Ian Chappell fondly recalls his friendship with the late Richie Benaud

ldquoAfter you Ianrdquo they were the first words spoken to me by Richie BenaudIt was 1962 and South Australia had just enjoyed a rare victory over a starstudded New South Wales lineup Benaud as the not out batsman magnanimously stood back to allow Les Favellrsquos team to walk off the Adelaide Oval first I was on the field as twelfth man and wasnrsquot about to leave ahead of the Australian captain and a man whose leadership style Irsquod admired from afar but he insistedAustralias Richie Benaud in 1960s PICGETTY IMAGESThat story is indicative of Benaud He was a thorough gentleman and meticulous in his preparation I was staggered he knew my nameHe was also a generous man Not long after the Adelaide Oval experience a Gray Nicholls bat arrived in the post while I was playing in the Lancashire League It was from Richie and so began a relationship that only ended after fifty two rewarding years with his sad passing on FridayHelpful suggestionI say rewarding that was from my perspective but Irsquom not sure what Benords received in return Often when I spoke to him or called he had a helpful suggestion which emanated from a mind that was regularly in lateral thinking modeAs a young man he advised me ldquoIan itrsquos cricketrsquos a simple game The simpler you keep it the better off yoursquoll berdquoWhen I became captain I called to explain how a mate had said ldquoYoursquove got the field in the wrong place for Garry SobersrdquoHe laughed ldquoTherersquos no right place for the field when Sobers is goingrdquo he explainedldquoAll Irsquod say is yoursquore wasting a fieldsman putting someone in the gully he hits the ball in the air in that directionrdquo he continued ldquobut itrsquos six inches off the ground and going like a bullet No one can catch itrdquoWhen I retired and turned my hand to writing and television he organised for me to commentate on the BBC with whom hersquod trained in 1956 mdash during the 1977 Ashes series He also suggested Richie rarely advised I become a member of the Australian Journalists Association so there would be no objection to me writing columnsHe did offer me advice once It was the 197677 season and we were commentating on the 0Ten network Over a drink he told me ldquoIan therersquos a better wayrdquoI was eagerly awaiting his thoughts on how I could improve my commentary when he expanded ldquoYou donrsquot have to tell every pest to piss off There is a better wayrdquoHe listed some options but I donrsquot think they registered as I replied ldquoBut sometimes I get a lot of satisfaction from telling someone to piss off BenordsrdquoThe very next day a strange thing happened I accepted an invitation to lunch with the officials where there was an even stranger occurrence I told a former schoolmaster of mine whorsquod recently written me a scathing letter that Irsquod enjoyed reading his missiveI walked away feeling buoyant and thinking Benords is right ldquoThere is a better wayrdquoWhen I happily related the incident he looked at me quizzically and said ldquoThen how do you explain what happened to me after playrdquoRichie had met a mate in the bar at the cricket ground and no sooner had he enjoyed his first sip of wine than a guy marched over to him and said ldquoYou donrsquot remember me do yourdquoA pause another sip of wine and then Benaud responded ldquoDonrsquot tell me Just give me a few seconds and Irsquoll get the namerdquoAfter a couple of exchanges the guy couldnrsquot contain himself and blurted out his name ldquoWell piss off thenrdquo was Benaudrsquos responseFor a man who lived up to his ldquokeep the game simplerdquo advice on the cricket field he had a propensity for complicating golf I remember when he proudly announced hersquod bought an odometer so he could measure courses and distances I was quick to remind him that his good friend and five times British Open champion Peter Thomson always said ldquoItrsquos a hand and eye gamerdquoHowever he did live up to his ldquokeep it simplerdquo advice as a television commentator and presenter ldquoDonrsquot say anything unless you can add to the picturesrdquo was his mantra as a commentatorAs a presenter he had that marvelous ability to make it look like everything was progressing without a wrinkle when in reality all hell was breaking loose in the studioIn the early days of Wide World of Sports he was opening the telecast at the Gabba when the set fell forward onto the back of his headWithout breaking sentence he slowly pushed back with his shoulders to move the set off his head and at that precise moment his watch alarm started buzzing Maintaining his composure while issuing a perfect sentence he surreptitiously reached under his cuff and turned off the alarmHe was the gamersquos great salesman but he could be hardhitting when he felt the need When Greg Chappell ordered brother Trevor to deliver the underarm against New Zealand he was quite critical of the move in his after match summaryRichie was always welcoming of new commentators but Mark Taylor was rather surprised to receive a note from him after one of his early stints Taylor had just described the fall of a wicket as a tragedy and when he unfolded the note it simply said ldquoThe sinking of the Titanic was a tragedyrdquoIt was illuminating to hear peoplersquos comments on Benaud Occasionally they would say ldquoI love Richiersquos commentary but itrsquos a pity he hasnrsquot got a sense of humourrdquoI felt like replying ldquoSo you watch television but you donrsquot listen to itrdquoHad a droll sense of humour His was a droll sense of humour and at times it could border on wicked We were discussing the unwritten rule of fast bowlers not bouncing fellow speedsters on air when I brought up an incident where Ray Lindwall hit Englishman Frank lsquoTyphoonrdquo Tyson in the head at the SCG in 195455Tyson had taken a pounding in the first Test at the Gabba as Australia thrashed England However the roles were quickly reversed when Tyson took 10 wickets at the SCG after being hit in the head by Lindwall In conclusion I said ldquoBut you were playing at the SCG that day Richie what happenedrdquoHe slowly picked up the microphone and said ldquoIt was a mistakerdquo then gently rested it back on his knee I was still laughing when uncharacteristically he raised his microphone again ldquoIrsquoll rephrase thatrdquo he said ldquoit was a very big mistakerdquoBenaud made very few mistakes in his life and he certainly didnrsquot with his choice of life partner If anything wife Daphne is even more organised than Richie and apart from cricket they also had a shared love for ballet and cats both the animals and the musicalAt his 2007 Hall of Fame induction Richie finished his speech with a number of thank yoursquos and concluded with ldquoAnd Daphne who is muchlovedrdquoThe same could be said of Richie Benaud mdash he was muchloved and will be widely and sorely missed