Legend grateful for Boxing Day duty

For Bill Lawry, Boxing Day starts not long after the sun comes up over his beloved home town of Melbourne.

While most Australians are still sleeping off that extra serving of Christmas cheer, Lawry is on the road for the 30-minute drive to the MCG, a ground that has been his home away from home for the better part of six decades.

And even though his 78th birthday is just six weeks away, and he has been commentating for 37 years, the man lovingly known as 'Phanto' is still a pro.

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Having missed the first two Tests of this Commonwealth Bank Test series, Lawry had some studying to do this morning before play got underway.

"Today, being the first day and the fact I didn't do the first two Tests, I left home at about seven and got here at about half-past seven," Lawry told cricket.com.au.

"I had a talk to Max Kruger our statistician and went through the Indian players.

"Even though I've been watching them on television, I haven't seen them live."

Still a pro, although it's hardly a profession for Australia's 32nd Test captain, who fell into commentating when his decorated 17-year playing career ended in 1972.

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Having dipped his toe into the world of broadcasting in the years immediately after his retirement, Lawry was asked to join Channel Nine in 1977 on a journey into the new and unknown domain of World Series Cricket.

No-one, not even the enthusiastic Lawry, could have anticipated what would come next.

Along with Richie Benaud, Tony Greig and Ian Chappell, Lawry became a member of a commentary quartet that would change cricket broadcasting forever, bringing an excitable style of calling that contradicted his playing days, when his defensive approach earned him the nickname 'The Corpse With Pads On'.

His shrill voice, passion for the game and iconic catchphrases became an intrinsic part of the Australian summer, a unique and homespun method that would inspire comedy albums, transcend the game and encourage impersonators on all sides of the globe.

Indeed, Australian cricket was poorer for it when the triumvirate of Benaud, Lawry and Greig were absent from the opening Test of the summer last year, the first time that's happened in three-and-a-half decades.

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Lawry's time as a commentator has seen him form lifelong friendships and watch the likes of Lillee, Warne, Richards and Tendulkar from a vantage point that most cricket lovers could only dream of.

But he says the experience has simply been an added bonus to a life in cricket that had already delivered 67 Tests, 50 first-class hundreds and tours of England, South Africa, the West Indies and India.

"Yeah, I think so," Lawry says with that trademark chuckle when asked if he could imagine life without commentating.

"I would have been quite happy when I finished playing cricket to go home to my wife and family and my pigeons.

"When I got dropped from the Australian side it was straight down to the pigeon loft. So life for me went on.

"But certainly it's been a massive part of my life that I didn't expect.

"I never had any ambition to work in television.

"When the call came from Channel Nine I was lucky enough to accept it and probably, in some ways, it's been more enjoyable than my playing career because I've seen the best of the best from the best seat.

"That wasn't my intention. It just happened. I fell into it and I just loved it.

"The fact that it hasn't been my living, it's just sort of been a bonus to my lifestyle."

But as Lawry strolled into the Nine commentary box for the umpteenth time this week, there was no doubt a tinge of sadness for those who weren't alongside him.

His great friend and old sparring partner Greig passed away two years ago, while Benaud, Lawry's first Test captain and the leader of Nine's team since the very beginning, is unwell.

The imprint that Nine's legendary foursome has left on the national consciousness is something that Lawry is made aware of almost every day.

"Every time I'm talking to someone about cricket or away from a cricket ground itself they always bring up Tony or Richie's name," he said.

"Richie ... has carried the standard of Channel Nine commentary for 39 years on his own.

"He was the keystone, the rock of Gibraltar and I always appreciated him as a player, but I think even more so as our anchorman here at Channel Nine. He's been absolutely magnificent.

"The fact he's been ill has affected us all, as did the loss of Tony Greig.

"Tony and I were great friends and he added a lot to our commentary team and I know the public miss him (as well)."

Despite being in his late seventies, Lawry still cut a striking figure when he walked out onto the MCG on Boxing Day morning to hand debutant Joe Burns his first Baggy Green cap.

And while he's had some health problems in recent years, it's the call of family and home that has been the main reason behind his decision to curtail his involvement in Nine's Summer of Cricket in recent years.

His wife, who he met when he was aged just 19, has had health setbacks of her own, and Lawry says he's relishing the summers spent with her.

"I'm very lucky that Channel Nine allow me to just do the Boxing Day Test," he said.

"I've been married since 1962 and I've spent a lot of time away from home.

"You get to the point in your life where you think maybe your wife deserves you to be around a bit more."

And it's Mrs Lawry, not Bill, who will have the final say on whether or not this Boxing Day Test will be his last behind the microphone.

"I better ask my wife," he said with a laugh when asked if he'll be back next year.

"And Channel Nine."

Related: Michael Clarke impresses in commentary stint