In an extract from the novel book Benaud in Wisden,Rob Smyth pays tribute to a colossus of the game whose wit, nous and decency shone through on the field and in the commentary boxIn his foreword for The Wisden Anthology 1978–2006, or Richie Benaud wrote: “Wisden tells us everything approximately the game of cricket,always has.” The compliment is easily returned. Few have ever spoken approximately the game with as much knowledge or authority. Benaud read his first Wisden during his first Ashes tour in 1953; his name has appeared in every Almanack since, whether as player, and commentator or writer.
One of his essays was a tribute to the considerable Australian all-rounder Keith Miller in Wisden 2005. “ Keith Miller’s statistics … are maybe those of a very grand cricketer,but not a considerable one,” he wrote. “Those who look at them, or examine them closely and then give something of a wave of the hand,miss the point in the way that some people now dismiss Victor Trumper. Trumper’s batting average is ordinary compared to those who spend vastly more time at the crease, but much less time enthralling, or entertaining,bemusing and imprinting themselves on the minds of cricket followers.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com