Richie Benaud: Top 10 Quotes From the Voice of Cricket
Richie Benaud was widely seen as the most influential figure in post-war cricket, and revered as a voice of conscience in a sport often riven by politics and self-interest.
Former Australia captain Richie Benaud, the celebrated 'voice of cricket', died in Sydney at the age of 84 late on Thursday. After 35 years calling Australian cricket for Channel Nine, Benaud was unable to take his spot behind the microphone in the summer of 2013/14 after crashing his vintage car near his home in Sydney's beachside suburb of Coogee.
Benaud was widely seen as the most influential figure in post-war cricket, and revered as a voice of conscience in a sport often riven by politics and self-interest.
Along with his dry wit, economy of words and insightful analysis, Benaud's silvery hair and unmistakable cream jackets would propel him into a cult figure, inspiring parodies from comedians and downloadable apps that parroted his words. (Richie Benaud - End of a Marvellous Innings)
Unflinching on the field, off it Benaud called the game without fear or favour.
His withering assessment of the notorious under-arm bowling incident in 1981 -- when Australia captain Greg Chappell had his brother Trevor bowl an unplayable delivery to New Zealand's Brian McKechnie with the final ball of a one-day match -- remains a prominent moment in cricket broadcasting. (Richie Benaud, Australia's Treasure, Set a Benchmark for Attacking Cricket)
Five top quotes from Benaud, the legend:
On commentary:
- "My mantra is: put your brain into gear and if you can add to what's on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up."
- "The key thing was to learn the value of economy with words and to never insult the viewer by telling them what they can already see."
On Shane Warne's Ball of the Century:
- "(Mike) Gatting has absolutely no idea what happened to it. (He) still doesn't know."
On Sachin Tendulkar:
- "Bradman was easily the best. After him, Sachin Tendulkar was the best." (Sachin Tendulkar pays tribute to Richie Benaud)
On the captaincy:
- "Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. But don't try it without that 10 per cent."
On mimics:
- "The only thing that annoys me about that is if I suddenly find someone on commercial radio or something like that, mimicking my voice or actions and trying to promote a product and pretending it's me doing it."
His humour:
- "And Glenn McGrath dismissed for two, just 98 runs short of his century."
- "There was a slight interruption there for athletics" (referring to a streaker at Lord's).
- "The slow-motion replay doesn't show how fast the ball was really travelling."
- "When my hair is long enough to be cut, I go to my wife's hairdresser, and she generally pays for it"
(With inputs from agencies)