Richie Benaud

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It was sad leaving the BBC; not quite like being divorced, but you don't leave after a period stretching from 1960 to 1999 without feeling a certain number of pangs.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Sad
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The problem with relying on nostalgia for commentary is that people only remember the good things.
- Richie Benaud
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From our broadcasting box you can't see any grass at all. It is simply a carpet of humanity.
- Richie Benaud
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Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. But don't try it without that 10 per cent.
- Richie Benaud
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'Mullygrubber' is an Australian term which means something that creeps along the ground; it's like a little grub.
- Richie Benaud
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The slow-motion replay doesn't show how fast the ball was really travelling.
- Richie Benaud
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The hallmark of a great captain is the ability to win the toss, at the right time.
- Richie Benaud
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In fact, as a spin bowler, you have to work on the batsman over after over.
- Richie Benaud
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I know it's more five-star now than it was then, but it's still a difficult tour. In the same way as India and Pakistan players find it difficult coming to Australia. People sometimes have difficulty believing that.
- Richie Benaud
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But I think the only thing that annoys me about that is if I suddenly find someone on commercial radio or something like that, mimicking my voice or actions and trying to promote a product and pretending it's me doing it.
- Richie Benaud
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A cricket ground is a flat piece of earth with some buildings around it.
- Richie Benaud
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My mantra is: put your brain into gear and if you can add to what's on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up.
- Richie Benaud
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Rory Bremner I have no problem with; he is a satirist, and a very funny one, too.
- Richie Benaud
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The only thing that really annoys me is when all of a sudden you hear yourself on the radio advertising Smith's tyre shop or Blenkinsop's jam. They simply can't do that. And in Australia, occasionally I have to take action.
- Richie Benaud
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When my hair is long enough to be cut, I go to my wife's hairdresser, and she generally pays for it.
- Richie Benaud
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Writing is difficult all the time; the thing is to learn something every day.
- Richie Benaud
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Media were never allowed into an Australian dressing room until I became skipper. I changed that and invited them in at the close of play each day, thereby confirming for many administrators they had appointed a madman as captain.
- Richie Benaud
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Any captain can only do his best for the team and for cricket. When you are winning, you are a hero. Lose, and the backslappers fade away.
- Richie Benaud
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Coogee is a delightful, slightly old-fashioned suburb; it has parks and gardens and reserves, a good well-kept beach, and an excellent promenade above the beach. It is a suburb for people who appreciate those aspects of life.
- Richie Benaud
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Cricket has so many meanings to so many Australians. It’s become precisely that - an Australian way of life. And what a life it is. Some would even go as far as to say, ‘marvellous’.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Way
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The key thing was to learn the value of economy with words and to never insult the viewer by telling them what they can already see.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Keys
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When a cricketer gets hit in the private parts, he hopes the pain will go away very soon but the swelling doesn't!
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Pain
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Gatting at fine leg - that's a contradiction in terms.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Legs
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Cricket. Come summer holidays here in Australia not a whole lot else seems to matter. It's good stuff... Some would even go as far as to say, marvellous.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Summer
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Out in the field, you haven't got anyone whispering into your ear saying all sorts of things, you've got to do it yourself.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Ears
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Bruce Reid is not the worst batsman there is at international level but those who are worse would not need to hire the Myer Music Bowl to hold a convention.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Needs
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He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.
- Richie Benaud
Collection: Fabulous