Chappell: The trash talk is just so boring. Get on with it!
THERE was a time when the talking between England and Australia would only take place on the field of play.With the verbals dished out by the likes of Dennis Lillee and Merv Hughes confined to the squares of Lord’s, the SCG and the Gabba
Now it seems the war of words before an Ashes series starts as soon as the previous one finishes. And one Ashes legend has had enough.
Greg Chappell led his side in two Ashes series in 1977 and 1982/83, and believes the warm-up sledging between both teams has got too much. The trash talk, in short, is boring him senseless.
“The build-up to these series seems to go on and on,” he tells The Cricket
Paper. “And there’s far too much talking. I was never one for looking to wind up the opposition before a game and I don’t think too much of it is necessary. I think both teams should just get out there and play – then the talking can stop.
“There’s too much time for practising and talking – and not enough time for people to do things.” The Cricket Paper caught up with Chappell before the news of Jonny Bairstow’s head-butt welcome to Cameron Bancroft broke – news which led to a fresh round of chat between two teams who already seem sick of the sight of each other.
Australia, of course, were no angels during Chappell’s era when the likes of Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Ian Chappell pioneered an approach that Steve Waugh would later refer to as ‘mental disintegration’.
The declaration of war from David Warner as soon as England touched down, though, gave an indication of how far things have slipped in recent years. England have largely managed to laugh off the Aussies’ taunts so far and have fired few grenades themselves.
Their capitulation in Brisbane means they’re hardly in an ideal position to dish out too many either. But although he’s tired of the talking, an Ashes series does still fire Chappell’s imagination.
“I think it’s the one shining light in the cupboard of Test cricket at the moment,” he says.
“There are a lot of countries who are struggling with Test cricket at the moment and it’s only because of the tradition of England and Australian rivalry that it manages to maintain that magic.You only have to look at the numbers who go to each country to watch it here and in England to see how special it still is.”
It was always a bi-annual highlight in the Chappell household, despite the fact that Greg himself had to endure growing up as an England player rather than a fair dinkum Aussie star in backyard matches with his siblings that would take on some Ashes magic all of their own.
“Ian was always Australia and I had to be England – that was my first challenge in life,” he says. “It was only when he moved out that I could finally wear the Baggy Green.”