There are very few in the world who – when they look back – can say they made the most of their life. If ever we wanted to make a dossier of such personalities, Richie Benaud will be the first name to be included. Born on the 6th of October 1930 at Penrith in New South Wales, Richie – as described by Gideon Haigh was “perhaps the most influential cricketer since World War II.” He wasn’t just a broadcaster or a Cricketer, but the great man extended far beyond that. He was a mélange – a mélange of an inspiration, a leader and a meretricious personality whose obedience to his work was such that he excelled at whatever he did. You don’t find such individuals in millenniums, let alone centuries.
A Leader
Richie didn’t begin his Cricketing career on a particularly good note, with 6 pretty jejune years by his standards, but what followed afterwards was, as Richie himself would’ve chosen to describe – marvellous. By the time the 1957-58 Tour of South Africa ended, Benaud had established himself as one of the better all-rounders in the world. Add a year to that and we had one of the best leaders in World Cricket. With his everlasting righteousness – both as an all-rounder and a captain, Richie defended The Ashes twice – a feat that even Ricky Ponting couldn’t achieve. His heroics don’t end here, not only did he win the little urn twice; he also never lost a test under his captaincy – Genius.
Calm, composed, dashing, gemütlich, all in all, the Australian was a captain that every cricketer would like to have. Those rays of positivity and calmness that he emitted from within were more often than not the perfect solutions in times of Cricketing vagaries.
“He didn’t take himself or the game as seriously as people thought. He enjoyed the game. He saw it as a form of entertainment.” – Mark Taylor
“He was a great player and a great captain; a wonderful leader of men and he continued that off the field. He loved winning. He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. He played the game the right way.” – Michael Clarke
These words from two of the modern-day greats itself are an example of just how good Richie was when doing his business. If ever one wanted to see that chef-d’œuvre about how to comport on field, this man – or a legend I must confess, was just the right personality to be that masterpiece.
A Broadcasting Great
When he called time on his cricketing career, he took up the broadcasting job and it’d be fair to say that he nailed it. He just didn’t commentate; he personified what was being done on field. He’d always say “Put your brain into gear and if you can add to what’s on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up.” It’s exactly what he did, neither did he speak a word more, nor did he utter a world less, he spoke as much as was necessary and that’s it. He knew what to say, when to say and when not to say and hence making him a different class. The best way of describing his voice would be to say it was acerbic. It had a certain sharpness about it, and a bit of a condescension and these particular traits, made listening to him even more interesting and even more amusing. No wonder that even the Englishmen would call Richie Benaud – an Australian – as “Our Richie” and that’s because they grew up listening to him, and for them all – he was the sport itself.
To describe Richie Benaud is a tough job. He was one of those rare commodities, the successful description of whom could never be achieved by one’s dominance over words. Richie – mirabile dictu – was the ultimate reason for the sport to be called a great one, and one of the better reasons for the great sport to be kvelled over. Well done on a great life Rich, it indeed was a marvelous effort.
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