Ritchie Benaud

Richie Benaud

Benaud in 1956
Personal information
Full name	Richard Benaud
Born	(1930-10-06)6 October 1930 Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Died	10 April 2015(2015-04-10) (aged 84) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg spin
Role	All-rounder, commentator
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 190)	25 January 1952 v West Indies
Last Test	12 February 1964 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1948–1964	New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 63 259 Runs scored 2201 11719 Batting average 24.45 36.50 100s/50s 3/9 23/61 Top score 122 187 Balls bowled 19108 60481 Wickets 248 945 Bowling average 27.03 24.73 5 wickets in innings 16 56 10 wickets in match 1 9 Best bowling 7/72 7/18 Catches/stumpings 65/– 254/–
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.