Richie Benaud Quotes

The problem with relying on nostalgia for commentary is that people only remember the good things.

- Richie Benaud

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

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

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

The hallmark of a great captain is the ability to win the toss, at the right time.

- Richie Benaud

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

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

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

When my hair is long enough to be cut, I go to my wife's hairdresser, and she generally pays for it.

- Richie Benaud

From our broadcasting box you can't see any grass at all. It is simply a carpet of humanity.

- Richie Benaud

'Mullygrubber' is an Australian term which means something that creeps along the ground; it's like a little grub.

- Richie Benaud

Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. But don't try it without that 10 per cent.

- Richie Benaud

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

In fact, as a spin bowler, you have to work on the batsman over after over.

- Richie Benaud

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

Rory Bremner I have no problem with; he is a satirist, and a very funny one, too.

- Richie Benaud

A cricket ground is a flat piece of earth with some buildings around it.

- Richie Benaud

The slow-motion replay doesn't show how fast the ball was really travelling.

- Richie Benaud