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| Richie Benaud: time to say goodbye to cricket's permanent witness | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Of all the words used to pay tribute to Richie Benaud, “inimitable” shouldn’t be one of them. | Of all the words used to pay tribute to Richie Benaud, “inimitable” shouldn’t be one of them. |
| Cricket’s greatest commentator was unique in a way that made people want to copy him, and the tribute of imitation – what Coco Chanel called “the homage of the street” – has been paid for decades. | Cricket’s greatest commentator was unique in a way that made people want to copy him, and the tribute of imitation – what Coco Chanel called “the homage of the street” – has been paid for decades. |
| You could see it in the stands at the SCG, Benaud’s favourite ground, during Australia’s whitewash of England in 2014. He hadn’t presented for almost five years and hadn’t worn an off-white blazer for even longer than that. But there was a battalion of Benauds over the concourse, a sea of silver-haired wigs, ivory jackets and oversized microphones. | You could see it in the stands at the SCG, Benaud’s favourite ground, during Australia’s whitewash of England in 2014. He hadn’t presented for almost five years and hadn’t worn an off-white blazer for even longer than that. But there was a battalion of Benauds over the concourse, a sea of silver-haired wigs, ivory jackets and oversized microphones. |
| Related: Vale, Richie Benaud: a personal reflection on a colossus of cricket | Russell Jackson | |
| Among their number were the two sons of Billy “The 12th Man” Birmingham. Birmingham tweeted a picture of them captioned like this: “Life can be weird,” he said. “This pic is of my choo sons dressed as ‘Richies’ at the SCG today. Richie put them thru school !!”. | Among their number were the two sons of Billy “The 12th Man” Birmingham. Birmingham tweeted a picture of them captioned like this: “Life can be weird,” he said. “This pic is of my choo sons dressed as ‘Richies’ at the SCG today. Richie put them thru school !!”. |
| Mimicking him wasn’t just a lucrative cottage industry for Birmingham but a family practice that would span two generations. That was the depth of Richie Benaud’s memetic power. | Mimicking him wasn’t just a lucrative cottage industry for Birmingham but a family practice that would span two generations. That was the depth of Richie Benaud’s memetic power. |
| He didn’t like being called a doyen but even he couldn’t deny being part of the fabric not just of cricket, but of Australian culture. | He didn’t like being called a doyen but even he couldn’t deny being part of the fabric not just of cricket, but of Australian culture. |
| February 2014 marked the 50th year since his retirement as a player. He was already a commentator while captain in 1963 and did not take long to become indivisible from the game. He called or played in almost a third of the Tests that took place in his lifetime, more than 500 of them. Add countless one-dayers and Twenty20 games (which he loved), and Benaud saw more cricket live than anyone else alive. Probably more than anyone else alive will ever see. He was not just the face and the voice of cricket, but its permanent witness. | February 2014 marked the 50th year since his retirement as a player. He was already a commentator while captain in 1963 and did not take long to become indivisible from the game. He called or played in almost a third of the Tests that took place in his lifetime, more than 500 of them. Add countless one-dayers and Twenty20 games (which he loved), and Benaud saw more cricket live than anyone else alive. Probably more than anyone else alive will ever see. He was not just the face and the voice of cricket, but its permanent witness. |
| Outside the commentary box Barrie Humphries might be the only other Australian to reach his fifth decade undiminished in the public eye. | Outside the commentary box Barrie Humphries might be the only other Australian to reach his fifth decade undiminished in the public eye. |
| It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Benaud had a touch of Humphries’ character Sandy Stone about him: the apartment in Sydney’s suburb of Coogee he shared with his wife, Daphne; the “prized” Sunbeam Alpine that he ran into a wall; the pink ladies; even the tooth whistle. | It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Benaud had a touch of Humphries’ character Sandy Stone about him: the apartment in Sydney’s suburb of Coogee he shared with his wife, Daphne; the “prized” Sunbeam Alpine that he ran into a wall; the pink ladies; even the tooth whistle. |
| But there the two period pieces part ways: while Sandy was stuck in the twilight of his life looking back, Richie was curiously free of reminiscence. He wasn’t a nostalgist but an enthusiast. He turned down the Australian TV industry’s offer of a Hall of Fame award year after year. | But there the two period pieces part ways: while Sandy was stuck in the twilight of his life looking back, Richie was curiously free of reminiscence. He wasn’t a nostalgist but an enthusiast. He turned down the Australian TV industry’s offer of a Hall of Fame award year after year. |
| Other commentators in the Alan McGilvray mode were purists, harking back after times long gone, but Benaud seemed to take a real curiosity and joy in change, even in novelty. The game was not the same, but that was part of what made it great. | Other commentators in the Alan McGilvray mode were purists, harking back after times long gone, but Benaud seemed to take a real curiosity and joy in change, even in novelty. The game was not the same, but that was part of what made it great. |
| “Tradition is wonderful and I’m all for it,” he wrote, “but never forget the evolution of the game,” going all the way back to the village greens of Kent to draw a continuous line of innovation. | “Tradition is wonderful and I’m all for it,” he wrote, “but never forget the evolution of the game,” going all the way back to the village greens of Kent to draw a continuous line of innovation. |
| When others were huffing and puffing over Twenty20 he said simply that “any kind of cricket able to bring to the ground thousands of spectators and have hundreds of thousands, even millions, watching around the world on television must be good for the game”. | When others were huffing and puffing over Twenty20 he said simply that “any kind of cricket able to bring to the ground thousands of spectators and have hundreds of thousands, even millions, watching around the world on television must be good for the game”. |
| He compared it to an exciting situation that could develop in a Test match, trying to bridge the divide between two forms of cricket before it became a gulf. | He compared it to an exciting situation that could develop in a Test match, trying to bridge the divide between two forms of cricket before it became a gulf. |
| Part of Benaud’s love of the new came from his instincts as an egalitarian, a captain who believed in the intelligence of the group over the individual. | Part of Benaud’s love of the new came from his instincts as an egalitarian, a captain who believed in the intelligence of the group over the individual. |
| In the commentary box it was almost always “you”, seldom “we” or “I”. Journalist Gideon Haigh wasn’t the only person to notice that “perhaps no commentator with a playing record so distinguished invokes his own experience so seldom”. He never retreated into an anecdotage. | In the commentary box it was almost always “you”, seldom “we” or “I”. Journalist Gideon Haigh wasn’t the only person to notice that “perhaps no commentator with a playing record so distinguished invokes his own experience so seldom”. He never retreated into an anecdotage. |
| Also seldom invoked was high praise. Hyperbolic fans like Bill Lawry or Mark Nicholas have to reach higher than Icarus to commentate anything extraordinary. Benaud could simply say “that’s one of the best catches I’ve ever seen” or “Tendulkar is the best batsman I’ve seen since Bradman” and you would believe it, knowing he wouldn’t say it next match, next month or next year. Scarcity meant the currency of his opinion wasn’t debased. | Also seldom invoked was high praise. Hyperbolic fans like Bill Lawry or Mark Nicholas have to reach higher than Icarus to commentate anything extraordinary. Benaud could simply say “that’s one of the best catches I’ve ever seen” or “Tendulkar is the best batsman I’ve seen since Bradman” and you would believe it, knowing he wouldn’t say it next match, next month or next year. Scarcity meant the currency of his opinion wasn’t debased. |
| But neither was it sclerotic. Benaud announced as captain he was going to do away with “dull cricket”, and did. He also did away with “dull cricket” as a commentator, but not by embellishing it. Instead of calcifying, he became more wise and ironic in age, Yoda-like in philosophy and countenance. | But neither was it sclerotic. Benaud announced as captain he was going to do away with “dull cricket”, and did. He also did away with “dull cricket” as a commentator, but not by embellishing it. Instead of calcifying, he became more wise and ironic in age, Yoda-like in philosophy and countenance. |
| Fittingly, his real farewell was in England, the place where he first started commentating. It was during the 2005 Ashes series, perhaps the finest ever. Always the democrat, Benaud was standing down in quiet objection to cricket’s disappearance from free-to-air television. | Fittingly, his real farewell was in England, the place where he first started commentating. It was during the 2005 Ashes series, perhaps the finest ever. Always the democrat, Benaud was standing down in quiet objection to cricket’s disappearance from free-to-air television. |
| “We’ve had all sorts of music here today,” he started. “Land of Hope and Glory, the national anthem – Jerusalem before we started. I always carry a lot of music around with me and one of the great ones for me is Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, singing that duet, that wonderful duet, Time To Say Goodbye. And that’s what it is as far as I’m concerned – time to say goodbye. And you can add to that – thank you for having me. It’s been absolutely marvellous. For 42 years I’ve loved every moment of it. And it’s been a privilege to go into everyone’s living room throughout that time. What’s even better is that it’s been a great deal of fun.” | “We’ve had all sorts of music here today,” he started. “Land of Hope and Glory, the national anthem – Jerusalem before we started. I always carry a lot of music around with me and one of the great ones for me is Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, singing that duet, that wonderful duet, Time To Say Goodbye. And that’s what it is as far as I’m concerned – time to say goodbye. And you can add to that – thank you for having me. It’s been absolutely marvellous. For 42 years I’ve loved every moment of it. And it’s been a privilege to go into everyone’s living room throughout that time. What’s even better is that it’s been a great deal of fun.” |
| At that point Kevin Pietersen was bowled by Glenn McGrath, and Richie incorporated it effortlessly. “But it’s not fun for the batsman …” before introducing his fellow commentators. | At that point Kevin Pietersen was bowled by Glenn McGrath, and Richie incorporated it effortlessly. “But it’s not fun for the batsman …” before introducing his fellow commentators. |
| Dictating the pauses would take a whole page, but in between them we see everything that was great about Benaud. The effortless segues, the thematic detail, the easy professionalism, the ironic touch of sentiment and above all the restrained but emphatic sense of fun, not spread thinly but suffusing everything he did. Even his farewell. | Dictating the pauses would take a whole page, but in between them we see everything that was great about Benaud. The effortless segues, the thematic detail, the easy professionalism, the ironic touch of sentiment and above all the restrained but emphatic sense of fun, not spread thinly but suffusing everything he did. Even his farewell. |
| “There’s always been something new coming up,” Richie Benaud said, and that’s true. But now that he has completed what he called his “meander around sport”, we can say that whatever new is coming up will not be as good. Nothing could be. | “There’s always been something new coming up,” Richie Benaud said, and that’s true. But now that he has completed what he called his “meander around sport”, we can say that whatever new is coming up will not be as good. Nothing could be. |