after these providential breaks, England don’t win the Ashes, they should be extremely disappointed.
...
Having stood alongside my brother at slip during his captaincy, and being vice-captain for some of his tenure, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the job entailed.
My first misapprehension was I was convinced the Australian captain needed to be an amateur psychologist. I soon realised that amateur was not good enough; they had to be fully fledged.
...
Spinners were often the “mad scientists” of the group and required a different manual altogether. Batters and wicketkeepers were easy by comparison. Keepers often make the best deputies in a cricket team because they are in the middle of the action and usually have their finger on the pulse of a game better than most. In Rod Marsh, I had one of the best.
I captained Australia before and after World Series Cricket and was surprised by how much the job description changed in the two years between stints.
...
I would have named Marnus Labuschagne as Cummins’ deputy, while Smith’s significant cricket knowledge was still available when needed. As a senior player, Smith would have participated in most discussions anyway. Labuschagne would have benefited immensely from listening to Smith’s thoughts and ideas in real time.
As the vice-captain, Smith is now likely to have those conversations only with Cummins, so Labuschagne will miss out on an important aspect of his leadership development.
...
I am deeply saddened at how Paine has been abandoned and virtually hounded out of cricket.
It is an opportune time for us to evoke the sagacious words of Mahatma Gandhi: “No human being is so bad as to be beyond redemption”."
[Gandhi, Greg??
]
Why CA missed mark by making Smith vice-captain
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/wh ... 59cfl.html
"Cricket Australia has thrown [Paine] under the bus and there is speculation he could soon be joined by two serving CA directors, John Harnden and Michelle Tredenick, who were on the board in 2018 when Paine was initially investigated.
...
The woes of skipper Joe Root, who was in the limelight after his former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq made explosive allegations of institutional racism, have been overshadowed. Australia’s cricket administration is in disarray; its former captain probably won’t even play in the series (if again at Test level), a green captain has been appointed, a new wicketkeeper needs to be chosen and now the teams will play in England-like atmospheric conditions (the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted that eastern Australia will likely have a wet La Nina summer).
If, after these providential breaks, England don’t win the Ashes, they should be extremely disappointed.
...
Having stood alongside my brother at slip during his captaincy, and being vice-captain for some of his tenure, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the job entailed.
My first misapprehension was I was convinced the Australian captain needed to be an amateur psychologist. I soon realised that amateur was not good enough; they had to be fully fledged.
...
Spinners were often the “mad scientists” of the group and required a different manual altogether. Batters and wicketkeepers were easy by comparison. Keepers often make the best deputies in a cricket team because they are in the middle of the action and usually have their finger on the pulse of a game better than most. In Rod Marsh, I had one of the best.
I captained Australia before and after World Series Cricket and was surprised by how much the job description changed in the two years between stints.
...
I would have named Marnus Labuschagne as Cummins’ deputy, while Smith’s significant cricket knowledge was still available when needed. As a senior player, Smith would have participated in most discussions anyway. Labuschagne would have benefited immensely from listening to Smith’s thoughts and ideas in real time.
As the vice-captain, Smith is now likely to have those conversations only with Cummins, so Labuschagne will miss out on an important aspect of his leadership development.
...
I am deeply saddened at how Paine has been abandoned and virtually hounded out of cricket.
It is an opportune time for us to evoke the sagacious words of Mahatma Gandhi: “No human being is so bad as to be beyond redemption”."
[Gandhi, Greg??
]