[1], Gideon Haigh described him as "perhaps the most influential cricketer and cricket personality since the Second World War. [106], Benaud became a staunch advocate of cricket being available on free-to-view TV. The selectors long-term planning had reached fulfilment. The couple honeymooned in Jervis Bay where, Marcia remembered with amusement, they were given a room in the naval barracks with two single beds. [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. Former Australia captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84. 1930 - 2015. 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. [8] Selected as a batsman, he scored 3 and 19. At the age of 83, he crushed two vertebrae when his 1963 Sunbeam vintage sports car hit a brick wall near his home in Coogee, Sydney. [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. [25] After a draw in the Second Test,[26] he took three wickets in four balls to end with 4/15 in the first innings at Georgetown, Guyana, before scoring 68 (his first Test half century) as Australia moved to a 20 series lead. [36] His batting was reliable, with 227 runs at 32.47. [5] Lou later moved to Parramatta region in western Sydney, and played for Cumberland. The next season saw the last of Benaud on the field of play, apart from some later charity matches and light-hearted private tours. He wrote a number of books, rather serious works written with little flourish, and there were two books about him, one by AG Moyes and a later study by Mark Browning. When South Africa followed on, Benaud took 5/84, which left Australia needing only one run to win. While a heart attack was the cause of Warne's death while holidaying in Thailand, Healy revealed that he feared the spin king would succumb to another health issue. After 28 X-rays showed nothing, it was finally diagnosed that the crater in his forehead had resulted in a skull fracture and he was sidelined for the remainder of the season,[6] since a second impact could have been fatal. According to Eryk Bagshaw of The Sydney Morning Herald, Benaud had been in hospice care while. Shortly after the the Australian cricket captain and celebrated commentator's death in April from cancer, Ms Benaud spoke to Daily Mail Australia from her housing flat on the NSW Central Coast, north of Sydney. Elder son: Greg Benaud, 60, (pictured) at the public housing cottage he shares with his mother Marcia, who married Richie Benaud in 1953 and had two sons who would only see their famous father occasionally after their parents divorced, Glamorous: Marcia Benaud, in January 1953, following her marriage to Richie, after which the newlyweds went to the Adelaide Oval where the new Mrs Benaud is pictured, above, watching her husband play a Test against South Africa, Sons of the father: Richie Benaud pictured at the beach with his two sons, Jeffrey (left) and Greg (right) in the happier days of his marriage to first wife Marcia, when he was playing Test cricket for Australia, Young beauty: Marcia Lavender was a shorthand typist when she met cricketer Richie Benaud at a Sydney city accounting firm in the early 1950s and he went on to begin his Test career. Benaud was recalled to the New South Wales First XI in late December for the Christmas and New Year's fixtures. Swanton. Australian cricketer who led his country in 28 Test matches and later became one of the worlds most respected commentators. [24], Australia's selectors persisted and selected him for the squad to tour the West Indies in 195455. [7] However, this was not enough to ensure his selection in the First Test, where he was made 12th man. [113][123], Benaud was buried on 15 April, in a private funeral ceremony attended only by his immediate family. [29][36], When Ian Craig fell ill at the start of the 195859 season, Benaud was promoted to the captaincy ahead of vice-captain Neil Harvey. Midway through the season, he played in Morris's XI in a testimonial match for Hassett, who captained the other team. South Africa. Greg joked that before his father's death he had visited him and gained some style advice for the funeral. Benaud died late on Thursday . Benaud retired from international cricket in 1964 and turned to full-time cricket journalism and commentary, for which he already had runs on the board with the BBC. 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.'. A petite and gracious lady with a merry laugh and a gentle demeanour, Marcia Benaud has lived a 'contented' life a world apart from the public life Richie Benaud led with second wife Daphne. Benaud removed Meckiff from the attack and did not recall him. [16] He suffered a smashed gum and a severely cut top lip when a square cut by John Waite in the Third Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground hit him in the face while he was fielding at short gully. In his three Tests he averaged just three runs with the bat scoring 15 runs over five innings and took two wickets for 174 before ending the long tour in glory with 135 in a festival match at a crowded Scarborough ground, hitting 11 sixes to equal the world record at that time. After the 1956 Ashes tour in England, he completed a BBC training course while still a player, marking the beginning of a 40-year association with the corporation. [6][7] New South Wales were the dominant state at the time, and vacancies in the team were scarce, particularly as there were no Tests that season and all of the national team players were available for the whole summer. Jeffrey Benaud is not involved in the court action Marcia and Greg Benaud have taken against Daphne Benaud in the Supreme Court. "Richie was not just a great cricket commentator, he was one of the finest sports commentators of his generation," said Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport. and "That's stumps and time for a glass of something chilled". Do not sell or share my personal information. Time and again he and fellow bowler Alan Davidson took the opposition by storm, and the Australians, led by 22-year-old Ian Craig, finished the tour unbeaten. AAP/Dean Lewins. After Don Bradman, there has been no Australian player more famous or more influential than Richie Benaud.. 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. He is survived by Daphne, by his sons, and by his brother, John. 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. Selected as a batsman who could bowl, he had totalled 309 runs at 15.45 without passing 50, and taken 23 wickets at 37.87 with only two four-wicket innings hauls. Our nation has lost an icon, he said at a media conference. Benaud played international cricket from 1952 to 1964, and Australia never lost a series under his captaincy (28 games). He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. Richie Benaud obituary | Richie Benaud | The Guardian Australian Test captain Michael Clarke said Benaud was a gentleman who played cricket in the right spirit. Opening the batting, he struck 135 in 110 minutes in the second innings, including an Australian record of eleven sixes, four of them in one over. Richie Benaud became a household name for a whole new generation when he moved from the oval to the commentary box. Richard Benaud OBE ( / bno /; 6 October 1930 - 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and the Australia national cricket team. [4], Johnnie Moyes said "Certainly Benaud received a little help from the roughened patches, but he could do what the off-spinners could not do: he could turn the ball, mostly slowly, sometimes with more life. [84][85] The draw meant that the series was shared 11, the first time he had drawn a series after five successive wins. 581 Former Australia cricket captain and renowned commentator Richie Benaud has died aged 84. [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. Doctors told him he was lucky: it could have broken his cheekbones, jaw or removed his eyesight if it had hit any of the surrounding areas. 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. His success was based on his ability to attack, his tactical boldness and his ability to extract more performance from his players, in particular Davidson. [4] Educated at Parramatta High School, Benaud made his first grade debut for Cumberland at age 16, primarily as a batsman. [126], In 2007, he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal award evening and in 2009 he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. [6][46] Benaud had little prior leadership experience, and faced the task of recovering the Ashes from an England team which had arrived in Australia as favourites. The young leg spinner claimed Hassett in the second innings when a ball landed in a crack and skidded through onto his foot. [7] Benaud was the only bowler selected for all five Tests of the 195455 series when England visited Australia. [72], During England's chase on the final afternoon it became apparent that, with Ted Dexter scoring quickly, Australia would lose the Test unless England were bowled out. Born October 6, 1930, Benaud was a legend by every definition on the book, but there . England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said cricket had "lost perhaps its greatest advocate and someone who was a true giant of the modern game". Richie Benaud dead: Australia mourns loss of cricketing great He made 140, in a seventh-wicket partnership of 255 in just 176 minutes, an Australian record that still stands. [118], In November 2014, at age 84, Benaud announced that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer. Nor have they sought the limelight occupied by their father. Often bare-headed, and a somewhat stooping, rangy figure at the crease, he cracked a century in both the Johannesburg Tests, averaged 54 in the series, and took 30 wickets at a rate of just under 22 runs each in the five Tests. [124], Benaud was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961 for services to cricket. But he chose to study architecture over cricket, although not finishing his degree, Marcia Benaud (pictured in the garden of her Central Coast home) said following the end of her marriage to Richie Benaud, the cricketing great preferred to keep his past quiet and contact with their famous Dad became less frequent as they got older, Richie and Marcia Benaud pictured with their two sons, Jeffrey (left) and Greg (centre) in the early 1960s during the early days of his Test career at a time when cricketers earned little reward and Benaud had do advertisements to pay for keeping a family. Will always be remembered and admired. Richard (Richie) Benaud, cricketer and commentator, died on April 10th, aged 84. Flags flew at half-mast at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Benauds home as a first-class cricketer for New South Wales, and flowers were laid at his statue at the venue. Marcia gave birth to their first son Greg in 1955, and Jeffery in 1958. [104], He also helped to design a computer-based parody of himself available for download off Channel 4's website called "Desktop Richie". Marcia Benaud told Daily Mail Australia about her mixed emotions in the days after Richie Benaud's death on April 10 this year. Then came the 1953 tour, the first of three he was to make to England as a player. Marcia Benaud said she had not seen her former husband Richie (pictured in the West Indies in 1991) for 39 years 'except on TV', 'I enjoyed cricket, even though Richie said I didn't like it. A strong England party, led by Peter May, were widely expected to retain the Ashes. Benaud died peacefully in his sleep in a hospice, the Sydney Morning. He took 18 wickets in these matches, including 3/20 and 3/37 against Oxford University, 5/13 against Minor Counties and 4/38 against Hampshire. [58] A further seven wickets from the captain in the Fifth Test saw Australia secure a draw and the series 21. His control was admirable, and when Benaud gets a batsman in trouble he rarely if ever gives him a loose one. SUBSCRIBE TO US [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. Richie Benaud's 90th birth anniversary celebrated in new Cricket Three years later, against the West Indies at Sydney, he first played for Australia. Source: Cricinfo, 22 December 2007. CNN Former Australia cricket captain and legendary broadcaster Richie Benaud has died at the age of 84. At one stage, New South Wales were six wickets down with less than 150 runs scored, but Benaud refused to attempt to defend for a draw. Benaud led his country. Benaud struck exactly 100 in the first innings, before taking 4/70 in South Africa's reply. In 2017, the Australian Mint issued a 50-cent coin commemorating Benaud. She remained in the Beecroft house as the boys grew up, seeing their father 'now and again for birthdays'. Now Richie Benaud's first wife Marcia, who lives with one of Richie's estranged sons in a housing commission cottage, is about to have that once private life become very public. [88] His final two Tests saw no fairytale finish, yielding only four wickets and 55 runs. Richie Benaud, former Australia cricket captain, dies at 84 It's been very much appreciated.'. He ended with 3/56, the first time he had taken three wickets in a match. 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'. [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.

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