Luke Alfred speaks to Richie Benaud, doyen of cricket commentators, about the test
series which starts next week
RICHIE BENAUD has always been a lover of cricket, a commentator who manages to preserve the illusion of impartiality like few others. As a servant of the game who floats almost disdainfully above the petty attractions of county and nation, he is the ideal “expert” to comment on the forthcoming test series between England and South Africa.
Cricket is not only his love, but his livelihood — he follows the game without interruption across the globe. “There’s a difficulty in keeping one’s enthusiasm going,” he says in his distinctive Sydney accent. “It’s easier if the cricket I watch is good cricket, though you do always get a bad day at the office occasionally, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing.”
He is forthright on the changes introduced by England’s new chairman of selectors, Ray Illingworth. He approves of Illingworth’s intention (given the opportunity) of playing two spinners against the South Africans and dispensing with more established players such as Graeme Hick and Robin Smith if they continue to perform poorly.
“I think Illingworth is doing a very good job. And I think Atherton is as well. You mustn’t lose sight of Michael Atherton — who has come into the captaincy. Illingworth has brought him along as a senior figure and he has brought him along very well.”
Having watched both sets of tests and all the limited-over internationals against Australia, Benaud feels the South Africans’ strength lies in the one-day format, although he believes they are improving when it comes to test match cricket.
Although the Proteas’ early-tour form has been frustrating, with many matches rained out and the batting particularly worrying, Benaud thinks they will cope in England. “The South Africans will adapt very well to English conditions. Whether they have precisely the right team, or whether they were able to pick the right team, is another matter,” he says diplomatically.
“If you have the sort of weather they’re forecasting, you’ll have a dry summer with pitches like Old Trafford (scene of the third test between England and New Zealand) where the ball turned a bit and favoured the pace bowlers. It had plenty of bounce and plenty of pace as well. That may or may not allow them to play both spinners (Tim Shaw and Pat Symcox). But my own feeling is that they’d only want to play one anyway.”
Although he spent considerable time in South Africa earlier this year, Benaud does not feel qualified to speak on the political changes. “It would be like someone coming to Australia and offering their opinions on Australia after being there for only 52 days,” he says. “Except that I was delighted to see — and hopefully it will keep going — that the level of violence dropped once the elections had been completed.”
But back to a subject close to Benaud’s heart — the intriguing prospect of the South African attack being led by spinners. “Well don’t discard the thought. Circumstances might decree before the end of this series that Symcox and Shaw bowl out England and win a test match,” says Benaud. “That would be something that would please me greatly.”