Diamonds are not forever

I'm not overly comfortable with Tim De Lisle's 'Bradman of the Microphone' epithet, but one can hardly grudge Richie Benaud the eulogies. One of the many exceptional qualities the master possesses (in some abundance) is humility, which, when combined with a sharp observing mind, tremendous knowledge of the game and of course, an almost perfect understanding of the ways of the medium, makes him the best in the business. Among contemporaries, there is really not much competition, as reflected by the Wisden Cricketer poll. Mark Nicholas doffs his cap to the legend. My personal favourite, though, is Ian Chappell, who seems to have earned a deserved reputation for being a polemicist. Some, like Stu, even think he's courting cheap publicity. Possibly. As I may have commented on Stu's blog, there needs to be the odd one out who calls a spade a spade; doesn't matter if they don't always get it right. In any case, the real reasons I find Chappell engrossing is his dry wit, his knowledge of the game, his choice of words (not remotely as carefully chosen as Benaud) and the odd anecdote. I will take the Chappells any day over the boring and pedantic Shastris of the world. Thanks to Jagadish for the Mark Nicholas piece. - NK