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For decades, Greg Chappell was the cricket legend who didn\u2019t need a traditional benefit event.<\/p>\n
He declined one at the end of his playing days. At the time, many could foresee a long and successful career in business, with the occasional dabble in cricket, whether as a selector or board director for the then Australian Cricket Board. Politics also beckoned for a time.<\/p>\n
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Rod Marsh, Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee during their last Test for Australia in 1984.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Paul Matthews, Sydney Morning Herald archives<\/cite><\/p>\n There were numerous commercial ventures, including an events company that managed the Twenty20 forerunner of Super Eights, among other things. There were Greg Chappell hats, a cricket centre, and a mentoring blueprint articulated in several books.<\/p>\n There were numerous forays into broadcasting and, from the time he coached Australia A in the 1994-95 World Series Cup, a series of high level mentoring roles with South Australia, India and then Cricket Australia between 2008 and 2019.<\/p>\n But Chappell also faced numerous business setbacks, including a major one that he is still reluctant to talk about.<\/p>\n He was, in many ways, emblematic of the first generation of Australian cricketers to draw a professional wage from the game – during and after the World Series Cricket revolution – but without the safety net of finances carefully managed for the many years afterwards.<\/p>\n Greg Chappell the selector five years ago.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n There is a gulf between the generations of Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, and those of merely a decade or so later. Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne were among the first group of Test match greats who had managers looking carefully at the next phase of life while they were still playing.<\/p>\n They also reaped much improved pay packets when the ACB ended the stranglehold of Kerry Packer\u2019s PBL Marketing in 1994, replacing the \u201cpeace treaty\u201d struck at the end of WSC with conventional, and increasingly lucrative, broadcast rights deals.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they played in a slightly more professional era they had managers and people looking after their affairs,\u201d Chappell, 75, told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately I had a business setback a few years ago. I don\u2019t need to go into details about it, but the opportunity cost went with that situation, the years of sorting out the finances just meant that not only did I not have much coming in, but there was nothing to invest.<\/p>\n \u201cI really don\u2019t enjoy the public side of it. It was my situation, I was dealing with it, it wasn\u2019t something that I wanted to make a big deal about. The boys wanted to do something, and it just seemed like a nice, quiet way of doing it. Very hard to keep anything quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe boys\u201d were Canberra businessman Peter Maloney and former Essendon president David Evans, who talked Chappell into a benefit lunch at the MCG last Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons I did this lunch and the reason Greg agreed to it is there is a whole heap of cricketers that are on the bones of their arse. There would be 10-15 of these guys, we all know their names, who are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n Hosted by former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and attended by his brothers Ian and Trevor, it raised about $250,000, while a GoFundMe page has raised $72,350 including donations by the likes of Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird, former Victoria captain Simon O\u2019Donnell and ACT Cricket\u2019s chair Greg Boorer.<\/p>\n \u201d[I said to him] \u2018I take it that you\u2019re not doing that well financially.\u2019 \u2026 I bullied him into it,\u201d Maloney said. \u201cRod Marsh and Dennis Lillee retired at the same time, they took testimonials. He didn\u2019t. He was pretty successful in business but had some major setbacks.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons I did this lunch and the reason Greg agreed to it is there is a whole heap of cricketers that are on the bones of their arse. There would be 10-15 of these guys, we all know their names, who are struggling,\u201d Maloney added.<\/p>\n Australian Cricketers\u2019 Association boss Todd Greenberg said the current generation of stars was acutely aware of the financial hardship experienced by some of their forebears.<\/p>\n \u201cOur players are very aware of the people \u2013 particularly those of Greg\u2019s era \u2013 who dug the well to help them enjoy the benefits they do today. Not just aware, but incredibly grateful,\u201d Greenberg said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough their share in revenue, our players currently support our past players through Health & Wellbeing Grants, medical support and emergency assistance, as well as programs that help keep our members connected to the game.<\/p>\n \u201cBut stories like Greg\u2019s are a pertinent reminder that the needs of those players who helped forge the path to professionalism are growing. Thankfully, the ACA is now in a position that provides us with the resources to soon announce an initiative that will significantly expand the assistance we\u2019re able to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n Greg Chappell in Test batting mode in 1982.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Allsport UK<\/cite><\/p>\n For Chappell, the impetus to accept also came from the onset of health issues last year, which made it difficult for him to continue a hectic schedule of travel for speaking engagements and consulting roles in business and cricket. Over this period, he and his wife Judy also relocated from Brisbane to Adelaide to be closer to family.<\/p>\n \u201cI declined a benefit years ago and Peter and David have mentioned before that they wanted to do something and I\u2019ve declined before,\u201d Chappell said. \u201cBut following my illness last year I haven\u2019t been able to or felt like travelling a lot, so working has become less easy.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they said, \u2018come on, this is a good time to do something, because your cash flow is going to be down\u2019. I was confident I could work as much as I needed to and I was working plenty beforehand, but after the illness, I wasn\u2019t up to travelling and I\u2019m on a fairly strict diet, so it\u2019s hard being away from home.<\/p>\n \u201cAccepting invitations to do different things has become harder, so they wanted to make sure the discretionary income wasn\u2019t reduced too much. It\u2019s not dire circumstances, but the discretionary income has dried up, and David and Peter wanted to address that, and it was very generous of them to want to put that effort in.\u201d<\/p>\n Greg Chappell in a classic batting pose.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Archives<\/cite><\/p>\n Darshak Mehta, chair of The Chappell Foundation for homeless youth, echoed Maloney\u2019s view that more needed to be done for past players.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is high time that Australian cricket and current Australian cricketers considered and worked towards assisting those who played for their country but were not privileged to be financially as secure as themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have, after all, benefited from the great goodwill and reputation Australian cricket as a brand has built up, thanks to their committed predecessors. Greg Chappell has selflessly given his time for decades to numerous altruistic causes. Alleviating youth homelessness is his passion and this year alone, The Chappell Foundation has distributed over $1m to keep kids off the streets.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to see Greg\u2019s friends, who are wonderful, generous people, rally around him and do something like this. I have nothing but admiration for them. Greg works tirelessly for charity and has been helping other people all his life. He has never taken anything in return. At The Chappell Foundation we are all volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n Famous family: Trevor Chappell, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell in 1979.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Trevor Dallen<\/cite><\/p>\n In parallel, Cricket Australia is building a heritage program for player recognition that will ultimately take on several forms. Maloney hopes the Chappell benefit, while 40 years delayed, can be a starting point for other past players.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons we did the lunch was to set it up as a blueprint which Cricket Australia could build on,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to look after them.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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