Chappell played 87 Tests and 72 ODIs for Australia from 1970-1984.
Considered one of the best batters of his era, 75-year-old Chappell admitted that he is doing fine but is certainly not living a life of luxury as a result of his cricketing career.
“I’m not on the bones of my a**e. I certainly don’t want it to sound like we’re in desperate straits, because we’re not but we’re not living in luxury either. I think most people assume that, because we play cricket, we are all living in the lap of luxury. While I’m certainly not crying poor, we’re not reaping in the benefits that today’s players are,” Chappell told News Corp.
According to the report, Chappell “reluctantly” agreed to a GoFundMe page being set up for him, along with a testimonial lunch held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last week, hosted by Eddie McGuire and attended by cricket greats, including brothers Ian and Trevor.
Chappell, who had a controversial stint as India's head coach from 2005-07, added that many more players from his era are experiencing financial problems.
“It is just my friends who realized that we didn’t get a lot and just to make sure that Judy and I were comfortable in our retirement. To be fair, there are others of our era who are in more dire circumstances that could do with the help and I don’t think the game has done enough for players of that era. Particularly in relation to the comparison with today’s era.
I believe the players that set the scene for what’s happening today, should probably be recognized for the role they played in getting the game to where it is today,” Chappell said.
Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, and Chappell had defected to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in the late 1970s. However, while Lillie and Marsh got a fundraising testimonial, Chappell didn’t receive anything like that when he decided to retire from the game in 1984.
A report in news.com.au quotes Chappell’s friends saying that he is doing it tougher than an Australian sporting legend ever should.
“Greg is a very proud man. He’s doing it tougher than what he says,” Chappell’s friend Peter Maloney said.
The Australian great also runs the Chappell Foundation, which raises funds for homelessness charities. But the foundation makes sure every cent is distributed each year and Chappell doesn’t keep any money for himself.
“They distribute it annually so at the end of each year, they don’t leave any money and they’re starting afresh. If you put your name to a foundation you’re entitled to take some money out of it. But Greg hasn’t taken a cent out of it, even though he could have.
I guess that was the irony that he was the face of it and turning up to every function and he’s raising all this money while he didn’t have a hell of a lot himself. Put it this way, we will probably end up raising about $250,000 out of it, and it will significantly enhance his last few years”, Maloney added.
Greg Chappell made 7110 runs in 87 Tests for Australia with 24 centuries to his name. He also played 74 ODIs and made 2331 runs with 3 tons. He was also a gifted bowler and took 47 Test and 72 ODI wickets with five-wicket hauls in both formats.
(PTI inputs)