Me and those wonder years: Ian Chappell

Many think my postplaying life with a grandfather Vic Richardson who captained Australia and later became a writer and broadcaster was predeterminedThatrsquos not what my mother Jeanne thoughtmdashshe reckoned I was destined to be a bus driver Apparently at a young age I used to sit astride our couch humming the appropriate noises and driving an invisible busKnowing Jeanne I would have been a bus driver with opinions Opinions were as prolific as orange juice around our kitchen table a habit encouraged by my motherGrowing up in Graymore I would play a lot of cricket baseball and football on my own in the backyard As I threw and hit a ball against the wall and kicked a football around the backyard I commentated on those imaginary gamesOne day I reached 999mdashthe bowlers didnrsquot enjoy a lot of successmdashand was stuck for when I scored my next run Being alone I asked next doorrsquos Joyce Mason ldquoWhat comes after 999rdquo Mrs Mason told me it was ldquo1000rdquo so I ran back home to compile more runsYounger brother Greg was soon old enough to play backyard Tests When a player was dismissed in the backyard he went to the tank stand took off his gloves and filled in the scorebook My entry of Keith Miller was never followed by a low scoreMy father Martin often took me to the Adelaide Oval and hersquod tell me to watch certain players If the visiting team was NSW or Australia was playing it would be ldquoWatch Miller Watch what he doesrdquoMartin always encouraged me to watch aggressive players and there were plenty who graced the Adelaide Oval but Miller was our favouriteOf the many breaks I had in life an important one was to play for South Australia alongside the gamersquos best cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers I learned a lot talking to Garry but also acquired knowledge just watching and batting with the best player in the gameAll of those experiencesmdashin cricket baseball and lifemdashhelped prepare me for a postplaying career writing and commentatingI also had the good fortune to spend much of my career with Richie Benaud an exceptional captain in his own right and a firstclass broadcaster and journalist I never copied Benaud but I learned from watching and listening to a polished operatorCalm BenaudBenaud was a masterful presenter of both BBC and Channel Nine cricket He never allowed the people at home to know that in the studio all hell could be breaking loose When a Channel Nine backdrop fell forward on Benaud he didnrsquot miss a beat while pushing the prop back with his elbows and then his watch alarm started buzzing He continued talking purposefully while he quickly ended the racket typical Benaud he always remained calm throughout a dramaAlso Read I was feeling mentally down Virat KohliA lot of my broadcasting years involved working for Kerry Packer It was always lively but Packer would never ring to say ldquoWell donerdquo My association began as a player in Packerrsquos office where he exploded ldquoWhat do you think this is an adjectival democracy I pay the bills He shouted ldquoI pick the captain Yoursquore the bloody skipperrdquoThere was no arguing with that premise but later it was inspiring to know the ldquoexecutive executive producerrdquo as our boss David Hill used to call him was following every ballThe many years under Packer Hill and director Brian Morelli were a great learning experience and the Big Four as the public dubbed usmdashBenaud Bill Lawry Tony Greig and myselfmdashgrew in statureThere were also many overseas broadcasting challenges often masterminded by Indian entrepreneur Mark Mascarenhas It was great to experience how others worked and there was always something to learn as well as many champion players to followEnjoyable radio yearsThen there were the enjoyable years of radio which included the Packer network Macquarie radio the BBC and the ABC To finish my career with the ABC knowing Vic had earlier worked with the network felt like Irsquod completed the circleIt wasnrsquot all cricket In a varied career I also covered baseball golf major tennis tournaments Formula One and even NFL gridiron from both the Willoughby studios and in the fieldThen there were the nearly nine years with Mike Gibson as copresenter of Channel Ninersquos WWOS That was fulfilling and instructive being surrounded by a lot of experienced work mates My association with Nine has been both instructive and enjoyable and itrsquos one I continue to enjoy And finally therersquos a job Irsquoll maintain because Irsquove savoured virtually 50 years of journalism Irsquove worked for some excellent editors in that time and Irsquom most proud thatmdashso farmdash Irsquove never missed a deadlineIrsquove had an extremely fortunate life and the bulk of the people Irsquove dealt with have made work fun However there is one thing Irsquove definitely learned along the way I prefer journalism and commentary to bus driving