'I'm not on the bones of my arse': Chappell opens up financial issues as cricket rallies and Cummins sends support

Ed Flanders, I am a lot older than you. Greg Chappell was and remains my first great cricket hero. I was lucky enough to see him play live both during and post WSC. I am also too young too comment on Bradman. However, having watched Smith, Greg Chappell is one of the 3 greatest batsmen/cricketers to ever have worn an Australian cap. He has always given of himself. He is presently suffering harder times than nearly everyone of his paramount importance to Australia's cricketing lore. Be kind, give him a break. I also played in one of his caps and his signed picture has adorned my family room wall for over 30 years.

I bet you're an absolute thrill to be around if those are your views.

Oh, the train conductor is putting me on notice. I quiver with fear, Wiki.

have a good cry, Wiki.

It now makes perfect sense why you don't have a clue. As ever, those who cry underpaid generally tend to be on wages that reflect their use in life You the bus driver, train driver...whatever. A robot will do what you do soon enough.

Apparent under payment. That says it all BTW. You support wage theft. Apparently. Goodbye

He joined Wsc in 1977. He had been playing FC cricket since 1967-8 from memory. Like everyone in his generation, he suffered for a decade as the Bradmans of this world said “pay them peanuts, we can get some other guy in if they don’t like it” Right, so he was an underpaid hack at 19 years old? Ffs one of the reasons he stopped touring after 1980 was to try and build a business because he was over 30 with almost nothing to show for 24 years of a successful career other a one-off windfall from WSC. Firstly, calm down. Secondly, so you are saying that a man who got $250,000 in 1970's money had nothing to show for it? And then he wanted to parlay that into bigger opportunities, also knowing that Kerry Packer offered him a job at Channel 9 for when he retired? I don't hate him. Far from it. He's just a failed businessman, and he doesn't deserve to repackage his business failures as "I was underpaid as a player" But hey, you work in transport. Hard to reason with someone who has spent their life uneducated and underpaid. Seems harsh, but then you started the needless barbs then. You reap what you sow.

Them I sincerely hope you won’t be so stupid as to donate Now please just nick off. Read my comments. You’re on notice.

your continued linkage of Chappell’s rights to backpay to his post-career business decisions – wrong in law, wrong in ethics. i don’t think you’re the workers’ champion you’re trying to be. Um, no. And I'm not in any way trying to be the workers champion either. It is YOU who is suggesting that players be back paid for their apparent under payment during their cricket days. I reckon you didn’t – or can’t – read any of the actual coverage of this issue. the whole point is that the Chappell one has gone first because it has captured attention. it’s been made abundantly clear that it’s the START of a broader program, 50-60 years overdue, to support people who were ripped off and need looking after, especially as they seem to be dropping like flies. So give it to the ones who need it most, first. Not to the one who doesn't. The packaging of his benefit dinner as a recognition for all players who were treated like dirt in the past is a smoke screen. Nothing more. Do you honestly think another dinner held for an anonymous test cricketer will fetch anywhere near the same amount? A GoFundme account for someone who was comfortably earning in the 80's, 90's and 2000's the equivalent $500k a year is unethical.

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He joined Wsc in 1977. He had been playing FC cricket since 1967-8 from memory. Like everyone in his generation, he suffered for a decade as the Bradmans of this world said “pay them peanuts, we can get some other guy in if they don’t like it” He also copped the immediate fall in cricket income after wsc. He played 5 years after wsc. To allege that he was a fully professional cricketer - you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. So wrong. Ffs one of the reasons he stopped touring after 1980 was to try and build a business because he was over 30 with almost nothing to show for 24 years of a successful career other a one-off windfall from WSC. Your hate for him or contempt is palpable and you are showing your ignorance as well of actual facts. So I’ll leave you to it. You keep ranting the same falsely equivalent almosts, and I have had enough of it for one day.

Pay them back what they should have been paid. What a ridiculous statement. What should they have been paid? What players are paid now? Or what players were paid in the 90's? Or given WSC contracts? In any event, it's moot. They can have the testimonial dinners, but they are getting anywhere near the same as what Greg Chappell was got from his. Eddie McGuire isn't going to be the MC for Craig Serjeant's dinner. Mike Baird probably will chip in for a new lawn mower for him. Your final paragraph is comparing apples with oranges. Cricketers were not full time professionals in that era. They were semi-pro...at best. They had jobs. It was the default of the time. If they were full time professional, then you'd have a point. But they weren't. Asking for retrospective payments for semi-pro players is ridiculous. And I still cannot fathom how you fail to grasp the fact that players were entitled to capitalise on their name during their playing career.

You've missed the point entirely. Chappell was not a destitute cricketer in his playing days. He was the first generation of fully professional cricketers, and in fact got paid overs compared to nearly every colleague in WSC. He knew this, which is why he declined a testimonial at the time. He knew that the testimonials were for those who did struggle and didn't get paid for their time as a cricketer. Taking up a testimonial now is only because he screwed up his investments. He absolutely would not have had one if his investments were successful. He squandered his wealth. That's on him. No one else of his generation will get a retrospective testimonial that will be hosted by Eddie McGuire, nor will it generate anywhere near the $250k that Chappells did. He's not advancing any cause. He's picking up a quick dollar from suckers.

i sincerely hope you aren't stupid enough to type and then submit your last sentence I reckon you didn't - or can't - read any of the actual coverage of this issue. the whole point is that the Chappell one has gone first because it has captured attention. it's been made abundantly clear that it's the START of a broader program, 50-60 years overdue, to support people who were ripped off and need looking after, especially as they seem to be dropping like flies. The ACA acknowledges that. It seems even CA acknowledge that. your continued linkage of Chappell's rights to backpay to his post-career business decisions - wrong in law, wrong in ethics. i don't think you're the workers' champion you're trying to be.

thanks for making my point. there should be restorative financial support for past players, it should from Cricket Australia, and the ACA should be campaigning for it. Benefit dinners, whatever. Pay them back what they should have been paid. current better off players can chuck some extra money in if they feel like it. and i still maintain that in NSW in 1974 a union-supported government bus driver would have made more than any cricket player. i'm pretty sure they were doing better than $8 a day for shield games, for instance. the average weekly earnings for a male in 1974 were $154.20 for the December quarter.

yes you don't get it. the whole point of this is (Lawson etc) is to draw attention to the needs of people who didn't get a fair go, nor a benefit dinner you are looking at the chappell post career trajectory and what his friends are voluntarily willing to do for him now, and drawing the wrong generalised conclusions in my opinions perhaps inadvertently, I feel you are making a case for things like unpaid internships, because the people who submit to them might make "it" up over the rest of their career. or it's ok if I got ripped of at work because i had decent super or won the lottery. from a wage justice point of view, they should be independent i am ok with Chappell getting a benefit dinner because he decided to eschew one when retiring, for whatever his reasons were I am ok with chappell or his friends setting up a gofundme, people use it for whatever the frog they like, giving is voluntary, and i won't be giving. i support the bus driver being paid a proper wage reflective of their importance to te community. with decent conditions and proper super. i ought to, i've been in the transport sector for 30+ years including some time as a staff union delegate. I say all of the above re Chappell having never liked him as player or captain, and only grudgingly admitting his allround genius after forgiving him for his part in the Kim Hughe stuff. it shouldn't matter. cricketers were workers got ripped off.

do you think there is no merit in people who were heinously underpaid getting back what they should have earned? And yet, there are literally hundreds of living Australian test and one day cricketers who won't get that. Many of whom were shield stalwarts. And of those, 99% of them never came close to attaining the financial security that Greg Chappell obtained. Where are their benefit dinners? And more so, Chappell would not have received this dinner if he didn't fess up to screwing up some investments. If those investments paid off, there would be nothing to see. I sincerely hope you aren't going to be stupid enough to donate to that GoFundme.

are you joking? do you know what they got paid to pay Sheffield Shield in the 70s? what players other than Bradman got paid to go on Ashes tours that went for 4 months, and had them risk their livelihoods? and then consider what the Board were making from people paying various guises to watch them play? Right! Again, completely agree. So why is it that Greg Chappell gets the benefit dinner and not the poor schlops who toiled in the shield or had only limited test opportunities? Where are the benefit/testimonial dinners for all the Australian test cricketers who weren't offered the juicy WSC contracts, like Chappell got? Yeah - Richie Robinson, Craig Serjeant, Tony Mann, David Ogilivie, Sam Gannon etc? Face it...he did some dud investments and got a bail out from his rich friends packaged up as a benefit dinner because he was the Australian captain. Not because he suffered from financial pain in his playing career. Everything you have said is valid and appropriate for those who did NOT get the opportunities to cash in on their talents like Greg Chappell did. Give all of them a benefit dinner. Seriously, happy for that. But to give a man who was a well paid cricket commentator, leverages his name, a national coach etc etc a benefit because he made some bad investments, and then retrospectively justifying that by saying he lived paycheck to paycheck during his playing days? Come on. everything you state after that point is your opinion but irrelevant to the points I made No it wasn't. You said the bus driver got paid more. That was wrong. Entirely relevant.

what about all the ones who didn’t? Wiki, I completely agree. So, therefore the obvious question is, where is their testimonial or benefit dinner then? No, they get kicked to the kerb. However, the ones who attained financial security get the benefit dinner...or in this instance, a financial bailout?

what about all the ones who didn't? i don't think you get it.