Former captain of Australian Cricket team, Ian Chappell bids farewell to the world of cricket and an illustrious career spanning over five-decade of playing the sports and journalism in an article on Sunday (Feb 23).
The cricket icon wrote his last column for ESPNcricinfo in which he stated that he felt that it was time to “put down the pen and pack away the computer” to move on from his second innings.
He expressed that quitting writing was as emotionally taxing as retiring from cricket back in the day.
The 81-year-old writer cum cricketer started his career in 1960s, went onto achieve the height of his career by becoming captain and after retirement made his name in the world of broadcasting and sports journalism in the 1980s. However, after 52 years the former Aussie captain has announced to bid farewell to the sport forever.
Talking about retirement itself, the star cricketer wrote, “In my playing days, I asked former Australia captain Richie Benaud if retirement was a difficult decision. ‘No Ian,’ Benaud replied wisely, ‘It’s easy. You’ll know the right time.”
Furthermore, he wrote, “Always astute, Benaud was correct. Retirement from journalism is similar to cricket — I knew the time was right.”
While saying thanks to the fellow sportsmen and mentors the writer reflected, “For around 40 years I’ve been writing on a computer. The improvement over using a typewriter is mainly the ease of being able to cut and paste. It’s a big advance on having to discard, then rewrite copy paper.
“However, the time has come to close the writing section of my computer. I wish each and every one who has helped and befriended me along the way all the best in their future endeavours.”
Notably, Ian Chappell made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1964. As per records, he scored 5345 Test runs in 75 matches, including 30 as captain alone and is considered one of the greatest players to ever come out of Australia.
