Why cricket legend Greg Chappell needed a retirement benefit at 75

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For decades, Greg Chappell was the cricket legend who didn’t need a traditional benefit event.

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.

Rod Marsh, Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee during their last Test for Australia in 1984.Credit: Paul Matthews, Sydney Morning Herald archives

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.

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.

But Chappell also faced numerous business setbacks, including a major one that he is still reluctant to talk about.

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.

Greg Chappell the selector five years ago.Credit: Getty Images

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.

They also reaped much improved pay packets when the ACB ended the stranglehold of Kerry Packer’s PBL Marketing in 1994, replacing the “peace treaty” struck at the end of WSC with conventional, and increasingly lucrative, broadcast rights deals.

“Because they played in a slightly more professional era they had managers and people looking after their affairs,” Chappell, 75, told this masthead.

“Unfortunately I had a business setback a few years ago. I don’t 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.

“I really don’t enjoy the public side of it. It was my situation, I was dealing with it, it wasn’t 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.”

“The boys” were Canberra businessman Peter Maloney and former Essendon president David Evans, who talked Chappell into a benefit lunch at the MCG last Monday.

“One 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.”

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’Donnell and ACT Cricket’s chair Greg Boorer.

”[I said to him] ‘I take it that you’re not doing that well financially.’ … I bullied him into it,” Maloney said. “Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee retired at the same time, they took testimonials. He didn’t. He was pretty successful in business but had some major setbacks.

“One 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,” Maloney added.

Australian Cricketers’ Association boss Todd Greenberg said the current generation of stars was acutely aware of the financial hardship experienced by some of their forebears.

“Our players are very aware of the people – particularly those of Greg’s era – who dug the well to help them enjoy the benefits they do today. Not just aware, but incredibly grateful,” Greenberg said in a statement.

“Through 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.

“But stories like Greg’s 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’re able to provide.”

Greg Chappell in Test batting mode in 1982.Credit: Allsport UK

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.

“I declined a benefit years ago and Peter and David have mentioned before that they wanted to do something and I’ve declined before,” Chappell said. “But following my illness last year I haven’t been able to or felt like travelling a lot, so working has become less easy.

“So they said, ‘come on, this is a good time to do something, because your cash flow is going to be down’. I was confident I could work as much as I needed to and I was working plenty beforehand, but after the illness, I wasn’t up to travelling and I’m on a fairly strict diet, so it’s hard being away from home.

“Accepting invitations to do different things has become harder, so they wanted to make sure the discretionary income wasn’t reduced too much. It’s 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.”

Greg Chappell in a classic batting pose.Credit: Archives

Darshak Mehta, chair of The Chappell Foundation for homeless youth, echoed Maloney’s view that more needed to be done for past players.

“It 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,” he said.

“They 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.

“It’s great to see Greg’s 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.”

Famous family: Trevor Chappell, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell in 1979.Credit: Trevor Dallen

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.

“One of the reasons we did the lunch was to set it up as a blueprint which Cricket Australia could build on,” he said. “We need to look after them.”

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