| Non-motoring > Mo(u)rning, everyone | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: WillDeBeest | Replies: 19 |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 06:56
Mo(u)rning, everyone - WillDeBeest
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Funnily, I found myself thinking about Richie Benaud yesterday - perhaps I'd subconsciously heard a report of his illness - before switching on the radio this morning and hearing the news of his death. I don't remember him as a player, of course, but my dad did and was full of admiration for his leadership and tactical acumen - especially his "What would the opposition like least?" test for his own decisions. But I grew up with his voice - probably the first Australian one I heard - and his prolonged silences when he felt the TV pictures alone said enough. His end of play summaries were masterly: no waffle but perfectly judged to fill the time available. Significantly, he wasn't pulled into media work when he retired as a player; he trained at his own expense as a new sparer reporter, so he was already a proper journalist by the time he got to the commentary box. Apart from the lack of wasted words, what I most appreciated was his focus on the game he was talking about, with none of the 'in my day' reminiscences and comparisons that can make ex-players so hard to listen to. It was what the viewer needed to hear, not what he wanted to say, and commentators on any sport could still learn from him. So farewell, Richie. You did a fine job. Twice. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 08:51
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Zero
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| Yes, voice of cricket for me. What always struck me was that, despite being obviously fiercely supportive of his native country, he was scrupulously fair with his commentary. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 10:17
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Robin O'Reliant
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>> Yes, voice of cricket for me. What always struck me was that, despite being obviously >> fiercely supportive of his native country, he was scrupulously fair with his commentary. >> Two of his commentating mantras were "There are no such teams as 'They' and 'We", and to only say something when it was needed to inform the viewer/listener. Something many of today's screeching idiots would do well to take heed of. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 10:31
Mo(u)rning, everyone - VxFan
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>> Richie Benaud Never heard of him until your mention. But then I'm not a fan of cricket so that's probably why. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 11:13
Mo(u)rning, everyone - sooty123
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>> >> Richie Benaud >> >> Never heard of him until your mention. But then I'm not a fan of cricket >> so that's probably why. >> Normally it's me that hasn't a clue about the RIP threads in here, very rarely heard of anyone people put up threads about. But for once I've heard of him. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 11:48
Mo(u)rning, everyone - WillDeBeest
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One thing I forgot to mention: Benaud's last commentary appearance in England was in 2005, also the last time in this country cricket was universally visible on TV. He didn't follow the money to Sky when the ECB did, not because Sky didn't want him - they would have snapped him up - but because he believed firmly that cricket belonged on free-to-air TV, where the casual sports fan as well as the committed cricket tragic could see it. This will be the tenth home summer without free-to-air cricket. In those summers the England team has won the Ashes twice, beaten India to become the top-ranked team in the world, yet failed to dominate the sporting conversation because only the converted and committed could see it. The ECB has stacks of money, and invests it in coaching and resources at clubs like mine - which is great for the kids whose parents bring them along - but the adult recreational game is atrophying for want of players. I can still command a regular Saturday place in my mid-40s, and there are days when I'm in the younger half of the team! The honourable exceptions, of course, are British Asian cricketers, of whom there are plenty, but too many are gravitating to all-Asian clubs, which are no more desirable than all-white clubs. Cricket used to unite the nation in the summer. It's very sad that the ECB's dash for cash has hidden it away where the nation can't see it. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:11
Mo(u)rning, everyone - sooty123
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| I guess it's a difficult balance to strike. Without the money many a club might well have disappeared. Free to air tv, was at times poor at times. Breaks for 'os racing etc. Sky's commentary is pretty slick I've not got it any more but it was always impressive i thought. A little too 'ex captains club' but still overall very good. Like i say it's not easy to balance. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:26
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Manatee
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I watched a fair bit of cricket when it was free to air, and followed it quite closely. I'd also usually go to at least one test match every year. I won't pay for Sky and I have largely lost touch with the game. I read match reports for a while but couldn't sustain the interest. Benaud's commentary was a joy to listen to, for the cognoscenti and casual listeners alike. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:33
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Boxsterboy
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| I would rather watch paint dry than watch test cricket, and so I was rather pleased when it went to Sky and didn't clutter up valuable free-TV time. But I did admire Benauds commentary style. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:39
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Zero
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>> I would rather watch paint dry than watch test cricket, anyone who can't appreciate test cricket should be slapped in irons and put aboard the next convict ship to Australia |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:58
Mo(u)rning, everyone - sooty123
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>> I would rather watch paint dry than watch test cricket, and so I was rather >> pleased when it went to Sky and didn't clutter up valuable free-TV time. Plenty of other stuff on to watch. Desperate to watch the 3.15 from doncaster? ;) |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 21:13
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Harleyman
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>> >> I would rather watch paint dry than watch test cricket, and so I was >> rather >> >> pleased when it went to Sky and didn't clutter up valuable free-TV time. >> >> Plenty of other stuff on to watch. Desperate to watch the 3.15 from doncaster? ;) >> Compared to most of the dross on free-to-air telly, even 'oss racing has its merits and I'm certainly not a fan of it. I'd love to have Sky Sports but couldn't justify the expense just for cricket, and anyway I'd get even less done at home than I do now. The Channel 5 highlights show, whilst useful, doesn't really scratch the itch so for many years I've relied on TMS for my cricket fix. Benaud was one of the best, up there with John Arlott and CMJ as a commentator. He'll be much missed. RIP. |
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New Sat 11 Apr 15 08:33
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Cliff Pope
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>> I would rather watch paint dry than watch test cricket, Actually, watching paint dry can be rather fascinating. For a start you can check anxiously to see whether any runs (geddit?) are developing, showing that you applied too much paint. Is there still time to try and brush out the run, or has the drying process already begun and is it too late without spoiling it any more? Then there are the special effects, deliberate and accidental, from using a different kind of top coat to the undercoat. There are so many influencing factors - kind of paint, temperature, wind, dilution, age, use of driers. Oh yes, there's so much more to it than boring old cricket. :) My only grouse with mourning is when people can't pronounce it properly, and rhyme it with "morning". Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Sat 11 Apr 15 at 08:34
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New Sat 11 Apr 15 10:56
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Robin O'Reliant
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| You know how to live, Cliff. |
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New Sat 11 Apr 15 12:04
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Manatee
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>> My only grouse with mourning is when people can't pronounce it properly, and rhyme it >> with "morning". They are the same people who rhyme "our" with "are", i.e. nearly everybody. I'm frequently the only one in step:) |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:33
Mo(u)rning, everyone - WillDeBeest
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Sky's coverage is superb, no doubt about it. I could - and occasionally do - happily watch it all day, or even all night. The coverage of county and women's cricket is commendable too, and has given other branches of the game a deserved boost. But a lot of the problems in the old days of free to air were due to the limitations of four analogue TV channels. Cricket had to share one channel with racing, tennis, bowls, whatever. Digital has abolished the capacity problem - look at the content on the multiple ITV, -4 and -5 channels and you can see it's not space they're short of - so an ECB determined to put its product back in the shop window could easily find a free channel to show it on. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 12:55
Mo(u)rning, everyone - sooty123
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| True it's different now, not sure how well the game would cope with the loss of money? |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 15:01
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Stuartli
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Richie Benaud was a wonderful commentator and someone whose inside knowledge of the game was a marvellous asset. To my mind, equally as magnificent as Richie, are Henry Longhurst and Peter Alliss. The former sadly left us in 1978, but Alliss continues to delight with his silky delivery, remarkable level of personal reminiscenses and involvement with golf and so many of the clubs throughout the UK and other parts of the world. |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 20:31
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Cockle
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Very like you WillDeBeest, I grew up listening to Richie Benaud and have always felt that his style was the epitome of how cricket commentary should be done, knowledgeable comment and comment only when there is something to say; I feel too many of today's crop feel they have to fill the soundtrack continuously to justify their existence. I was told that I once met Richie Benaud when my father, a vintner at the time, was introduced to him at an Australian wine growers trade evening after a day's play at Southchurch Park between Essex and the 1964 touring Australians to which my father had taken me to introduce me to the game; I was 7 years old and the only thing I remember is my father being given a tie pin and cufflink set, which I inherited and still have. Richie had retired earlier that year but was over here starting his commentating career and helping out with the tourists. Interesting to see your comments about the loss of cricket from free to air broadcasters and the impact on the game as well as the money it has brought into the game. I retired from playing League cricket four years ago at the age of 54, can't see the ball anymore, at least not at the speed these youngsters want to hurl it down.... Bit of a problem for a batsman :-) Therefore I've been around a bit, just like yourself. Back in 2004 I was helping out with the coaching of my club's youth teams, we had about 50 lads across the various age groups and had had some quite successful teams over the years and produced a lot of players who went on to play for us and moved on to clubs higher up the pyramid and some who went on to represent the County at age group and up to County Seconds. The local youth set-up was based on many of us as volunteers and various clubs at different levels were involved, there were 4 or 5 of the 'town' clubs locally, who play in the top county league, ourselves, playing in the next league down with a lot of the 'village' clubs, and three of the village clubs. The 'town' clubs, us and one of the village clubs had four adult XI's, one of the village clubs three XI's and the other two sides. By the end of 2005 we had become inundated with youngsters who had seen the 2005 Ashes on TV and wanted to play this wonderful game they'd seen, we went from 50 youngsters to just over 200! We then desperately needed more coaches so the club committee and the members agreed that we would pay for the training of more coaches and improve our facilities. Over the years this has reaped rewards and a large number of our First and Second XI squad players are players we first taught to pick up a bat and bowl a ball on those manic Summer evenings. :-) At the time we thought this could herald a new golden era for club cricket, and cricket in general, in this country. Then came the Sky money..... The money seemed to be designated for the 'focus' clubs which just happened to include our local 'town' clubs with the youth sections, no problem there, however, the 'village' clubs, it seemed, couldn't become a 'focus' club because our adult teams weren't in the right league standard. We all had the coaches, CRB checks and Clubmarks in place as required but not a penny trickled down. In the meantime we carried on self-funding our youth section, as we have to this day, while seeing the other 'town' clubs around us being coerced into becoming 'focus' clubs, getting funding and starting up youth sections. The funding the 'focus' clubs have received has allowed them to fund their overseas players as coaches to go into the local schools and therefore attract most of the youngsters to their clubs. Meanwhile our youth set up has steadily declined to the level where we are, this season, running only one U15 side, and it will probably be our youth section's final year. As a club, we've been pretty lucky as we've been amongst the last to suffer due to lots of efforts at recruitment over the last few years and we've been able to continue as a four side club and actually get several promotions. We're fortunate in that we've retained most of our lads and have picked up quite a few from the surrounding 'focus' clubs where they haven't quite made the grade to break into the higher league standard but they want to carry on playing the game. Sadly the other 'village' clubs have suffered far worse. The one with two sides ended up folding completely, leaving the village with no cricket club, it has recently been reformed by a few ex-players and their sons as a one side club but plays 8 divisions below their former position. The one with four sides ended up as a two side club with a small, unviable, number of youngsters and consequently merged with the nearest 'town' club. The three side club's youth section folded fairly quickly when most of their lads left to join a new 'focus' club set up and they soldiered on for a few seasons ending up as a one side club before aligning themselves with a nearby 'focus' club and being used as their nursery side. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the move from free to air televising of cricket and the impact of the Sky money has had an almost inevitable and, probably, irreversible affect on the recreational game and the younger persons experience of involvement in the game. All things change, whether or not it is for the better is open to question. All I can say is that I played the game for over 45 years from first picking up a bat down the park and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and met some great people over the years, mostly ;-) |
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New Fri 10 Apr 15 22:46
Mo(u)rning, everyone - Duncan
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Reply to Cockle's post of 20:31. A not completely dissimilar thing has happened in Rugby Union. The game went professional in 1995. The money came in, the big clubs increased their spectator numbers from several hundred or a few thousand to 10,000 or 15,000. Where did those numbers come from? They came from the 20 and 30 something year olds who were previously playing the sport, but now turn up on a Saturday afternoon to watch professional rugby. My own club in South West London has gone from six XVs to one XV. Esher Rugby Club used to run thirteen XVs. Many clubs have shut down altogether. I cannot see the situation being reversed. I don't have an answer. |
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