With the stroke of a pen, 40 years of innovation and inspiration was consigned to the dust bin of history; Channel Nine no longer has the contract to cover cricket in Australia. On Friday the thirteenth, unlucky in some eyes but not those of my wife Barbara-Ann who celebrated her birthday, what Kerry Packer had joined together, the men from Cricket Australia had put asunder.

It was the end of an era that began with revolution and ended with resignation; 40 years recalled with sadness but brightened by the characters who made the cricket coverage essential viewing for four decades. You can't think of Channel Nine's cricket coverage without immediately reflecting on the expertise of Richie Benaud. Benaud was the glue that held all the innovation and technology together; meticulous with his diction and as cool as a pina colada when things were going awry.