Sydney: Former Australia cricket captain and renowned commentator Richie Benaud has died aged 84. He had been receiving treatment for skin cancer since November. Benaud captained Australia from 1958 until his retirement in 1964, having accumulated 63 Test appearances during as 12-year career.
A veteran of 63 Test matches, Benaud played a pivotal role in the formation of World Series Cricket in the 1970s and was one of the world’s most recognised commentators. Within hours of his death, Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, offered Benaud’s family a state funeral.
Benaud, born in Penrith, New South Wales, enjoyed a successful career as a wily leg-spin bowler and middle-order batsman. Benaud was the first player to score 2,000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets yet was as renowned for his captaincy. He led his country in 28 Tests and never lost a series as Australian captain.
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.
Our country has lost a national treasure,” Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards said in a statement. “After Don Bradman, there has been no Australian player more famous or more influential than Richie Benaud.”
Recruited by Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer in the 1970s, Benaud would become a driving force behind World Series Cricket, his voice lending respectability to the breakaway professional circuit that would ultimately change the game.
“It is only a shame he did not get the send-off he deserved – the game of cricket has not had a chance to say goodbye,” BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew told the broadcaster. There will never be another Richie Benaud. He was a one-off.”
Bureau Report
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