Do you all remember those times when there used to be actual cricket commentary?
No, not like today, where you listen more to the gags or those jokes of the commentators or the retired cricket players mentioning the “good old days” when they used to do this or that.
No, we are not talking about that today.
We will talk about people who shaped the game of cricket in their voice, which still echo decades later: Richie Benaud and Tony Greig.
The names alone are enough for every dedicated cricket fan to go back in time and remember the Test match mornings with Benaud starting the day off with “Morning, everyone”. I’m sure everyone reading this feature has had a nostalgic moment for now.
October 6 marked what would have been the 94th and 78th birthdays of the late Richie and Tony.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on some nostalgic moments and pay tribute to the people whose voices still resonate with us.
Richie Benaud: The voice of cricket
Richie Benaud was born on 6th October 1930 in Penrith, New South Wales.
While many cricket fans know Richie as the ‘Voice of Cricket’, before starting commentary as his second innings, Benaud already had a remarkable test record, being the first player to score 2000 test runs as well as take 200 wickets.
One of the main questions at that time after the late Sir Don Bradman’s retirement was who would take Australian cricket forward? Would Australia be the same again? Here comes Benaud, helping the Australian team rise post-Bradman era as an influential player and captain.
Benaud captained Australia in 28 Tests, and believe me, he never lost a single series.
After 63 tests for Australia, Richie hung up his playing days, only to start as the voice of cricket for several decades.
Commentary icon Richie Benaud. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Those famous lines “what a ripper” or “marvellous” still echo in our hearts and minds especially for us young cricket fans who grew up playing EA cricket 07.
While he couldn’t help Glenn McGrath’s batting skills, he made him look better with his optimistic summary: “Glenn McGrath, just 98 runs short of his century”.
Who can forget that infamous commentary of Shane Warne getting Mike Gatting out with that ball of the century? He said: “Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to it… he still doesn’t know”.
It’s one of the most memorable pieces of commentary.
The 1981 Botham Test at Headingley (sorry Aussie readers, but we have to talk about this) had him commentating, “Don’t bother looking for that, let alone chasing it. That’s gone straight into the confectionery stall and out again”.
That became such a remarkable line in an engaging and interesting Test match.
The power of Benaud to deliver these strong lines, even when witnessing his team getting smacked, made him the most neutral commentator ever.
No cricket fan can forget or not know the infamous underarm bowling incident.
But what was even more memorable was the rant the former skipper had live on Channel 9, saying: “I think it was a disgraceful performance from a captain who got his sums wrong today, and I think it should never be permitted to happen again. One of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field”.
Can you imagine today’s commentators having the guts to speak against their own country? I definitely do not think so.
This is why Richie was the epitome of a cricket commentator: a neutral one, always standing for the game first.
Tony Greig: The charismatic personality
Then there was Tony Greig.
Known for his charismatic commentary and larger-than-life personality, Greig was also a remarkable player.
What can we say about him? Maybe ask the Indian fans in the 90s when Tendulkar was tearing into the Aussies in Sharjah.
Yes, the desert storm innings of 143 was made even more special it was like the catchy background music when a hero beats up the villain in the final act.
That’s what Greig was in that match, with lines like, “They are dancing in the aisles in Sharjah”, “Whaddaplaya, what a wonderful playa” and “The little man has hit the big fella for six… He’s half his size!”
These lines are stuck in the minds and hearts of every Indian fan.
Tony Greig (Photo by John Williams/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Now, Tony wasn’t just an amazing commentator; unlike Richie, he played in an era where you can still find videos of his playing days.
He played 58 test matches for England, scoring a decent 3,599 runs and taking 141 wickets. He also played 22 One Day Internationals, scoring 269 runs and taking 19 wickets.
Greig also enjoyed his tenure as a captain, and you could say his greatest achievements as a player were when he was captain, like winning the five-test match series in India 3-1 during the 1976-77 series after a 15-year drought.
He was a bit more controversial as a player, stirring up the crowd in the 1974-75 Ashes series or commenting in the lead-up to the West Indies series: “I intend to make them grovel”, which, of course, didn’t help the Poms against the strong West Indies side that defeated them 3-0 at home.
But aside from the controversy, Tony had the knack of making the most boring test match fun with his commentary; he would always make it interesting for the audience.
In the 2005 Ashes series, during the third test at Old Trafford, when England were 419-6 and still not declaring, there was a moment when Shane Warne was bowling, and the batsman and the bowler were getting distracted due to some sponsor girls near the sight screen.
A quick-witted Greig said: “Changing behind the bowler’s arm – that’s enough to put any batsman off. We might keep an eye on them”.
These small things, just to engage with the audience, were a special trait of Tony.
Their Impact on Kerry Packer
Both Benaud and Greig had a lot of similarities; both captained their national sides, had almost the same number of Test matches and stats, and they were both all-rounders.
But there’s one more similarity: they helped form the infamous Kerry Packer World Series.
Packer called up Benaud on April 6, 1977, to offer him the role of key advisor for this long-term project, and he also wanted him to be the voice of reason.
Benaud played a significant part in this revolution because even in the 50s, long before Packer came up with these ideas of colored jerseys, Richie always envisioned these changes and cringed at the dull cricket offered in the 50s.
World Series Cricket maestro Kerry Packer and England player Tony Greig chatting in 1979. (Photo by Allsport/Getty Images)
Now, returning to Greig, he was also monumental in this endeavor. He helped Packer by signing up many cricketers from England, Pakistan, and the West Indies.
Though this move didn’t turn out well, as most of the world was still apprehensive about it, Tony was stripped of captaincy in 1977, marking it as his last international game.
However, both of these gentlemen, along with Packer, helped shape the new era of cricket that we all love today.
The legacies of Richie Benaud and Tony Greig
Every human in this world has a purpose, and when they are done with it, they eventually pass away.
That’s the life cycle, isn’t it? Richie suffered from a car accident in Sydney in late 2014, which resulted in two fractured vertebrae.
Then, in November that year, he declared that he was battling skin cancer.
On April 10, 2015, our dear Richie Benaud left this world. His memories live on, thanks to those Richies who show up at the Boxing Day Test match every summer.
As for Tony, he passed away quite soon. He began limiting himself from commentary in the late 2000s.
While commentating for a test match between Australia and South Africa in November 2012, it was revealed that he was battling lung cancer.
What did Tony Greig endure? Chemotherapy, lung operations, and everything a lung cancer patient experiences.
When the cancer progressed to stage 4, his health deteriorated, and a heart attack took our beloved Tony away from this world on December 29, 2012.
These legends may be gone forever, but the memories, the fun, the joy, those iconic commentary lines, and the impact they left on our beautiful sport of cricket, especially on someone like me who was born in the 2000s, is remarkable.
Thank you for everything, Richie and Tony, you are deeply missed.
Comment down on your favourite commentary lines or memories of them in the comments section below.
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