It’s a sobering day for cricket fans who have been hit with the news that Tony Greig has been diagnosed with lung cancer. As a Channel 9 commentary team stalwart, Grieg’s brush with mortality serves as a stark reminder that a major changing of the guard will be on the cards sooner rather than later.
Any fan under the age of 40 has grown up listening to the Channel 9 commentary team every summer. Sure they are blatantly biased towards Australia, sure Channel 9’s insistence in cross-promotion is getting worse year after year, and sure, hearing Griegy’s getting all hot and heavy as he details the new hot spot innovations is a bit creepy, but it just wouldn’t be summer without Ritchie and the boys!
For several years Richie Benaud has been scaling back his involvement and it will be a sad day indeed when he retires the beige jacket for good. And where would that leave Bill Lawry, or Ian Chappell for that matter, without Greig to joust on-air with. The last decade has seen plenty of new blood introduced through Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Michael Slater, and Mark Nichols, and they’re doing a decent job. We can pick apart their styles; Taylor loves the sound of his own voice, Healy seems to be watching a different game altogether, and Nichols just wants to ask every player what it’s like to play Test cricket, but it’s not like the old guard haven’t been roasted for their irritating idiosyncrasies. It’s in spite, or because of in some cases, these idiosyncrasies, that we have accepted Richie, Bill, Chapelli, and Greigie into a lounge rooms summer after a summer. I hope we can milk a few more out of them yet.
Picture by Mark Nolan at Getty Images
