Benaud ready to write a new chapter in his illustrious story (13 December 1998)
THIS month one of cricket's greatest legends, Richie Benaud, is celebrating 50 years in the first-class game
13-Dec-1998
13 December 1998
Benaud ready to write a new chapter in his illustrious story
Leo McKinstry
In a rare interview, Richie Benaud provides Leo McKinstry with a
welcome reminder of a golden age at a time of scandal
THIS month one of cricket's greatest legends, Richie Benaud, is
celebrating 50 years in the first-class game. In the five decades
since he made his debut as a raw 18-year-old for New South Wales
in the 1948-49 season, Benaud has won recognition not only as one
of the most brilliant cricketers and captains ever produced by
Australia but also as a gifted television commentator.
Now 68, Benaud shows no signs of retiring. Indeed, he is about to
embark on a new venture as a commentator with Channel 4, who
recently beat the BBC for the rights to broadcast domestic Test
cricket. There was some sadness about leaving the BBC after a
long association. "I have been with them for 38 years, since
covering the South African tour of 1960, so the change came as a
considerable shock," he told me in his Sydney offices.
But he is confident about his new role. "I've worked for Channel
Nine here in Australia for 21 years, so that commercial
experience will stand me in good stead when Channel 4 begins."
And he has few anxieties about working with Rory Bremner, the
comedian who has been signed up as one of the channel's
presenters and whose repertoire includes a frighteningly
realistic impression of Benaud. "I have a healthy respect for all
satirists," he says.
It is little wonder that Benaud should be so assured as a media
performer, for his involvement in journalism stretches back to
the middle of his playing career in the 1950s. It may seem
extraordinary now, but like all Australian cricketers of his era,
Benaud did not earn his living at the game. Instead, he began his
professional life as an accountant, working first in an estate
agency and then as a clerk at the Sydney Sun newspaper.
Meanwhile, he was growing in stature as an international
cricketer, having first played for Australia in the 1951-52
season against the West Indies. On his return from the England
tour of 1956, he decided to go into journalism. So, with the
attention to detail and preparation which marked him out as a
cricketer, Benaud transferred from the accounts department to
become a crime reporter on the Sydney Sun. "In those days, when
there were far fewer muggings and murders than today, such
incidents were more newsworthy so the police rounds were the
central part of the news section," he told me.
This experience taught Benaud how to produce a story under the
pressures of time and space. "I was not to know it at the time,
but there was nothing I have done in my life which has proved
more valuable in presentation on television." But the job also
had its darker side. "There were plenty of gruesome sights
around. It is difficult to see someone who has just been murdered
and then have to write about it."
While Benaud was vigorously pursuing his new profession from
1956, he was also enjoying his first real success in the Test
arena. After a string of early failures, Benaud rewarded the
selectors' faith in him with far greater consistency from 1957. A
dashing, often explosive batsman, brilliant fielder, and
dangerous leg-spinner with a classical action and rare control,
he became one of the great all-rounders, the first to take 200
wickets and make 2,000 runs at Test level. It was, however, as
captain of Australia that Benaud the player is probably best
remembered, winning back the Ashes in 1958-59 and holding them
until his retirement. He is typically modest about his
achievements. "Captaincy is 90 per cent luck."
He says that the best five captains during his time in the game
have been Ray Illingworth, Mike Brearley, Keith Miller (captain
of New South Wales but never of Australia), Ian Chappell and Mark
Taylor. Of his own playing career, he feels that probably the
greatest moment was his spell of six for 70 at Old Trafford in
1961, which ensured that Australia kept the Ashes. On that last
afternoon England, set 256 to win, were cruising at 150 for one.
Then Benaud went round the wicket, had Ted Dexter caught, bowled
Peter May round his legs, had Close caught at square leg and
bowled Raman Subba Row. "Without that win, I wouldn't be sitting
here talking to you now. We wouldn't have retained the Ashes and
I would have gone home a loser." Other great moments include the
famous tied Test with the West Indies at the start of the 1960-61
series.
"That was easily the best, most entertaining series I took part
in. It completely changed the face of cricket in Australia,
bringing a new enthusiasm for the game." In the Fifties, he has
fond memories of his first series as captain in 1958-59. "It was
very important that we won back the Ashes because you have to
remember we had almost gone a decade without winning a series
against England." The bowler he most enjoyed captaining was the
great left-arm paceman Alan Davidson. "I bowled him unmercifully
but, contrary to the rumours, he had good endurance."
Talking of the all-time greats, Benaud rates Shane Warne among
them. "Bill O'Reilly was much quicker, more like Derek
Underwood's pace, and Clarrie Grimmett was round-arm, but Warne
is the greatest of his type." Of the famous Warne shoulder, he
says: "I have got a feeling he will come back brand new. He's
determined not to return prematurely if there is the slightest
danger of any problem because he wants to play for at least
another five years. He's trying to be very patient. I saw him
bowling recently and he produced everything I wanted to see. I
was very heartened by what I saw." Of the quicker men, Benaud
rates Dennis Lillee as probably the best with Ray Lindwall not
far behind. But "Frank Tyson was the fastest I ever saw and I
certainly wouldn't have wanted to bat against Jeff Thomson at his
peak." Like Warne, Benaud was plagued by a shoulder injury in the
later part of his career, which hastened his retirement during
the 1963-64 series against South Africa. "My shoulder was much
the same as Warne's and it would have been medically possible to
operate. But it would have been a straightforward knife job and I
would not have been offered the same expertise and medical
facilities as Warne. It was right to step down then and give
Bobby Simpson the experience of captaincy before the 1964 tour of
England."
Following his retirement from first-class cricket in 1964,
Benaud's career as a commentator and writer has flourished. One
of the most refreshing features of his media work is his refusal
to wallow in nostalgia, unlike so many ex-cricketers. He
discounts pessimistic talk about any decline in standards.
"Today's cricketers don't play it any more or less hard than we
did and no doubt they enjoy it just as much. Of course, they are
better paid but I'm very pleased that Australia are now getting
their fair share of what's going on." Nor is he inclined, like
some other pundits, to kick fellow commentator Geoff Boycott when
he is down. "I saw some people claiming Boycott is not popular in
the commentary box. But I just can't see that. The BBC lot were
like a cricket team, full of different personalities but we all
got on."
Benaud is a keen advocate of the modernisation of cricket,
envisaging that some of the planned World Cup in the Caribbean
might be played in Disneyland, Florida. "They could televise some
World Cup games to the rest of the world from there. People might
say that this is nonsense but they said the same about day-night
cricket when it started 21 years ago and it has been a great
success. That is not to say that cricket will become a world
sport but it could certainly move around the world." It was this
wider vision that made Benaud such an asset to Kerry Packer's
World Series Cricket, an episode about which Benaud has no
regrets. "I think each year that passes shows what a good thing
WSC was."
On the current series, Benaud feels that England have a better
side than for a decade, though he disagrees with claims that Alec
Stewart has made the side more competitive. "I thought they were
very competitive under Atherton. He has got the competitive
spirit running through every millilitre of his blood." The
problem, as so often recently, is trying to bowl a side out
twice, especially since England lack a top-flight spinner. Benaud
feels that this is due to the absence of uncovered pitches, on
which the likes of Underwood learned their craft. Even worse is
the denigration of leg-spin. "England seem to regard leg-spinners
as a stupid luxury."
Benaud is happy to continue providing such analyses "as long as I
can do a decent job. I've got some good friends who'll let me
know when I'm making mistakes." His final words about his fame as
the face and voice of world cricket are characteristically
modest. "You could have the picture on with no commentary and
people would see what's going on."
Richie Benaud's latest book 'Anything But An Autobiography' is
published by Hodder and Stoughton at £17.99.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)