In his book, “Over But Not Out” (pub Hodder and Stoughton 2011), the former Australian captain (for 28 of his 63 tests) and commentator, Richie Benaud, has a wealth of stories and advice for young players. Here are three which exemplify the man.
(1) On how to approach batting
“Ian Chappell said the most important thing he had discovered about himself, and about successful athletes, was that they are themselves and they don’t try to be anything else. Discussing the innings he played (when he scored a century) in 1997 at Edgbaston, Mark Taylor said his problem during the bad patch had been that he was going out there and trying to play like someone else, playing as others thought he should play, that he had tried every possible thing except batting like himself, something he had forgotten how to do. He then made a century.”
(2) On doing your best and never giving up
“There is no better example of the latter phrase than Headingley in 1981, where Ian Botham won the game for England. I know it’s a team game and Bob Willis took the second-innings wickets, and Mike Brearley captained the team with skill and panache, but this was Botham’s match.
The England players sensibly checked out of their hotel on the fourth morning, which didn’t mean they had totally given up, but they were looking realistically at the situation.
Australia had enforced the follow-on and were racing towards victory, Ladbrokes were offering 500-1 about England’s chances, and Botham turned it all around with a remarkable 149.
Botham was magnificent. The climax, with Brearley marshalling his men, and Willis, 8-43, steaming in from the Kirkstall Lane End, was one of the more exciting events in Test cricket history. Botham’s performance as an allrounder was superb – and all that after the England selectors, only two weeks earlier, had relieved him of the England captaincy and he had made a pair in the Lord’s Test, trudging off the famous ground and through the Long Room in complete silence.”
(3) On seeking advice (prior to making a test debut)
“In the course of the stroll Shane Warne asked me if there was anything I could offer by way of advice. All I offered was that he should keep it simple and develop a fiercely spun leg-break as a stock ball. A ball which he could pitch perfectly at will, and which could therefore be used as both an attacking and a defensive weapon. I warned him it would take four years to do it properly. Like all champions he made a nonsense of such strictures and did it, ‘on his ear’, in two!”