He sustained a cracked sternum and shoulder injuries. Discover the real story, facts, and details of Richie Benaud. I used to go to matches and even went on the Hill in Sydney when he was batting with Norm O'Neill.'. Richie Benaud: Private funeral for cricket legend - BBC News [117], Benaud had last handed "Baggy green" caps to Simon Katich and Mitchell Starc when they made their test debut, but Benaud's own was lost early in his Test career, and former captainnow commentator and the Director of Cricket Australia, Mark Taylorwas to present the replacement cap to him at the semi-final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup between Australia and India at the SCG, but Benaud was too unwell to attend, and when the cap arrived at Channel 9 headquarters, it was the day before Benaud died. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up. [36] His batting was reliable, with 227 runs at 32.47. [24], Australia's selectors persisted and selected him for the squad to tour the West Indies in 195455. Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards said Benaud was "the iconic voice of our summer", while the Australian government has offered to hold a state funeral. Within the year he had spun his way to a further 47 wickets in eight Tests in Pakistan and India, and all was set for what was perceived as a world championship contest against the visiting West Indies team. Richie Benaud. With Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Ernie Toshack, three of Australia's leading four bowlers from the 1948 Invincibles tour of England unavailable, Benaud bowled heavily in some matches. [7] In the opening match of the season, he struck 158 and took 5/88 and 1/65 against Queensland. In 1961 he was made an OBE for services to cricket. At the suggestion that it showed dignity, she said 'thank you.'. We'd have baked dinners on a Sunday at their houses.'. I know Mum found it difficult to live on ten pounds a week. When, a few months later in England, Benaud took veteran Ray Lindwalls advice and bowled his leg-spin around the wicket into the rough, when all seemed lost in the Old Trafford Test, his wicket-taking that afternoon ensured that Australia retained the Ashes and raised the captain close to sainthood in the estimation of his team and his country. [91] In 196768 he captained a Commonwealth team against Pakistan, playing in his last five first-class fixtures. [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. On Channel 4's live commentary, Benaud often made sarcastic comments regarding the advertisement of Desktop Richie. Richie Benaud dies aged 84 - rolling reaction - the Guardian It could have killed him if it had struck him where his skull was previously fractured. [12] Hassett struck 179 in four hours, and took 47 runs from Benaud's seven overs. He had been battling skin cancer By Charlie Eccleshare Until. Richie Benaud, 1959. He is survived by Daphne, by his sons, and by his brother, John. Reaction to the death of former Australian cricket captain and commentator Richie Benaud, known as the 'Voice of Cricket'. Legendary Australian cricket commentator Richie Benaud has died. [97], In 2004, Benaud starred in a series of television advertisements for the Australian Tourism Commission, aimed at promoting Australia as a tourist destination. Benaud was born in Penrith, New South Wales, in 1930. It was here that Richie Benaud grew up, learning how to bowl leg breaks, googlies and topspinners under his father's watch. Source: Cricinfo, 22 December 2007. He was shrewd not only from the weight of experience but in the cautious way he rationed opinions. Richie Benaud (1930-2015) *84, Grave #86215750 - Sysoon Richie Benaud's influence on cricket on and off the field is being lauded by players and fans alike, . '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. He led his country in 28 Tests and never lost a series as Australian captain. [18][19] In another match for New South Wales against the touring team, he took a total of 5/95. His voice was even more present than the chirping of the cicadas in our suburbs and towns and that voice, tragically, is now still., British prime minister David Cameron said: I grew up listening to Richie Benauds wonderful cricket commentary. Marcia was to live in the house at Beecroft until 2002, when she sold it and gave the profits to her two sons and moved into the housing cottage on the Central Coast with Greg. His record reads 12 wins, 11 draws, one tie, and four losses from 28 Tests in charge of Australia. He came from a cricket family, with his younger brother John Benaud also going on to become an Australian Test cricketer. [49] Benaud produced an all-round performance of 46, 5/91 and 4/82 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide to take an unassailable 30 series lead and regain the Ashes,[50] before scoring 64 and match figures of 5/57 to help take the Fifth Test and a 40 series result. [45] He had been a major contributor to the series win, scoring 329 runs at 54.83 and taking 30 wickets at 21.93, establishing himself as one of the leading leg spinners of the modern era. Richie Benaud would have a fleet of cars, in particular Sunbeam Alpines, the last of which he would crash in October 2013, a hospital stay for serious injuries which would lead doctors diagnosing Benaud with skin cancer. The selectors long-term planning had reached fulfilment. Then came the 1953 tour, the first of three he was to make to England as a player. Cause of Richie Benaud death. Benaud took 3/116 to complement scores of 43 and 90 on his return in the Third Test in Sydney. [7], In his early career, Benaud was a batting all-rounder, marked by a looping backlift which made him suspect against fast bowling but allowed him to have a wide attacking stroke range. [108], Benaud's distinctive speaking style has been frequently parodied on the Australian comedy series Comedy Inc. and The Twelfth Man. [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. [76], In another match against Victoria, he ordered his team to attempt to score 404 on the final day to take an unlikely victory in accordance with a promise to score at 400 per day. After such an impressive playing career, he became even better known as a prolific author, columnist and commentator on cricket. It worked at once, and Benaud used it thereafter. SURPRISINGLY, there is a French Cricket Association. Cricket great Richie Benaud dies at 84 In October 2013, Benaud, then 83, was involved in a car crash and did not recover sufficiently to broadcast the Ashes series and in November 2014, he announced he was been treated for skin cancers. On March 29, 1967 Marcia divorced Richie Benaud on the grounds of desertion. 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. [7], At this stage of his career, he had played 13 Tests with mediocre results. She and Richie Benaud had a second son Jeffrey in 1958, 'Dad said his cricketing commitments and distances for touring teams put strains on marriages.'. Regular boundaries and quickly-run singles took the score to 226, a seventh-wicket partnership of 134. [7], He took the wicket of Queensland batsman Bill Brown in his third match of the season. [6] Benaud's bold leadership coupled with his charismatic nature and public relations ability enlivened interest in Test cricket among a public who had increasingly regarded it as boring. [8], He also showed his hitting ability in a tour match against T.N. [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. 2. Marcia Benaud, a gracious lady with a merry laugh and good sense of humour (pictured with son Greg, 60, at their Central Coast home) spoke with affection and sadness about her marriage to cricketing legend Richie, Greg Benaud (pictured), the elder son of cricketing legend Richie, was an off-break and then leg-spin bowler encouraged by his Dad. 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. [7] However, this was not enough to ensure his selection in the First Test, where he was made 12th man. [6] At the start of the 194950 season, he was still in the Second XI, but when the Test players departed for a tour of South Africa soon afterwards,[7] vacancies opened up. The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that Two Insulate Britain protesters are jailed for contempt of court after they defied a judge's orders not to 'Derek fights on, it makes me fall in love with him all over again:' Kate Garraway reveals there are days French authorities fear 'narco-tourists' could flock to Normandy beaches after 'more than two tonnes of Hopes for cervical cancer vaccine after trials in mice showed it reduced tumours 80 per cent of the time. He led from the front with his bowling, taking match figures of 7/112 in his debut as captain as Australia claimed the First Test in Brisbane. She kept me informed so that I knew when Dad was sick. He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. Inside Matt Hancock's 41-hour battle to save his career when photo of 'a snog and heavy petting' with aide Will Vladimir Putin's empress pay the ultimate price for his war on the West? He made 1 in the second before a last-wicket partnership between Davidson and Graham McKenzie of 98 yielded a defendable target. After Don Bradman, there has been no Australian player more famous or more influential than Richie Benaud.. Lived: 30867 days = 84 years. [74] Benaud was the leading wicket-taker of the season with 47 at 17.97. [37] At this stage of his career, he had yet to perform consistently with bat and ball simultaneously, apart from his breakthrough series in the Caribbean. RIP Richie Benaud." The 63 Test matches veteran was the first player to score 2,000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets. He defined an era with conviction and sincerity. However, cricketers like Shane Warne, Ian Chappell, Michael Clarke among several others visited his commemoration service on the same day. Their faith was rewarded by an improvement in performances. By Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia, Published: 05:25 GMT, 2 October 2015 | Updated: 10:26 GMT, 2 October 2015. 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. 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. Shane Warne, Australia's record wicket-taker, made a particularly, said Benaud's passing was "a sad day for Australia", adding: "We have lost a cricketing champion and Australian icon. [4], Benaud was not a large spinner of the ball, but he was known for his ability to extract substantial bounce from the surface. Richie Benaud was a pioneering leg-spin bowler In the memorial booklet, Benaud's family described him as "a special person who means so much to each of us in many different ways". "[2] In his review of Benaud's autobiography Anything But, Sri Lankan cricket writer Harold de Andrado wrote: "Richie Benaud possibly next to Sir Don Bradman has been one of the greatest cricketing personalities as player, researcher, writer, critic, author, organiser, adviser and student of the game."[3]. This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 20:19. [92], During Benaud's captaincy, Australia did not lose a series, and became the dominant team in world cricket. He played three Tests against South Africa in 1963-64 under his successor as captain, Simpson, whacking a memorable 90 on his home ground, Sydney, having calmly endured the trauma at the start of the season of captaining for the last time while his key fast bowler, Ian Meckiff, was repeatedly called by umpire Colin Egar for throwing. [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. He ended the Test series with 15 runs at 3.00 and two wickets at 87.00. Richie Benaud's widow, ex-wife and son settle estate dispute Greg said that in the days before cricketers were well paid ''I tried to understand that Dad didn't have a lot to spare as fare as helping us. Benaud struck exactly 100 in the first innings, before taking 4/70 in South Africa's reply. In November, he revealed he was being treated for skin cancer. His control was admirable, and when Benaud gets a batsman in trouble he rarely if ever gives him a loose one. On a green pitch which was struck by a downpour on the opening day, Benaud's spin was not used by Arthur Morris, and he failed to make an impression with the bat in his only innings, scoring only two. Benaud enjoyed a long association with the BBC following his first radio appearance for the corporation in 1960. [29][36], Benaud took part in Australia's tour of New Zealand from February to March 1957. The voice of cricket | The Economist 'It's obviously been a bit of a strain over the years with Mum and Dad, but Daphne was very kind. It was not the first time he had been hospitalised by a blow to the head. Three months later, Benaud married Daphne Surfleet and they embarked on a life of adventure in which Richie would cement his name in history and he and Daphne Benaud would forge an ironclad relationship that endured until his death last Friday. [114][115], On 29 October 2008, Benaud's mother, Irene, died, aged 104. [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. Five days later, he fronted Wesley Methodist Church in Strathfield, Sydney, still bearing the stitched wound. Richie Benaud Dead: Legendary Cricket Commentator Dies At 84 '"[116], In October 2013, Benaud crashed his vintage 1965 Sunbeam Alpine into a wall while driving near his home in Coogee, a beachside suburb in Sydney's east. Her son Greg told Daily Mail Australia that the pretty young brunette was 'one of Sydney's top three beauties', but Marcia passes that off, laughing, as 'nonsense'. Benaud had an ineffective match with the ball, taking 1/162. Nor have they sought the limelight occupied by their father. His selection was frequently questioned in those early years, when much other flowering talent was evident in domestic cricket. Richie Benaud Biography Richie Benaud Networth He ended with 121 and took four wickets in the match as Australia won by an innings and took the series 30. [7] Benaud scored his maiden first-class century, 117 against South Australia, in the next match, two years after falling short of the milestone by seven runs. Marcia Benaud described the times when Richie was overseas as lonely and trying. At this point, Australia had already taken an unassailable 31 series lead and decided to try out some young players. Only seven runs were required with four wickets in hand as time was running short. He defined an era with conviction and sincerity.". Richie Benaud dead: Australia mourns loss of cricketing great Slow recovery meant he was unable to commentate for Australia's Channel Nine during the 201314 Ashes series. Our nation has lost an icon, he said at a media conference. [7], The 195152 season saw a tour to Australia by the West Indies. The unprecedented public interest saw the Caribbean touring party farewelled with a ticker-tape parade by the Australian public. In a one-off Test against Pakistan in Karachi, he scored 56 and took 1/36 as Australia fell to defeat. [1], Gideon Haigh described him as "perhaps the most influential cricketer and cricket personality since the Second World War. 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. Then, within the year, Richie Benaud became captain of his country. Richie proposed to Marcia and the engaged pair planned to marry on January 15, 1953, in between the third and fourth tests against the touring South African team. However, he did not have much success in his five games, taking only five wickets at 54.00. Ritchie Benaud pictured in 2004, when he was commentating for Channel 4. Richie Benaud Cause of Death, How did Richie Benaud Die? Around 150,000 deaths are registered in Australia every year, but few receive the "end of an era" tribute accorded Richie Benaud. Richie Benaud - ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) When South Africa followed on, Benaud took 5/84, which left Australia needing only one run to win. But some of them played below expectation, and Australias attack contained several bowlers whose actions were perceived as highly suspicious. [31] He was unable to maintain the standards he had set in the West Indies, contributing little apart from the Lord's Test. Australia had fallen to 6/92 on the final day chasing a target of 233 with Benaud and Davidson at the crease. He ended the series with 200 runs at 25 and eight wickets at 42.5. [55] Benaud had less of an impact on the next two Tests, which Australia lost and drew, totaling 6/244. They are Richie Benaud's secret first family, whose lives are far removed from the glittering sporting career the cricket legend led in the media spotlight before his death in April. The Ashes were retained in England in 1961, though a shoulder injury kept Benaud from the Lords Test, which was won by Australia under Harvey. Leading opposition batsman Everton Weekes edged Benaud in his first over, but Gil Langley dropped the catch. [84][85] The draw meant that the series was shared 11, the first time he had drawn a series after five successive wins. But that'll be no more television commentary". Like all fans of the sport, I will miss him very much.. He added another fifty and ended with 250 runs at 31.25. Over the first years of their marriage, Benaud would tour overseas with the Australian cricket team to the West Indies, England, India, Pakistan and South Africa. Final respects: Greg Benaud (pictured) dressed for his father's funeral in April, for which Greg said Richie had given him some advice before he died to 'get a haircut, but don't take too much off'. The couple honeymooned in Jervis Bay where, Marcia remembered with amusement, they were given a room in the naval barracks with two single beds. Reaction to the death of the 'Voice of Cricket' Benaud | Reuters
