"I’ll cut you from ear to ear" - Ian Chappell opens up on massive bust-up with Ian Botham in 1977

Ian Chappell and Ian Botham have been absolute legends of Australian and English cricket, respectively. However, due to a heated exchange between them back in 1977, the duo is still at loggerheads today.

At the Hilton Hotel in Melbourne, Chappell and Botham were involved in a heated conversation after which Chappell said that the latter pushed him off his chair.

Here's what Ian Chappell recently told News Corp about the incident:

“When he put the beer glass to my face and said, ‘I’ll cut you from ear to ear,’ we were actually playing against each other the next day because I was playing for North Melbourne in club cricket."

He added:

“I said to him, ‘Mate, if you cut me with a beer glass it will confirm what I already think of you, that you are a coward, but if you cut me with a cricket ball tomorrow that would mean something. But the ball had better bounce first because if you do it with a full toss, if I am capable, I am coming down your end and I will hit you over the head with the bat.'”

On the Channel 9 documentary 'The Longest Feud', Ian Chappell further explained why he didn't want to sort things out with Ian Botham. He said:

“I’ve had mates say, ‘Why don’t you just make up?’ and I say, ‘Well, firstly, if he wants to apologize for the lies he has told, I would accept that. But why would I make up and be friends with a guy who I have nothing in common with? I think his commentary is the worst of the long-term commentators, I have no interest in his interests and I have nothing to talk to him about.”

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Ian Botham had shared his version of the story earlier

Ian Botham had earlier claimed that Chappell wasn't using good words for the England team and that infuriated the English all-rounder. He also claimed that he had given Chappell three warnings before pushing him.

On this, Botham had stated in 2020:

"I gave him three official warnings, all of which he ignored, so the next time he started, I just flattened him."

The rivalry between the two legends increased exponentially after the incident and the fact that they went head-to-head in the Ashes over the next few years arguably kept the situation untenable.