‘Greg was always in a no-win situation with India coach job’

Trevor Chappell, 72, has come a long way since he was ordered to bowl an underarm delivery by his brother Greg to prevent New Zealand’s Brian McKechnie from hitting a six that would tie a triangular series game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1980-81. 

He became a Test player for the 1981 Ashes series, 1983 World Cup centurion, fielding coach of Sri Lanka, head coach of Bangladesh and coach of the Singapore national team. The youngest of the Chappell brothers is on a brief visit to the city and is happy to soak in Mumbai’s cricketing ecosystem and visit some 
fascinating places.

Edited excerpts from an interview.

What brings you to Mumbai?
I haven’t been to India that much. I have been to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai with Greg [Chappell] and Dennis Lillee for a brief period and spent a few days with the Singapore team that I was coaching, in Bangalore. But it’s my first time 
in Mumbai.

Greg Chappell. Pic/AFP

Did you know Ian played at this ground [Brabourne Stadium]?
Yes. I do remember reading or maybe listening to the radio as a teenager about the riot that happened here 
[in the 1969-70 India v Australia Test]. 
 
Greg had a stint here as coach of India. It was not a very happy one. What did you make of it?
Having coached Bangladesh as an overseas head coach, I knew it was always difficult. I know there are different groups that push their favourite sons so to speak. So, there is going to be some resentment in certain areas — to any coach, but probably particularly towards an overseas coach. It was always going to be a difficult job for Greg. And from my point of view, I couldn’t see why he wanted to do it because I knew how difficult it was going to be. No matter how well you do, there will be some people who love you and a lot of others who wouldn’t. I was surprised Greg took it up. Having that Bangladesh experience at a much lower level, I thought it was going to be no-win situation for Greg. He’s a perfectionist. He wants people to do things and he wants it done. He is not going to accept half measures. He wants it done like he would like to do it. India has done very well actually and I think Greg probably contributed quite a lot to Indian cricket. 

Trevor Chappell indicates that he is the third Chappell brother to play for Australia in 1980. Pic/Getty Images

How much do you remember of your 110 against India in Trent Bridge during the 1983 World Cup?
A little. It was obviously a big moment for me. I hadn’t played the first two games. Australia played Zimbabwe and lost. Then we lost to the West Indies at Leeds, where Graeme Wood got injured. So, Graeme was out of the game against India at Nottingham and I got put in to open with Kepler [Wessels] and scored 
a hundred.

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You also played the next game against India at Chelmsford, where Australia lost. Did you see glimpses of India’s potential there?
Not really. Their bowling was steady with Kapil Dev leading the attack, but Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny had no outright pace. Everybody thought West Indies were going to win it the third time in a row, but India beat them in their opener and then 
the final. 

Trevor Chappell bowls an underarm delivery to New Zealand’s Brian McKechnie in a 1980-81 World Series Cup game at Melbourne on February 1, 1981. Pic/Getty Images

India played very well. When your approach is sort of casual, the pressure is on and it is pretty hard to get back in the game.
We may have beaten India at Trent Bridge but then they outplayed us at Chelmsford. And whoever won that game was going to qualify for that second spot in the group. So, it was an important game for Australia and India at that point. I don’t remember the scores, but I think India won fairly easily. 

Did you feel victimised in terms of selection at any time because you were a Chappell. Your two elder brothers spoke their mind…
Only once. I had shifted to Western Australia (WA) from South Australia (SA). WA won the Sheffield Shield by a country mile big mile in 1976-77. Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Bruce Laird and Robbie Langer signed World Series Cricket (WSC), so WA were down by four to five players and I didn’t get picked for WA. Dennis said to me, ‘bad luck about not getting picked, but I think something better might be on the horizon.’  I didn’t know what he meant, but a few days later, but when WSC needed more Australian players for the Country teams, they signed 16-17 players and I was one of those. So, getting back to the original question, I reckon because Ian and Greg had joined WSC, they [WA] said we are not having him [me for their 1977-78 season]. You are the first person I have mentioned this to; never said it before. I can’t prove it and none of those selectors are living, but that’s what I felt about leaving me out of Sheffield Shield cricket.

Are you still haunted by the underarm incident?
No. It still comes up regularly. I don’t know if I was ever haunted by it, but certainly not now. It is something I got along with.
 
You said in a documentary that when you call someone and introduce yourself, the person at the other end asks if you are the same Trevor Chappell of the underarm controversy, and you say, yes, yes…
Yes, that sort of happens quite a lot. Recently, I met some guys on my trip to Kerala and they asked me my name and then started talking about cricket. They didn’t mention the underarm. I was relieved, it was good. 

It’s funny. I was Sri Lanka’s fielding coach for the 1999 World Cup [in England]. We were playing a practice game at Taunton and nobody at that stage had mentioned the underarm, but Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] asked me about it. Obviously, all the other players were keen to find out. I don’t mind talking about it, but it’s hard to come up with something new [laughs].
 
How was your experience with Sri Lanka? 
It was great. They are very easy, very athletic. Fielding practice mustn’t be boring and if you make it interesting, they start enjoying it. They are very easy to coach, so it was a breeze I thought. 
 
Sri Lanka beating world champions Australia in that 1999 Aiwa Cup final in Colombo must have been satisfying…
Yes, it was.
 
What do you make of today’s fielding standards?
I am not a big fan of T20 cricket, but the fielding is unbelievable… some of the catches especially on the boundary [are great]. You can’t be a bad fielder in T20 cricket; can’t hide anyone.
 
Modern coaching methods have had a role to play too…
Yes, we couldn’t do it because there was a fence… you couldn’t sort of jump over the fence. Now, with a rope, you can knock the ball back to somebody else and come back in. But they obviously practise a lot to do it. The fielding in the women’s game is extraordinary as well. T20 cricket has helped fielding. I don’t think it’s helped much else.