They were just some of spin king Shane Warne's thoughts as Channel Nine launched a massive summer of cricket at the SCG on Monday.
The legendary Benaud was the star attraction as he posed for a photograph with the entire commentary team on the SCG outfield before heading upstairs to a formal luncheon to reveal he is battling skin cancer.
Benaud understandably did not face the media pack but Warne waxed lyrical for several minutes about his good friend and mentor as well as all things cricket.
Richie is still the man
"Richie's been fantastic ever since I started playing international cricket. It's been a long time, I've probably known Richie for nearly 30 years. He taught me a lot with my leg-spin bowling, we always had a good chat. I'd ring him and say, 'what do you see Rich?' and we'd have a good chat about leg-spin bowling, so that was always nice. He's just one of the great men Richie, it's fantastic to see him here and he's still the captain of the team and whatever Richie says goes. There's not enough wonderful things we can say about Richie, he's just a wonderful man and what he's done for cricket ... he's the man, simple as that."
Rotation is not a dirty word this summer
"I mean you want everyone to be playing every game they can for Australia and the best team every time, but the selectors and Michael Clarke have to be a little bit careful and also look ahead to the World Cup. It's a big summer (and you have to) keep everyone fresh but everyone also wants to play every game too, so it's a balancing act and I'm sure they'll get it right. In February when the World Cup starts if Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke are out injured then Australia lose. It's a very hard (schedule) and I think injuries and who's fully fit at the time will play a huge part, so I'm sure you'll see a bit of rotation through the one-dayers once we get into it."
Australia can be ODI kings once again
Michael Clarke's side start the summer ranked number two in one-dayers behind South Africa but Warney is bullish about Australia's chances of winning the World Cup. The tournament will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March. "I think they can win the World Cup, if they pick the right team I think they can really win the World Cup," he said. "They've got enough match winners and the best captain in the world in Michael Clarke and I'm sure he'll find some form straight away. I think he's in pretty good touch and I think he's cleaned up his mind a little bit and I think he'll be pretty good."
Aussie batsmen need to step up
"I think there's a lot of spinners and a lot of quicks, my concern is the batsmen. We need the batters making runs. I thought collectively as a group they didn't bat very well against Pakistan, they played pretty poorly so I'd like to see the batsmen making some runs - if they do that I'm sure the bowlers will be able to knock the opposition over."
The Warney hotline is always open
The great man travelled to South Africa with the team recently and there has been talk of getting Warne on board in an official capacity. He says he probably has too much on his plate to enter a formal arrangement but encouraged players to call him anytime for advice. And we all know Warney does his best work on the phone! "I do a lot of sessions with a lot of the young players, myself and Michael Clarke speak all the time but there's a lot of players I do a lot of things for," he said. "It's not official but I just speak on the phone or have a session with them. I'm available to help whenever I can. Obviously with myself I'm working for three different TV networks for cricket, I've got poker commitments, I've got my children, I've got my foundation and I've got sponsor stuff too. So juggling all that is very important and it's what I like to do too so I'm sure we'll find the time to do that and when they need me I'm available."