Redbacks want to send Chappell out on rare high

ADELAIDE, March 5 AAP - South Australia's cricketers will aim to end coach Greg Chappell's five seasons at the helm on a rare high note in the Pura Cup match against Tasmania starting here tomorrow.

Chappell had a magnificent playing career as an Australian batsman and captain through the 1970s and 1980s, scoring 7,110 runs at an average of 53.86 in his 87 Test matches.

But his stint in charge of the Redbacks, which he will retire from after the four-day match against the Tigers, has been far less productive.

SA has finished in the bottom half of the Pura Cup table in each season in which Chappell has been in charge, and has not made a final of the one-day competition.

This season, the Redbacks finished last in the ING Cup and were incapable of finishing higher than fourth in the Pura Cup heading into tomorrow's match.

But skipper Greg Blewett said today Chappell did not deserve to bear the brunt of the blame for the results, and players were keen to send him off with a victory against the Tigers.

"We haven't won anything over those five years and I don't think that's any reflection on (Chappell)," Blewett told reporters.

"His enthusiasm has been excellent throughout the five years even though we have gone through some tough times.

"We certainly owe it to (Chappell) and to ourselves, I suppose.

"If we do finish off on a good note that would be fantastic, mainly for the guys, but also for (Chappell), it would be nice to send him off with a win."

Chappell said he had mixed emotions heading into his final match as coach.

"There's a little bit of sadness but a lot of excitement as well, it's the end of one chapter and the start of another one," he said.

"It would be nice to finish on a high note if the boys can have a win here for our final game of the season."

He said he was not the best person to judge how successful he had been as a coach, but believed his impact on individual players was a more important measure than results.

"It would have been nice to have won a title, and we went close to playing some one-day finals over that time, and I think we probably should have won a one-day title over that period, but that's not the ultimate," Chappell said.

"It's the ultimate in certain areas and certain ways, statistically that's nice to do, but I think the overall development of the guys as players and as people is probably more important."

SA has made only one change to the side that was thrashed outright by the Tigers in Hobart last week, with all-rounder Mick Miller out with a foot injury, replaced by untried paceman Trent Kelly.

Damien Wright and Adam Griffith return from injury into Tasmania's 13-man squad.

Squads:

SA: Greg Blewett (captain), Ben Johnson, Mark Cleary, Graham Manou, Mark Cosgrove, Shane Deitz, Paul Rofe, David Fitzgerald, Shaun Tait, Mark Higgs, Brad Young, Trent Kelly. (12th man to be named).

Tasmania: Jamie Cox (captain), Sean Clingeleffer, Michael Dighton, Michael Divenuto, Xavier Doherty, Andrew Downton, Adam Griffith, Adam Polkinghorne, Daniel Marsh, Scott Mason, Chris Bassano, Gerard Denton, Damien Wright. (12th and 13th men to be named)