Another RIP - Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud died within the past few days. Another of my boyhood heroes down. While I modelled Jim Laker, an offspinner, there was something about Benaud's style that, even though he was captain of the "enemy" - the Aussies - I really liked. He was enthusiastic and showed it at a time when the game was still dominated by "stiff upper lip" culture. Even though I wasn't yet ten and TV coverage was limited I still remember his famous match-winning spell at Old Trafford in 1961 bowling into the rough from the bowlers' follow-through. What was amazing was to see him become a legend - I don't use the word lightly - as a cricket commentator and journalist. He has achieved an extraordinary status, beloved by three generations of cricket fans. For those who don't follow cricket it's likely impossible to explain this. North American sports fans would be truly baffled. What all the quoted reactions say is, for once, entirely true: he followed the rule, "if you don't have anything to say to add to what you see, say nothing". The corollary; when he spoke, it was worth listening. This, of course, is very "old school", very pukka, very cricket, yet Benaud was modernizer; his love of the game was so deep that he wanted to see it advance and played a surprisingly influential role  in that process. There will not be another.