New Article - Richie Benaud's book review by Lurker

[King]

Unlike most people I am a little sceptical when it comes to using the word "favourite". If you ask me my favourite movie, or actor or song or even food you would most possibly draw a blank. I am one of those who as soon as they mention a favourite movie, are immediately reminded of one that?s as good, if not better. Similar is the case when it comes to cricket commentary. I do not have a favourite as such but if I ever decided to compile a list of men I like to listen to while watching cricket, Richie Benaud would sit right amongst the very top. And I Richie would evoke similar sentiments in more cricket fans around the world than anyone else. Richie Benaud has to be the most famous person associate with cricket who has French blood in him. But why is he so popular? Apart from the facts that he was a stellar cricketer in his own right. One of the all-time greats who made 2000 runs and 200 wickets double. A great captain and a superb thinker of the game. Not to mention the fact that he may very well one of the last people who have seen everyone from Don Bradman, Sid Barnes, Hutton bat to rub shoulders along the likes of Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Frank Worrell, Gary Sobers et all. When such a man opens his mouth you just sit back and listen, with respect and awe. But the man does not speak much. And there in lies in his beauty. Richie excels in saying only that is absolutely needed. He belongs to the old school of "Don?t say anything if you cannot add to the spectacle". Young commentators can certainly learn from him. Even the seasoned campaigners like George Boycott. I swear every week or so I read a cricket article where the scribe mentions, "If Sir Geoffrey Boycott was watching this match he would surely say....? When was the last time you read the same about Richie Benaud? Right. So when I heard that Richie Benaud had written a new book I was certainly anxious enough to order it as soon as it came out. Just after Christmas I got it and let me tell you that it is a most wonderful read. Frankly it is the kind of book that is hard to slot in a certain category. It is surely not a serious read like CLR James's "Beyond a Boundary" or Ramnath Guha's "A Corner of a Foreign Field"(both amazing reads by the way). This is more the kind of book you would take and read like a story, page after page filled with anecdotes. Some from distant past, like the time Keith Miller was dropped and how Aussie players conspired to get him back, to the famous First Tied test where 3 batsmen were dismissed in the last over. It is laced with figures from Australian domestic cricket, indeed there is a whole chapter devoted to Aussies Hall of fame, to Ishwar Singh Redhu, the man who first picked Hansie Cronje talking on cellphone about match fixing. He picks 10 of the greatest spell of bowling (any team) and six innings of exquisite beauty (by Australians) that he has been privileged to see. Without giving much away the bowlers that make the cut are Alec Bedser, Jim Laker, Fred Trueman,Bob Massie, Michael Holding, Dennis Lilee, Bob Willis, Marshall, Shane Warne & Glenn Mcgrath. Amongst the batsmen are - Bradman, Neil Harvey, Bill Lawry, Greg Chappell, Steve Waugh, and Adam Gilchrist. Perhaps the greatest attraction to many would be the part where he picks his all-time greatest XI. The pickings generated so much interest that it was widely televised as a series and for many cricket fans, perhaps most, it was almost a definitive XI. Anyone picked was automatically designated better than the one who was not. What came as a pleasant surprise was that actually Benaud had picked three teams and then picked what he thought was the best amongst them. But even while writing his best XI he admits(and I quote him), "Exactly one hundred per cent of the people who read the final list of names will instantly be able to come up with their better eleven and in those selections they would pick one of the thirty-three names!". Here are his 3 teams : 1) Jack Hobbs, Gavaskar, Bradman, Viv Richards, Tendulkar, Sobers, Imran Khan, Gilchrist, Warne, Lillee, Sid Barnes 2) L Hutton, A Morris, W Hammond, G Chappell, Frank Worrell, K Miller, Richard Hadlee, Rod Marsh, O?Reilly, Ray Lindwall, F Trueman 3) V Trumper, G Greenidge, G Headley, G Pollock, Brian Lara, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Ian Healy, A Quadir, G McGrath, H Larwood I would say that I found the three teams very well matched and it is hard to pick any team which is the best. The reason team 1 may seem better of those two gents - Bradman and Sobers, else I would perhaps pick team 3 as the best. Okay that was partly due to Kapil Dev being in there. Sorry when it comes to certain selections I do manage to pick a favourite!

[King]

Re: New Article - Richie Benaud's book review by Lurker Please spare some time to read these articles please, our members spend good time to write these. Moreover each article you read you gain a lot of points as a member. Leaving comments gives you as many as points equivalent to about 10 posts. Please leave your comments on the front page in the article.