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Favourite Richie Benaud moment

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Incredilble to think that Richie Benaud has been commentating on cricket in England since before the Beatles had their first hit. As with the retirement of John Arlott and the passing of Brian Johnson it's true to say "Summers will never be the same." Of all the hundreds of hours I spent listening to him commentate my favourite piece was from the 1981 series - which Richie described as his favourite series before the current one - when in the series changing innings at Headingley Ian Botham hit a straight six of Terry Alderman and Richie uttered the immortal words "Don't even bother looking for that, never mind chasing it. Straight into the confectionary stall and out again."

Thank you Richie and a happy retirement.
 

PY

International Coach
I got goosebumps when he received the well deserved standing ovation from the crowd today, what a legend.

I'm not sure what my favourite Richie moment is, though a couple of his phrases stick in the mind.

The obvious, "Good morning <insert presenter here>, good morning everyone". And the other one is something I've heard him say so many times and it's not even that special but I think it indicates his knowledge of what needs to be said and doesn't.

It's simply:
"Well....." - after something amazing has just happened on the field. A ball sails into the stands or a 'rip-snorter' of a delivery and he just says that and it hangs in the air. Shows he's amazed by it and doesn't want to ruin the moment by saying anything that can't be seen on the screen.

Sorry to see you go Richie and I would say enjoy your retirement but you've just signed a three-year deal with Channel 9. :D
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
his comments about coloured underwear making reference to nic pothas in the c&g final the other day made me smile :) as PY says the man is a legend in his own right, good job channel 4 has lost the cricket in some ways as there is no way that they can replace richie, a great shame that he has gone, he will be missed sorely.

But that said enjoy your retirement richie, you have certainly deserved it!
 

twctopcat

International Regular
PY said:
The obvious, "Good morning <insert presenter here>, good morning everyone". And the other one is something I've heard him say so many times and it's not even that special but I think it indicates his knowledge of what needs to be said and doesn't.
Yeah that for me. When Richie says that, everything is ok with the world. Truly great, along with Murray Walker for me, he will be truly missed.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
i miss him already actually, the prospect of watching another home test without him in the com box makes me feel sad already :(
 

twctopcat

International Regular
Like losing an old friend. I look forward to seeing him on channel 9 when some Oz games are shown on sky, hopefully the Oz - SA series. Won't be the same as waking up in the morning and having Richie talk over my first cup of coffee. :(
 

PY

International Coach
You see the stats?

He's witnessed 240,000-ish runs while commentating in England. That's unbelievable. :wacko:
 

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
I was asleep in NZ for the last session. Did they do anything or say anything to acknowledge Benaud's last commentary stint??
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
zinzan12 said:
I was asleep in NZ for the last session. Did they do anything or say anything to acknowledge Benaud's last commentary stint??
He got a standing ovation during the tea break.

And it was quite a good moment when Simon Hughes did a piece on Warne and said something like "this test is the last we'll see of one great leg spinner in England... and the last we'll see of another" before it went back to Richie.
 

_Ed_

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Richie's wit is something I've always loved. For example once in a gap between overs the camera was on 3 fat guys in the crowd, and he said "there were 3 wides in the last over...here are 3 more".

It's not a huge loss for me since in NZ we get more of Channel 9's coverage from Australia than we get from England so I won't be hearing much less of him. Huge loss for England though.
 

Zinzan

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FaaipDeOiad said:
He got a standing ovation during the tea break.

And it was quite a good moment when Simon Hughes did a piece on Warne and said something like "this test is the last we'll see of one great leg spinner in England... and the last we'll see of another" before it went back to Richie.
Nice...well deserved
 

Zinzan

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_Ed_ said:
Richie's wit is something I've always loved. For example once in a gap between overs the camera was on 3 fat guys in the crowd, and he said "there were 3 wides in the last over...here are 3 more".

It's not a huge loss for me since in NZ we get more of Channel 9's coverage from Australia than we get from England so I won't be hearing much less of him. Huge loss for England though.
Thats not so hard to take....I was under the impression he was retiring from all commentary.
 

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