", Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkaraexternal-link added: "So sad to hear about the passing of Richie Benaud. It was not the first time he had been hospitalised by a blow to the head. [9] This was the only match he played for the second-string state team that summer. Up to this point, in seven matches for the season, the young all-rounder had only scored 307 runs at 27.90 and taken ten wickets at 64.80. Following the divorce hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, Richie Benaud was required to pay Marcia and her sons ten pounds per week. [7] In the opening match of the season, he struck 158 and took 5/88 and 1/65 against Queensland. [7], In the next Shield match against Victoria, led by Australian captain Lindsay Hassett, Benaud came in for attack. The next season saw the last of Benaud on the field of play, apart from some later charity matches and light-hearted private tours. Richie Benaud cricketer (1930-2015) . It could have killed him if it had struck him where his skull was previously fractured. 'I remember a time when he called from the cricket and said Sir Donald Bradman was coming over for dinner and I thought Sir Donald Bradman! Link to video: Richie Benaud became a household name for a whole new generation when he moved from the oval to the commentary box. He was the mainstay in Australian cricket television commentary until the past two summers - a car accident in 2013 sidelined him before he announced in November last year that he was fighting skin cancer. Richie Benaud, who has died aged 84, was perhaps best known latterly for his work as a global cricket commentator, with his distinctive voice, familiar fixed gaze, prominent bottom lip and. Later that same day, there was a commemoration service officiated by former teammate turned lay preacher Brian Booth; attendees included his family and close friendsamong them former players, including Ian Chappell and Shane Warne, and Australian Test captain Michael Clarke. Benaud scored 78 and 68 and took a total of 5/238, his dismissals being Davidson and frontline Test batsmen in a 121-run win. [52] He took four wickets in a Second Test in Lahore that sealed the series 20,[53] the last time Australia would win a Test in Pakistan until Mark Taylor's men in 1998, 37 years later. RIP Richie Benaud. [36] His batting was reliable, with 227 runs at 32.47. They brought back all the old memories, sad ones. [24], Australia's selectors persisted and selected him for the squad to tour the West Indies in 195455. It was screened before Australias Test series against India last December. He was playing first class cricket in the Sheffield Shield series before being selected for his first test, against the West Indies in Sydney in 1952. There were good times when he was home at the family house in Beecroft, in Sydney's north. Former Australia captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84. In 1960, he made his first radio commentary in the United Kingdom at the BBC, after which he moved into television. Richie Benaud, who has died aged 84, was perhaps best known latterly for his work as a global cricket commentator, with his distinctive voice, familiar fixed gaze, prominent bottom lip and carefully tended coiffure. or debate this issue live on our message boards. [8], Relegated to the Second XI after this match, he was struck in the head above the right eye by a ball from Jack Daniel while batting against Victoria in Melbourne, having missed an attempted hook. This included figures of 2/70 and 4/90 against the touring Do not sell or share my personal information. As a captain, he never lost a Test series. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. [citation needed], The First Test in Brisbane ended in the first tie in Test history, which came about after Benaud and Alan Davidson, rather than settle for a draw, decided to risk defeat and play an attacking partnership, which took Australia to the brink of victory. If I knew, when I was at school and playing in my early cricket days, the problems that would have come if I didnt do something about protection of the head and using sunscreens and all sorts of things like that, Id have played it differently. [29][36][54] Benaud made a strong start to the series against India, taking 3/0 in the first innings of the First Test in Delhi, before a 5/76-second innings haul secured an innings victory. When it became clear that the cricketing legend was finally about to succumb to skin cancer, Daphne contacted Jeff and Greg Benaud. Fred Trueman with 216 Test wickets and Brian Statham with 229 were poised to overtake the record of 236 Test wickets set by the assistant-manager Alec Bedser. [44] He took 5/82 in the second innings of the Fifth Test, the fourth consecutive match in which he had taken five wickets in an innings, as Australia took a 30 series win. Following his retirement from international cricket in 1964, Benaud became a highly regarded commentator on the game. [7] However, this was not enough to ensure his selection in the First Test, where he was made 12th man. Benaud, Richard (Richie) (1930-2015) by Kersi Meher-Homji. Three years later, against the West Indies at Sydney, he first played for Australia. He was the accompaniment of an Australian summer, his voice was even more present than the chirping of the cicadas in our suburbs and towns, and that voice, tragically, is now still. Benaud went on to dismiss tail-ender Alf Valentine for his first Test wicket, conceding 14 runs from 4.3 overs. Marcia Benaud, who always refers to her only husband as 'Rich' rather than 'Richie', spoke about the fantastic life she had with Benaud, the young Test cricketing star she had been married to in the 1950s and 60s, and their two sons she had sometimes struggled to raise in the years since. The selectors persisted in Benaud despite his unproductive Test performances, selecting him for the squad for the 1953 Ashes tour of England. [7] His only wicket was that of the all-rounder Trevor Bailey. Greg Benaud had just turned twelve and his brother Jeffrey was nine. Richie Benaud died on April 10, 2015, after being diagnosed with skin cancer. We will remember him forever. [8] Selected as a batsman, he scored 3 and 19. [130], Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 20:19, 195455 series when England visited Australia, 196061 Test series against the visiting West Indians, 196263 saw an English team under Dexter visit Australia, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Jane McGrath Day for Breast Cancer awareness and fundraising, List of New South Wales representative cricketers, List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Richie Benaud. Benaud had a heavy load in the match, taking 8/199 after Davidson tore a hamstring mid-match. Death date: 10 April, 2015, Friday. [107], Benaud commentated for the BBC TV highlights of the 200607 Ashes in Australia as part of his continuing commentary work for Australia's Nine Network. [31], The 196162 Australian season was purely a domestic one, with no touring international team. Someone asked me, "Does that mean you'll never again go into the commentary box? [74] Benaud was the leading wicket-taker of the season with 47 at 17.97. [7] Benaud was the only bowler selected for all five Tests of the 195455 series when England visited Australia. He defined an era with conviction and sincerity. Benaud, whose witty one-liners from the commentary box resonated far beyond. There would be very few Australians who have not passed a summer in the company of Richie Benaud. Although both sons played cricket at the private boys school they attended, Barker College in Sydney's northern suburbs, neither went on to play representative cricket after school like their father and grandfather. [29][36] The first two seasons of the Benaud captaincy had been a resounding success, with Australia winning eight, drawing four and losing only one Test. Richie Benaud died on April 10, 2015, after being diagnosed with skin cancer. Benaud was another contender with 219 wickets, but it was Statham who broke the record (only to be overtaken by Trueman in New Zealand) and Benaud had to be content with breaking Ray Lindwall's Australian record of 228 Test wickets. Along with the West Indian captain Frank Worrell, Benaud's bold leadership enlivened interest in Test cricket among a public who had increasingly regarded it as boring. He was with us as a player, journalist . Around 150,000 deaths are registered in Australia every year, but few receive the "end of an era" tribute accorded Richie Benaud. I was devastated when he left.'. Benaud was given a chance against the visiting team when New South Wales played them in Sydney after the First Test. Six further wickets in the drawn Third Test saw Benaud end the series with 84 runs at 28 and 18 wickets at 21.11. 'Dad had two families to look after and back in the day when Mum was awarded custody, it was the law brought down in the Supreme Court rather than the family court that we lived with Mum and saw Dad once a fortnight,' Greg said. Benaud said: "I won't be doing live commentary any more." Benaud played international cricket from 1952 to 1964, and Australia never lost a series under his captaincy (28 games). The great voice of cricket is no more. Prince Andrew has 'offered to manage prestigious Royal estates including Balmoral but King Charles has told PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Yes, Madonna toyboys are fun but not if you value your dignity. While a move to preserve Benauds childhood home failed, he was honoured with a lifesize statue at the Sydney Cricket Ground, his spiritual home his actual homes having been in Sydneys Pacific-side suburb of Coogee, on the French Riviera and in London. The world of sport reacts to the news that former Australia captain and broadcaster Richie Benaud died overnight at the age of 84. Its one of those things in life: you live and learn as you go along.. [7] He was selected for an Australian XI match against England, in what was effectively a trial for Test selection, but suffered a chipped bone in his thumb. [64][65] In Adelaide, with Davidson absent, Benaud bowled long spells to take match figures of 7/207 in addition to a score of 77 in the first innings. [32] He claimed his Test innings best of 7/72 in the first innings of the First Test in Madras, allowing Australia to build a large lead and win by an innings. 'There was the odd phone call from England,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I thought when he retired we would be a family together again,' she said. 'When I heard that it was serious and Greg told me he had got [the cancer] in its bloodstream, I accepted that whatever God decided to do would be right,' she said. After scoring 44 and taking 2/66 in the opening first-class match against Worcestershire, the all-rounder starred in his next match, against Yorkshire. Plastic surgeon reveals five cosmetic procedures she would NEVER get - from dangerous Brazilian butt lifts BEL MOONEY:Why does caring for my dad take over my life? His father Louis, a third-generation Australian of French Huguenot descent,[4] was a leg spinner who played for Penrith District Cricket Club in Sydney Grade Cricket, gaining attention for taking all twenty wickets in a match against St. Marys for 65. [58] A further seven wickets from the captain in the Fifth Test saw Australia secure a draw and the series 21. [73] Benaud had a poor series with the bat, scoring 45 runs at 9, but was more successful with the ball, taking 15 wickets at 32.53. The young leg spinner claimed Hassett in the second innings when a ball landed in a crack and skidded through onto his foot. Coupled with his subtle variations in flight and angle of the delivery, he kept the batsman under constant pressure. [19] Even so, he was promoted to vice-captain above several senior players when Ian Johnson and Keith Miller missed the 2nd Test at Sydney through injury and Arthur Morris was made temporary captain. He had brought novel flashes of exhibitionism into play on the cricket field, racing over to embrace a fieldsman after a catch, his own shirt unbuttoned almost to the navel. This put him in a small group of spinners whose career averages were inferior to their performances against India, generally regarded as the best players of spin in the world. [4] Educated at Parramatta High School, Benaud made his first grade debut for Cumberland at age 16, primarily as a batsman. Benaud went around the wicket and bowled into the footmarks, having Dexter caught behind and then Peter May bowled around his legs. His selection was frequently questioned in those early years, when much other flowering talent was evident in domestic cricket. The tour included seven first-class matches, three of which were unofficial Tests.