The game of cricket is gripped by sadness once more, with the passing of one its greatest icons and ambassadors. Vale Richie Benaud.
No one did it like Richie, and Summer won’t be the same without the instantly recogniseable voice or the wry jokes that took a few seconds to compute.
“And Glenn McGrath dismissed for two, just ninety-eight runs short of his century.”
In fact, it hasn’t been the same since he fell ill and left our lounge rooms over the past two years. The voice of cricket, synonymous with the gentleman-like qualities of the game, will be sorely missed.
We could have used him over a spiteful Ashes series and a World Cup where a dominant Australia bared their teeth once more. While commentators glossed over the send offs and relentless sledging, you feel it wouldn’t have happened under Richie’s watch.
The all-rounder played 64 Test matches and captained Australia before becoming the most iconic broadcaster in the game, bringing cricket to life for over half a century. He took over the microphone while the captain of Australia in 1960 and, with unique style, made beige seem colourful.
There was no grand send-off for Richie, he just slide into the background with out a fuss. A gentleman to the end, but forever linked to some of cricket’s most enduring memories.
Here’s a great video recently produced by Channel 9 with Richie talking about his fondest Boxing Day memories
