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.”

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

“Writing is difficult all the time; the thing is to learn something every day.”

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

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

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