Richie Benaud
Benaud in 1956
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| Full name | Richard Benaud | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
6 October 1930 Penrith, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Died | 10 April 2015 (aged 84) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm leg spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder, commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 190) | 25 January 1952 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 12 February 1964 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1948–1964 | New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo, 22 December 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard "Richie" Benaud, OBE (/ˈbɛnoʊ/; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game.
Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending leg spin bowling with lower-order batting aggression. Along with fellow bowling all-rounder Alan Davidson, he helped restore Australia to the top of world cricket in the late 1950s and early 1960s after a slump in the early 1950s. In 1958 he became Australia's Test captain until his retirement in 1964. He became the first player to reach 200 wickets and 2,000 runs in Test cricket, arriving at that milestone in 1963.
Gideon Haigh described him as "perhaps the most influential cricketer and cricket personality since the Second World War." 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."
Benaud was born in Penrith, New South Wales, in 1930. He came from a cricket family, with his younger brother John Benaud also going on to become an Australian Test cricketer. His father Louis, a third generation Australian of French Huguenot descent, 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 runs. Lou later moved to Parramatta region in western Sydney, and played for Cumberland. It was here that Richie Benaud grew up, learning how to bowl leg breaks, googlies and topspinners under his father's watch. Educated at Parramatta High School, Benaud made his first grade debut for Cumberland at age 16, primarily as a batsman.
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