A ‘high-flighting leg-spinner’ who had enough shots in his amoury to also bat in the lower middle order was the Manchester Guardian’s matter-of-fact assessment of a young R. Benaud in 1952. The report, published at a time when the Australian national side was in the doldrums (according to our correspondent), tried to cast an eye over the young players Australia might look to if they wanted the side to improve.
Not that Australian selectors needed much advice on who to pick; they had already blooded Benaud, giving him his first cap against the West Indies in January 1952, a match they won to secure an easy 4-1 series win.
English cricket fans got to take a closer look at Richie Benaud when his Australian team toured here in 1953.
As a legspinner, Benaud was full of baits and traps, often too good for opposition batsmen. One of his best performances with the ball was against India in Calcutta in 1956 when he took 11 wickets.
Against South Africa in 1957-1958, Benaud demonstrated that he had matured into an accomplished all rounder, taking 30 wickets and making two centuries.
His appointment as Australian captain in 1958 came as a bit of a suprise, certainly to readers of the Manchester Guardian. But doubts about his ability were unfounded - his record shows that he led his country in 28 Tests and never lost a series as Australian captain.
Benaud enjoyed a stellar international career and took 248 wickets and scored 2,201 runs in 63 Tests before retiring from international cricket in 1964.
