He respected everyone and was respected by all
Richie Benaud is no more with us. More than any single individual Benaud has transformed the way was cricket had been communicated to a global audience. From his first stint at BBC Radio in 1960 (still as the Aussie captain) till his last at Channel Nine in Australia two years back, Benaud had covered cricket more than any other person of his era as writer, journalist and radio and TV commentator. Astonishingly perhaps never once one ever heard him of an error about a shot reaching a boundary or possible runs to be made on a shot played towards the boundary. He had been the greatest judge of on-field activities. His unique voice and style was imitated most by comedians and cricket lovers across the globe.
A fine player with bat and ball Benaud was the first to reach 200 wickets and 2,000 runs milestone in Test cricket in his 60th match. But he was the most brilliant captain and true tactician of his era. He transformed the Australian cricket with his bunch of young players after the great generation of post-Bradman era had played its part. In the late 50s Australia cricket was going through a bad patch. After holding the Ashes for 19 long years, the Ashes were lost on the 1953 English tour, as England won it 1-0. England retained it on 1954-55 Australian tour, winning 3-1 and continued their strong hold in 1956 English Summer with the famous 2-1 victory immortalised by Jim Laker’s 9-37 and 10-53 (match figures of 19-90, still a Test and First Class record) in the 4th Test at Old Trafford.
A fine player with bat and ball Benaud was the first to reach 200 wickets and 2,000 runs milestone in Test cricket in his 60th match
It was first time in the 20th century that Australia lost three Ashes series on the trot. A buoyant MCC side led by Peter May left the English shores for the 1958-59 Ashes defence. It was arguably regarded as the strongest cricket team ever to embark upon a tour Down Under. The world class bowling attack consisted of Fred Truman, Frank “Typhoon” Tyson, Brian Statham, Peter Loader, Tony Lock and, of course, Jim Laker. The great Godfrey Evan was behind the stumps and led by May, the batting line up had names like Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, Ted Dexter and Raman Subba Row. The team was balanced by the effective all rounder Trevor Bailey. There seemed to be no weak links in the side.
On the other hand great names of Australian cricket had retired. Benaud had performed brilliantly on the 1957-58 tour to South Africa where the 5-test series was won 3-0 by Australia. Benaud took five wickets in an innings in four successive test matches, in one of which he also hit a hundred. He scored another century to finish series with 329 runs at 54.83 and taking 30 wickets at 21.93, establishing himself as the best all rounder in the world. When regular captain Ian Craig fell ill at the start of 1958-59 season, Benaud was entrusted with the captaincy ahead of seasoned Neil Harvey. Benaud, then 28, led his young side with brilliant, aggressive captaincy to win the series 4-0. He led from the front, taking 31 wickets at just 18.83. Australia never looked back, winning five series under Benaud and drawing two over the next five years. He never lost the Ashes as captain.
The Australia-West Indies series of 1960-61 in Australia is widely regarded as the most competitive test series ever played. The first test at Brisbane ended in the first ever tie as Australia, needing 232 to win, started the last day at 6/92 with Benaud and all rounder Davidson on the crease. A packed to capacity Woolloongabba saw Australia not budging and both batsmen kept attacking as promised by Benaud to the chairman of the selectors, none other than Don Bradman, on the last morning of the test. The 7th wicket partnership yielded 134 runs, taking Australia to within seven runs of victory with four wickets in hand. West Indies bounced back and the last four wickets fell for six runs (three run outs) as match ended in the most memorable fashion in the very last (eight balls) over bowled by Wesley Hall. Australia did win series 2-1 but cricket was the real winner. The leaving West Indians, led by the great Frank Worrell, were honoured with a parade by the Australian public.
Along with Tong Grieg, Ian Chappell and Bill Lawry he formed the most famous, intelligent and respected commentary team ever to communicate on a TV screen
Benaud had been a great team man and when he was injured after first test of the 1962-63 series against South Africa, Bobby Simpson led Australia to a win in the next test. Benaud advised the Australian Cricket Board to look to the future and continue with Simpson as captain for the rest of the series. He played under Simpson in the last three tests as he finished his career at his home Sydney Cricket Ground on 12 February 1964 with 248 wickets (avg 27.03), a world record then. He also scored 2,201 runs at 24.45 with three hundred and nine 50s.
His broadcasting career started in 1960 and he visited every English summer till 2005, when the crowd, celebrating an Ashes win for England after 19 years, said farewell him at The Oval on 12 September 2005. According to his long time TV aide, Tony Grieg, he did shed a tear.
Benaud was known for his crisp and succinct commentary. He never wasted words. His famous ‘scratch Lewis from the List” are still echoed in the memories of all those who saw and heard it in the 1992 World Cup final at MCG as Wasim Akram, bowling round the wicket first bowled Allan Lamb, and as the commentator were letting the audience knew of the rest of English batting of Lewis, Reeve, Pringle etc, Wasim clean bowled Lewis with a magnificent in-dipper first ball to reduce England to 6-141. That was World Cup for Pakistan. That was Richie Benaud in one line. And as very aptly coined by his tutelage Mark Nicholas, the single word that can describe him is dignity.
Along with Tong Grieg, Ian Chappell and Bill Lawry he formed the most famous, intelligent and respected commentary team ever to communicate on a TV screen. His siding with Channel Nine of Kerry Pecker changed the way cricket is played. He was the first famous captain to take up cricket commentary as a full time job. He travelled across the world to cover cricket. He called about 500 test matches, besides covering hundreds of ODIs, including World Cup finals, from 1975 to 2003. Today his legacy is seen in every commentary box filled with former captains and test players. In fact, they outnumber the non-player commentators by a wide margin, a testimony to Benaud’s contribution.
Regarded as the most famous and influential cricket personality after the Don, Benaud has symbolised the way cricket is played. He respected everyone and was respected by all. In Benaud we have lost the face and voice of cricket. RIP, RB.