Richie Benaud

[from_the_stands]

The golden voice of summer has passed away. "His name is Richie, and he's the king. He's the king commentator, he's the number one thing!" A sad day for cricket. He was a towering figure in the game.

[from_the_stands]

[hopeforthebest]

Very sad news. He was a wonderful commentator but for me one of my all time favourite players. I loved watching him when he came over for Ashes tests as leg spin bowling is always great to watch.

[Durhamfootman]

Richie has passed. A very sad day

[rich1uk]

cant remember him as a player but grew up listening to him , he will be missed

[GarlicJam]

Richie's tips for commentating:

Never ask a statement.
Remember the value of the pause.
There are no teams in the world called 'we' or 'they'.
Avoid cliches and banalities, such as 'he's hit that to the boundary', 'he won't want to get out now', 'of course', 'as you can see on the screen'.
The Titanic was a tragedy, the Ethiopian drought a disaster, and neither bears any relation to a dropped catch.
Put your brain into gear before opening your mouth.
Concentrate fiercely at all times.
Above all, don't take yourself too seriously, and have fun.




Please, please drum those into the current crop of no-hopers.

[rich1uk]

If we applied those rules to the current crop we would have no commentary

most of the current commentators would also have grown up listening to him , pity they haven't seemed to learn much from him

hes probably glad he didn't have to operate in an era where the main topics of discussion seem to be what type of pizza you had for lunch, who is going to be on IACGMOOH or flogging subscriptions to Stan.tv

[alfie]

Very sad to see Richie passing away...knew he'd been in poor health but still hoped he would have had a few more summers to enjoy.

A wonderful cricketer - always entertaining to watch ; and one of the most enterprising captains. And as a commentator he was simply the best of the Television Age.

RIP

[Gingerfinch]

RIP Richie

Only remember the commentator, of which he was one of the best.

[GarlicJam]

Really. It feels very sudden. Maybe people in Australia were expecting this. My impression is that Richie is seen as a national treasure over there. Of course he is.

I guess, for practically everyone, he is a voice they grew up with. For me it was him in tandem with Jim Laker on BBC. I like to think that these two contemporary spinners from the opposite sides of the world, symbolised a bond between the two countries which I still hope exists in our shared interest in cricket. Richie represented a bit more though.

He seems to be the remainder of the civility within the game. Whenever a voice off camera welcomes another person we can't see, we are reminded of Richie. Whenever the covers come off the strip, in the early morning, and we sense the commentator look across the expanses of the ground, and the moisture clearing in the early sun, and says 'good morning everyone', we think of Richie. Aussies will have more personal memories, but the fact that he provokes sentiment from someone born on the edge of the UK, at least shows the great extent of his reach. And we understood that when he said goodbye to the UK in 2005.

He was a journalist, who taught himself the job through stepping out of the game into newspaper offices. Maybe it was the times, but he didn't rely on the ghostwriter, he learned how to do the job.

In his career, I think of the tied Test, and (earlier) the Australian team of the fifties, Benaud, Lindwall, Miller, Harvey... Before my time, but evoking past contests with Trueman, Statham, Cowdrey and May. An esteemed name, on and off the pitch, over a huge timescale, his lifetime.

Good post, Arthur.

I think a heck of a lot of Australians don't realise how much Richie was appreciated outside of Australia, especially in Britain. Having spent a few cricket seasons over there, I have some idea of what he meant to cricket lovers in the UK. I remember being quite surprised about it the first time I visited. Humbling, in a way, but great to see.

It lots of ways, I have thought Richie to be taken for granted in Aus. Maybe so, maybe not. There certainly is no shortage of comment and emotion coming out today, good to see/hear. The best comment I heard came from someone connected to cricket in Aus, can't remember who, but three words struck home - a National Treasure.


True, a national treasure, and a cricketing treasure. We all are a little poorer for his passing.

[DiligentDefence]

Obviously a fine player, looking at his record, but that was before I was born, To me, a superb commentator who never forgot that sometimes saying nothing was the finest commentary of all. RIP.

[Dr Cricket]

RIP Richie Benaud one of the best commentators of all time.

[Aidan11]

A true broadcasting legend. And also a great all rounder in his day.

RIP Richie.

[sussexpob]

In a world where there is so much bitterness from ex-players towards their current counterparts, and journalists who seem content to only forward their own agenda, Benaud was a comforting and mild mannered commentator on the game who never lost his overriding passion for simply being at a ground and enjoying the sport, with nothing else attached.

I took that for granted as a youngster listening to him. I found him too politically positive, never would he say a bad word about umpires decisions or players, but growing a little older you come to appreciate the warmth, the proper enthusiasm, the knowledge. He was a guy that was living his dream everyday, and no doubt worked hard for it and was enjoying his due comeback.

If Benaud taught us anything, it was never to be bitter, to love the game for what it is.... Ironically too, for someone endowed with such an old school decorum and manner, he was one of the few pure test match players who embraced positive changes in an encouraging manner. Home tests was never the same without him, Australian tests will never be the same without him. A distinctively voice, distinctive looking guy who cannot, and has not, been replaced.

Great Ambassador to his sport, to his country, and to his professional vocation. Few people exhibited or commanded such respect, even if he didn't ask for it.

If only sport had more characters like this, who just enjoyed being there and playing fair. I never seen him as an Aussie, he was just a fellow cricket lover.

Rest up good Richie....

[westoelad]

In a world where there is so much bitterness from ex-players towards their current counterparts, and journalists who seem content to only forward their own agenda, Benaud was a comforting and mild mannered commentator on the game who never lost his overriding passion for simply being at a ground and enjoying the sport, with nothing else attached.

I took that for granted as a youngster listening to him. I found him too politically positive, never would he say a bad word about umpires decisions or players, but growing a little older you come to appreciate the warmth, the proper enthusiasm, the knowledge. He was a guy that was living his dream everyday, and no doubt worked hard for it and was enjoying his due comeback.

If Benaud taught us anything, it was never to be bitter, to love the game for what it is.... Ironically too, for someone endowed with such an old school decorum and manner, he was one of the few pure test match players who embraced positive changes in an encouraging manner. Home tests was never the same without him, Australian tests will never be the same without him. A distinctively voice, distinctive looking guy who cannot, and has not, been replaced.

Great Ambassador to his sport, to his country, and to his professional vocation. Few people exhibited or commanded such respect, even if he didn't ask for it.

If only sport had more characters like this, who just enjoyed being there and playing fair. I never seen him as an Aussie, he was just a fellow cricket lover.

Rest up good Richie....

A most fitting eulogy S.P.