Richie Benaud: Cricket commentator, player

1930-2015

RICHIE Benaud, who has died aged 84, became so celebrated as the most intelligent and articulate of television cricket commentators that his youthful triumphs, as one of Australia’s greatest allrounders and most inspirational captains, tended to be overlooked.

In his 70s Benaud wryly observed that he had lost count of the number of times young cricket fans asked if he had ever played. He was, in fact, the first test player in history to achieve the double of more than 2 000 runs and 200 wickets.

As a hard-hitting batsman in both classical and agricultural mode he was inconsistent, but capable on his day of destroying any attack. As a leg-break bowler he determinedly practised until he eventually became one of the greatest practitioners of that difficult art. With his high, rhythmical action, teasing flight and subtle changes of pace, he excelled in setting traps for the unwary.

As a fielder he showed lightning reflexes and agility to make stunning catches close to the wicket. As captain of Australia in 28 test matches — won 12, lost four, tied one, drew 11 — he combined enterprise and willpower to such effect that he never lost a series.

The same qualities informed his TV commentaries. Behind the cool authority lay decades of industry. And he took cricket seriously, but never forgot that it was a game.

So Benaud, while arguably the most influential personality in cricket since World War 2, always avoided pomposity and self-importance. He also remained open to new thinking. In 1977, rather than siding with the cricket establishment, he became Kerry Packer’s right-hand man in setting up the World Cricket series, which revolutionised the modern game.

Equally, as a commentator he did not play the grandee, preferring to see himself as a guest in everyone’s living room, at once polite and impartial (he never referred to Australians as “we”). In 42 years he was detected in only one profanity: “Jesus” when he saw someone picking the seam.

Above all, Benaud did not speak unless he felt he could add to the picture. And since he had seen more test matches than anyone else, he was frequently able to highlight something — a bowler trying a new angle perhaps, or a batsman leaving the ball at the last second — which everyone else had missed.

Though never a particularly striking phrase maker, Benaud mastered the art of immediately finding exactly the right words for what he wanted to convey. Not for LIVING-ROOM GUEST: Richie Benaud, an inspiring all-rounder nothing had he been a professional journalist.

Richard (always known as “Richie”) Benaud was born on October 6 1930 at Penrith, some 56km west of Sydney, where his grandfather lived. However, his family history reveals that he was the greatest cricketer of French origin.

Benaud is a tiny village near Clermont-Ferrand, in the middle of France, and his great-grandfather Jean, a sea captain, born in Bordeaux, left France in 1838 with a cargo of whale oil. After reaching Sydney in 1840, Jean began to trade along the west coast, becoming an Australian in 1849.

Richie’s father, Lou, was a teacher and a very considerable cricketer, who once took all 20 wickets in a club match.

From 1942 Benaud would fill in occasionally for the Second XI at Cumberland, his father’s club, and by 1946-47 he had graduated to the first grade.

Richie left school in 1947 and worked for a chartered accountant in Sydney, where his talent for mental arithmetic served him well.

A thrilling cricket career followed, culminating at Brisbane in 1963-64, against South Africa, when he achieved the double of 2 000 runs and 200 wickets in test cricket. Immediately afterwards, though, he broke his spinning finger. He was back in the Australian side for the third, fourth and fifth tests but, having decided upon retirement, was quite content that Bob Simpson, who had succeeded him as captain in the second test, should hold on to the job.

Benaud then passed smoothly into his TV commentary career, working for the BBC until 1999, and from 1977 for Channel Nine in Australia.

Gradually he became a cult figure, though his taste for display never went beyond a penchant for cream jackets.

Although Benaud was shy of imposing himself on players, he was always ready to give advice to those who solicited it, and became a mentor to Shane Warne.

Benaud began covering cricket for Britain’s Channel 4 in 1999, and when he began his final commentary for the broadcaster at the Oval in 2005, the crowd reacted with spontaneous applause, while the players stopped and clapped.

“Thank you for having me,” he concluded. “It’s been absolutely

His taste for display never went beyond a penchant for cream jackets

marvellous for 42 years . . . What’s even better, it’s been a great deal of fun . . . ”

At that point Kevin Pietersen was bowled, but Benaud, completely unfazed, simply continued “. . . but not so for the batsman — McGrath has picked him off.”

There could hardly have been a better illustration of his style.

Benaud married his first wife Marcia in 1953; they had two sons before divorcing in 1967. Later that year he married Daphne Surfleet. —© The Daily Telegraph, London