The irony of all the attention is that it would be something he’d shy away from if he were alive.
Since everyone is putting their tuppence and thruppence about the sad passing of the great man Richie Benaud, it would be remiss of the Gurgler to let this go without a though or two.
Simply put, Richie was the man. The man of cricket, the man of sports broadcasting, and the last decent man left in our summer of cricket.
It was only last year that we put the call out for our Man of the Year nominations to win the Golden Turpie, and one of the six was Richie Benaud, despite not having much to do at all in 2014 due to his car accident and illness. He doesn’t have to.
Here though was the summary of Richie’s Man of the Year nomination.
He didn’t win the overall award, beaten by the South Sydney mascot, but a complete coincidence that he ended up with just 2% of the vote. Maybe it was meant to be.
The endless tributes have were expected, as was the Channel 9 special on Saturday night, which was surprisingly not as bad as it could have been. It could have been hosted by Michael Slater. Amongst all the predictable Richie and I stories the highlight of it all was the montage of just Richie’s commentary without any anecdotes or need to clarify or introduce what you’re just about to see and comment afterwards like modern TV methods.
Amongst the TV tribute and the many news soundbites, web and news articles (the best from the 12th man himself) there was a theme around the man. Humble, gentleman, honest and a style of commentary that was subtle, studious and a less is more delivery.
Hopefully all the new breed of commentators were taking notes or at least turning the self indulgence in their heads down for a second to embrace the lesson. As all of the above qualities are invisible in the current commentary team.
In all the highlights there wasn’t talk of what they had for lunch, or flashing to great moments in cricket which always seem to revolve around the current cast. He probably had as many to offer as one of the greatest all rounders of all time, but although there’s an argument that would be limited footage to share, can one possibly imagine a team strategy meeting with Richie announcing he’d like the 3 for 14 against Kenya or a great slips catch in the One Day final against Pakistan in whatever year? No.
The less is more example couldn’t be anymore pronounced with the classic That is the Record line used describing Dennis Lillee. In fact the clip we have below is a fine example of the man at his best. Full of stats you know haven’t been handed to him by a producer, full of warmth and ultimate respect from another of the greats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdwnMDmTUBQ
After listening to the clip one could argue that there wasn’t always the sublety of Richie and there was the more pants on fire delivery of Tony Greig back in the day, but they only needed one of them at a time to do it, not three wrestling each other to delivery the biggest superlative and soundbite for the news.
Maybe the current crop could go back and listen to their own words about Richie and make a difference to next summer, or perhaps the lowest common denominator of commercial TV has an inextricable grip on sports broadcasting to make zero difference. Just like the Aussie cricket team said they were going to change after Phil Hughes death, only for the on field antics to ramp up. As Michael Atherton remarked about Richie’s advice – “you are being invited into people’s living rooms for six an hours a day, try not to annoy them.” Advice worth noting if not for the arrogance.
Enough about the TV commentary of today, it was a long summer. It should be all about Richie, even if he wouldn’t have wanted it so. Another great character of yesteryear has gone, to be forever mimicked with love, and never able to be replaced.
His family had the chance of a state funeral so deserved. It was knocked back as Richie wouldn’t have wanted it that way. Not all about him. How typical.
