Bill Lawry - the chirp, the tweet and the knack of injecting life into the gentleman’s game - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
The fact that Lawry oozes with class behind the box, can in part be explained in light of some high profile matches featuring him as the main commentator. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahbubul-Alam-c73802 competition, which usually takes the form of a triangular series between the
hosts and two other teams, almost always features Lawry as the mainstay of the commentary box. He has forged a remarkable and affectionate partnership with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anthony-William-Greig-c45123, as the two of them are often heard muttering about each other, which hints at sibling rivalry.
They however, are not siblings by the greatest stretch of imagination, but their constant teasing and disagreements over petty issues, gives a humorous overtone to the audience and the game that often becomes uninteresting at times.
Lawry, unlike someone like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ian-Michael-Chappell-c63914, combines intelligence with a distinct quality, that only a few people are gifted with. His sense of humor is simply amazing and is unparalleled by many of his contemporaries. His closest rival could be Tony Greig,
yet Greig often goes overboard with his remarks. Yet Lawry concentrates solely on where the ball is deployed, smashed and deposited in the field, and his comments often sway with the ball missing the bat, or being deposited for four or six with ruthlessness.
It is almost as if Bill Lawry is the Kookaburra ball himself.
‘Got Em!’ is his trademark cliché. Very seldom has he been heard saying 'bowled him!', when the batsman’s furniture has been disturbed, and even when a chaotic passage of play takes place, Bill Lawry seems to sway with the game to the point of freaking out
with the microphone. The 1999 Cricket World Cup Semi Final at Edgbaston against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and Australia was a grand example of Bill Lawry at his very best. That game was one of the highlights of Lawry’s career behind the box. Throughout the game and especially
in the last over, where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Damien-William-Fleming-c52174, was when Lawry managed to captivate a nail biting audience. He shrieked and buzzed with excitement, yet retained that element of maturity which made him a modern great. When
the dramatic run out of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allan-Anthony-Donald-c43680 took place with the Proteas needing one run to progress into the Final, Lawry was at it again, by being shell shocked and made sure that his emotion blared to thousands of viewers who tuned into that live telecast. Cricket
fans throughout the world became overawed over the result of that game, and credit had to be given to the man from Thornbury for keeping them glued to their television sets.
Like many commentators of his generation, such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, Bill Lawry’s experience and excitable style can in part be explained in his numerous match winning pursuits against the toughest oppositions, when he used to play cricket
for Australia. Lawry was one of the few Australians who battled out against the likes of South Africa, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the 1960’s, which were cumbersome tasks in their own right. His experiences helped groom Lawry as a player, and he retired as one of
the undisputed greats of the game. A Test average of 47.15 and a highest score of 210 came as an impressive record for a man who has such an infectious imagination in the commentary box. As a player however, he was anything but laid back and he wore the Baggy
Green with great pride. The fact that he was a tough competitor and considered his sense of humor to be a key aspect of his personality has had a spillover effect in the commentary box. One could tell that this infectious personality stemmed from humble beginnings.
As he nears his late 70s however, the world could truly be deprived of the unique charm that Bill Lawry has managed to give them. He might be parodied and imitated in tribute to his contributions to the game, but he can never be replaced as one the most
entertaining experts that the gentleman’s game has ever seen. Cricket fans and fellow commentators would definitely be poorer without him.
Disclaimer: Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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