The Rediff Cricket Interview/ Richie Benaud
'Players are slowly, but surely, losing the ability to stay longer at the crease'
One of the great Test captains, Richie Benaud remains a household
name thirty years after he retired, thanks to his sterling work as a cricket journalist and broadcaster.
Benaud first played for Australia in Tests
against the West Indies in 1951-52, aged 21. He became a notable
all-rounder, a tough competitor, and an enterprising, adroit leader
who captained his country in four successive, triumphant series.
He lost only four of his 27 Tests as captain. Anant Gaundalkar spoke to him in Sharjah this week.
Has international cricket changed very much from the days
when you played the game?
When I played the game, there was no one-day international
cricket. Its introduction during England's tour Down Under in 1971 and its subsequent popularity means that such matches are part of any
itinerary these days. In our days there were more first class matches
which were used as practice games before
Tests. These games were useful for
players to get into the proper groove and occupy time in the field.
Limited-overs cricket has replaced these 3-day/4-day
matches. The one-dayers where all the action and drama takes place
in a short span of 100 overs is taxing and snaps the energy
of players. This is bound to affect players to a great extent,
and the number of injuries to players have increased of late.
Due to the emphasis on limited-overs cricket --
which is, of course, the main money spinner -- players are slowly,
but surely, losing the ability to stay longer at the crease. The
instances of 200-plus innings in Test cricket are diminishing.
Sachin Tendulkar provides the classic case of a player yet to get
to that mark in Test cricket and just doing that in first class
cricket this year.
The International Cricket Council must
devise a proper plan so that an overdose of cricket -- both Tests
and one-dayers -- is avoided. Each country must be allotted a fixed
quota of matches which are spaced properly during the course of
the season. Players should get proper rest and respite.
Who will bag the next World Cup in your opinion?
It is very difficult to predict the winner in limited-overs
matches, simply because anything can happen on a given particular
day. It is very unpredictable. The top team in the world
can disintegrate in the next outing. Going by the recent
performances of various teams, I think four teams -- world
champions Sri Lanka, India, Australia and South Africa -- have the
best credentials to emerge at the top. It can be anybody's game.
I am glad the World Cup has returned to England after sixteen years. It will be a great championship.
When Shane Warne took 300 Test wickets, you said he would go on to capture 600 victims. With a shoulder injury affecting his recent perfomances, do you think he will fulfill your forecast?
What I said was that if Warne plays as many matches as he has till now, he certainly has the ability to take 600
Test wickets. His strike rate at this juncture is almost five
batsmen per game. If he appears in another 60 Tests, he will cross the 600 wicket barrier. I am sure
about it. Of late his shoulder has given him considerable problems.
If he can sort that out with a possible operation, he has many more years of cricket left in him, and the splendid capability
to take wickets, Test after Test.
Apart from a handful of batsmen,
most players have failed to read Warne's variety.
I think he is the best spinner ever to play Test cricket
and enjoys a clear edge over the others.
And where do you rate Sachin Tendulkar?
He has defined cricket in his fabulous impeccable
manner. The way he goes around, murdering any bowling attack in
the world, is a sheer delight to watch. His stamp of authority
and arrogance is all written over his game. He is technically a very sound
batsman, mentally tough and enjoys the uncanny ability to destroy
any bowling with utmost ease. He is to batting what Warne is to
spin bowling -- both class players in their own way and going
great guns indeed.
What do you think about the match-fixing charges in world
cricket?
I cannot comment on it. But cricket is a gentleman's
game and I don't find any truth in these allegations. More than
that, I don't want to say anything. But the focus of attention
over this issue is more in India and Pakistan where there is enormous
following over cricket.
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