Former Australia captain Ian Chappell, an influential and rare clear voice in cricket, announced his retirement after a four-decade-long career as a television commentator. The 78-year-old, who was Australia's captain from 1971 to 1975, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he decided to leave commentary after giving it some serious thought. Together with Richie Beno, Bill Lawrie and Tony Greig, Chappell formed the famous team of commentary.

Chappell was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2019 and it took him five months to recover from the disease. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell said, "When it comes to commentary, I was thinking about it. He said, a few years back I fell ill but was lucky to be able to recover from it. But now things are getting difficult and I thought things like traveling and climbing stairs are becoming difficult for me now.

Chappell said, "Then I read what the Rabbits (rugby league commentator Ray Warren) had to say about retirement and I liked what he said. He said that you are only one sentence away from making a mistake. Chappelle is now 78 years old. He scored 5345 runs in Test cricket as a top-order batsman between 1964 and 1980. He also captained Australia in 30 Test matches. He also played 30 ODIs and became a commentator after retiring from cricket.

Chappell's fans will miss his commentary style. Chappell, who retired as an Australian player in 1980, was the last of Channel Nine's four original star commentators. When Steve Waugh was appointed captain of Australia in 1999, Chappell said, "I think he has been a selfish cricketer. Chappell is not concerned with how he will be remembered as a commentator. He said that it is up to other people to decide what they think of me.