Few people can claim to have been such an authoritative voice on the game for as many years as Richie Benaud. Not that he is so self-indulgent to do so. He only ever gave advice to Shane Warne when asked.

Benaud's opinions carry weight but he never bludgeons you with the years of experience from on the pitch or in the commentary box. The wry subtlety only occasionally gives way to the sledgehammer.

That is not to say Benaud cannot surprise with his stance on the modern game. He clearly has little time for the team-bonding sessions and cavalry of assistants that are brought on every single tour these days.

However, he is not a trenchant traditionalist when it comes to the hold of Twenty20: "T20 is one of the greatest things ever to happen in the game of cricket. They [the players] look at it simply as the winning of the match and I love it."

Such an attitude underlines the spirit in which Benaud played the game which can be seen as a precursor to the dominant Australians of the 1990s, barring the Steve Waugh sledging and eternally slow over rates that he has always publicly slated.

On leaving Fremantle for the tour of England in 1961, Benaud and his great friend Neil Harvey came up with a policy that underlined enjoyment without fear of losing, with a clear emphasis on The Spirit of Cricket. After Australia has retained the Ashes under his captaincy, Wisden remarked that Australia "never deliberately set themselves to play for a draw."

Much of the book deals with his cricketing education and career. His father, Lou, was a very good first grade cricketer for the local club Cumberland and continued to play into his forties as his son climbed the ladder.

If anything, Benaud Jnr's batting is more notable in the fledgling stages of his career perhaps because his father wouldn't allow him to bowl leg-breaks because of the damage it might do to young muscles and tendons.

Benaud saves up his most vehement views for the administrators who neither understand nor care to understand the finer workings of what it takes to improve the game. It is clear from his playing days that the Australian Cricket Board was rather insular and suspicious of its own product.

Benaud's diplomatic skills also had to be honed on the subcontinent where pitches could be described as interesting to say the least. He once asked the groundsman at Madras: "Nice pitch, congratulations. What an interesting idea to roll the sawdust in to bind the surface. Who told you to do that?"

The central theme running through the book is a love for the game and an understanding that it is a simple sport at heart and intended to be played for enjoyment. That may sound old-fashioned, but Benaud's work ethic has always been influenced by a huge competitive edge allied to his father's "do your best" approach.

Like the game of cricket itself, the great man continues to evolve.

Tim Ellis