There’s so much talk about 90’s kids on the internet but what really special about that period of time was the memories that cricket fans relate to. You’re hardly awake, too young to load yourself with caffeine, but those sleepy eyes are stuck on the TV where Richie Benaud passed the baton on to Tony Greig, wearing his fancy hat as usual, and your whole day is set.
Dubbed as the ‘voice of cricket’, Australia’s Richard Benaud was born on October 6, 1930, and went on to play 63 Test matches before retiring and taking up commentary. Only 16 years later, Anthony William Greig, a former England captain, was born in South Africa on the same day as Benaud, in the year 1946. Born 16 years apart, the two translated their brilliant cricketing careers to a legendary in the commentary box. While Benaud’s voice was a calm in the storm, Greig’s emotions were the storm itself. Both legendary characters still seem so personal that cricket fans have refused to call them by any other names but Richie and Tony.
Gone too soon, Greig left us all in pain as the news broke out of his passing away due to lung cancer, on 29 Decmeber 2012, just one day after Australia crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 201 runs in the Boxing Day Test.
"He was fantastic because if you threw something out there he'd come in boots and all. There was no holding back with Tony. We laugh because originally he was well known for putting the key in the big cracks while doing the pitch report but his knowledge of cricket was outstanding. His record as an all-round cricketer was excellent and if you made a blue about something he was right on to you. He was always challenging but always a great friend," former Australia cricketer Bill Lawry said about his good friend Tony Greig.
It’s 41 degree celsius in Sharjah, but the hottest on the ground is ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar, raring to go ahead of each delivery against a mighty Australian attack, simply impossible to stop. Tendulkar had taken care of the desert underneath but the real storm, a part of Sachin’s knock (131-ball 143) from the Coca Cola cup of 1998, was the man on the mic- Tony Greig.
Remember him screaming, “They are dancing in the aisles in Sharjah. Straight down the ground, wonderful shot, all the way for six, whadda player, whadda wonderful player.
“Oh its high, its high. its all the way, its way over the top in the crowd again, Sachin Tendulkar wants to win this match.”
If Greig was the storm, Benaud was the calm. His “Morning, everyone” would set any cricket fan’s day, that was the aura of his voice- the voice of cricket. In fact, the great Bill Lawry, who had to live through the loss of both his legendary colleagues, recalled Richie Benaud being ‘a man of few words'. If Greig’s electric commentary would resonate your emotions, Benaud would walk you through the anecdotes in cricket, a voice loved by the adults, the more mature fans.
But once in a while, he’d crack a joke or two. "And Glenn McGrath dismissed for two, just 98 runs short of his century", Benaud couldn’t help but highlight the legendary Australian pacer’s ineptness with the bat. Benaud, especially, loved to hit some out at Australian cricketers as his comment on Andrew Symonds manhandling a streaker could never be forgotten. "There was a slight interruption there for athletics,” Benaud had quipped.
On April 10, 2015, Richie Benaud left us all behind with his great memories and a legendary life and career to celebrate.
Remember Harsha Bhogle saying “I remain the teller of the story, not the story itself” but these two characters in cricket have been a part of the sport in a way that no one ever has or, arguably, ever will be.