Excitement in the air

Bill Lawry is surprisingly sprightly for a 76-year-old. The former Australian captain, who was part of the legendary commentary team on Channel Nine along with Richie Benaud and the late all-rounder Tony Grieg, was back behind the mike for the Melbourne Test to regale the audience.

Lawry’s respect for his first captain Benaud and fondness for Tony Grieg are obvious. A proud Victorian, Lawry obviously misses his job as much as the television viewers miss him. Deccan Herald caught up with him at the MCG. Excerpts:
 
How did it feel to be back in the box, albeit temporarily?

Obviously I miss it (commentating) a lot but my voice is not well, I am 76 years of age and so I decided to cut back. Luckily I could do Melbourne (Test). I have been very lucky to have been on Channel Nine for 37 years so I can’t complain. It’s been a wonderful journey. I just loved doing Melbourne because it’s my home town, it’s great to come to this great stadium and watch the best players in the world. What I really like about these 37 years is skills of all the great players I have seen. You go to the Tendulkars and the VVS Laxmans and the Azharuddins from India and you go to David Gower, Botham and John Snow from England… I have just been in a good place.

Did you always want to be a commentator?

Never had any intention to become a commentator… It’s just that when the World Series Cricket started in 1977-78, Richie Benaud got Channel 9 to ring me up and join the commentary team. I had done a few local games but it was never my ambition to become a full-time cricket commentator. I loved doing it but always had a full-time job as well as a salesman for a large manufacturing company for 28 years.

Talking of Benaud, could you take us through your commentary partnership?

Richie Benaud is Channel Nine and was Channel Nine back then. It’s (setup) a lot different today, he held up the commentary team and he anchored the show… If it rained he was in the commentary going through the dismissals, we didn’t have the extra air (time) which we have today. We would start 10 minutes before play and Richie would go through dismissals of the previous day. And then he would have shows in the afternoon, at tea break and after the day’s play. It was all Richie Benaud and we would all surround him. It was just a wonderful place to be and Richie has always been a professional. We were sort of back up boys and in the back of the box.

Unlike Benaud you were an excitable character…Unlike my batting, I have always been an excitable person. Obviously, as an opener you need to get your side to a good start and those days, you would know, there were no helmets, no big bats and the pitches weren’t covered. So you needed to concentrate a lot harder in the middle. When I am there (in commentary box), I look at the play and I will commentate about what happens in my way. If a wicket falls I get excited, if a batsman hits a good shot I get excited, if somebody drops a catch I get excited. That’s the way I watch the play. I was always involved with the game when I was playing, forgot where I was. I still watch every ball of a match and I just love the game.

What do you look to add when you are commentating?

Tony Grieg once said it’s easy to be a commentator when everything is happening but it’s not so easy when nothing is happening. I think that’s when you need to try to be at your best to keep the people still interested watching the game at home.

I must admit there are times which are fantastic but there are periods in the game where the average person at home may not understand and that’s when hopefully your expertise will explain what’s happening. Explain maybe why somebody is batting slow or why they are bowling for defensive fields because the average person at home doesn’t always understand the tactics of the game, especially when we have got T20 and 50-over games.

When you come to a Test, after an hour it will be 50 for no loss whereas in a 20-over game it may be 120! You should never assume that people watching at home completely understand the game. I mean people who haven’t played cricket may think it’s a silly game because you play six hours a day for five and still don’t get a result. So it’s a completely different game… You play soccer or tennis you get a result but not necessarily in cricket. We were always told that never assume that the audience understand the game.

You mentioned Tony Grieg… He was another excitable character like you.

Well it’s been two years (since he passed away on December 29, 2012). He was a tremendous voice not only on Channel 9 but Tony Grieg was well known in India, Sri Lanka or wherever he went. He was 6’ 8’’ or something, he was flamboyant, he had blond hair and he stood out in the crowd… He loved the game, he loved going to India and Sri Lanka. He was a great promoter for the game, particularly for television. When you sit back, there are not a lot of people with that capability. You need Tony Griegs to promote the game. We were very good friends and his knowledge of the game was fantastic. He is actually under-rated as an all-rounder, he is up there with the best all-rounders of all time.