Despite all the other somewhat nastier goings on across the year, the larrikin is still very much alive and well in Australian cricket, and there is no more shining example of that than Melbourne Renegades keeper Tim Ludeman.
Ludeman, keeping stumps during the Renegades’ BBL clash with Adelaide last night, had the honour of being mic’d up while on the field so he could communicate with the Fox Sports commentary team.
Most other players would’ve kept the banter light and professional, and would have kept the content confined to purely what was going on in the game.
Ludeman, on the other hand, used the occasion to reach deep into the 12th Man bag of tricks to pull out an absolutely cracking impression of the late, great, Richie Benaud.
A mid-game impression. In the middle of an over. While keeping wicket. Super stuff, this.
SOUND UP: Absolutely brilliant from Tim Ludeman… or should we say Richie Benaud? 😂
It didn’t end here either. Full video: https://t.co/lFYzGYLl5u pic.twitter.com/eUllgwUCyJ
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 23, 2018
“Quite evenly poised, I think” is some inspired impression work. Billy Birmingham himself would have to tip the cap.
The only real crime here was that the commentary team didn’t prompt Ludeman into dropping the impression with the score at 2 for 22.
‘Course some things you just can’t force like that. The great man Richie would never have had it.
