With that we’re going to wind down our rolling coverage of tributes to Richie Benaud and reactions to news today of his death at age 84.
Apart from this blog, you can see pictures from Benaud’s storied career as a cricketer and commentator here:
Here’s our news story which continues to be updated. Benaud’s obituary is here, and Richard Cooke has written this terrific piece about the great man here.
Finally, my colleague Nick Evershed has produced this generator of some of Benaud’s best lines over a career in the commentary box spanning four decades.
Floral tributes laid at the statue of Richie Benaud at the SCG. @2GBNews pic.twitter.com/ZRGUlbU6Mh
— Katie Kimberley (@KatieKimberley) April 10, 2015
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Here’s Bill Lawry, another legendary cricketing voice, speaking to radio 6PR in Perth about Benaud’s death.
Flags around the country to fly at half-mast
The NSW premier, Mike Baird, has issued this statement on Benaud’s death:
The death of Australian cricket legend Richie Benaud will sadden millions of Australians who have never known our national game without him.
Richie was one of the most influential figures in the long and proud history of Australian cricket.
He was the voice of summer – and it’s hard to imagine future Australian summers without him.
Across five decades Richie’s career as a cricket commentator endeared him to cricket fans old and new. Richie set the standard for sports commentary in this country which will never be surpassed.
On the field Richie was as successful as he was off it, with an extraordinary Test career and as one of our most successful Australian captains.
Richie was a favourite son of NSW. Born and raised in Western Sydney, he forged a stellar career for NSW where he donned the baggy blue cap over 16 seasons on his favourite ground in the world, the hallowed Sydney Cricket Ground.
It was close to the SCG, in Coogee, that Richie lived with his beloved wife Daphne for close to 50 years. All our thoughts are with Daphne and Richie’s family and friends today.
As a mark of respect, I have asked all flags on NSW Government buildings and establishments including the Sydney Harbour Bridge to be lowered to half-mast today.
And an official statement from the prime minister, Tony Abbott, following on from his earlier remarks. Abbott has asked that all flags around the country fly at half-mast today:
Today, Australia has lost an icon.
Richie Benaud OBE was part of all our lives.
To most Australians Richie Benaud was cricket. He personified its traditions and its values.
While many Australians only know Richard Benaud as the voice of cricket, we should not forget that in his day he was a cricketer with few equals. It was why he was so insightful as a commentator.
As a player his record has withstood the test of time. He led the Australian side from 1958/59 through to 1963/1964, never losing a series in his 28 Tests as captain.
As captain, he was first to lead a full Australian tour to India and Pakistan in 1959/60.
He was the first cricketer to reach a Test double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets.
Given the special place Richie Benaud has in our national life, I have asked that on the day of his funeral flags fly at half-mast.
I extend my condolences and the condolences of the Australian people, to his wife Daphne and his family and friends.
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Here’s Shane Warne, possible the only better spinner Australia’s ever produced, reflecting on what Richie Benaud meant to him:
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Churches, clubs, Australians of all stripes are paying tribute to Benaud today, such was the wide and deep appeal of the man whose voice came to be the soundtrack to summer in Australia, and probably in many places around the world.
Marvellous innings #RichieBenaud pic.twitter.com/RpZfYUVxal
— Fr Rod Bower (@FrBower) April 10, 2015
Vale Richie Benaud pic.twitter.com/IelHQGoKvp
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) April 10, 2015
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Flags across New South Wales will be at half-mast today, the NSW premier Mike Baird has announced.
Rest in peace, Ritchie. A great player, captain, commentator and gentleman. I've asked for flags to be lowered to half-mast today.
— Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) April 9, 2015
They’re already down at the SCG, as this picture by Bill Birtles shows.
Flag at half mast near SCG #Richie pic.twitter.com/yX4KWT6FkB
— Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) April 10, 2015
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From my colleague Nick Evershed, a collection of Benaud’s best utterings:
From my colleague Jonny Weeks, a photo gallery of Benaud’s life:
Richie Benaud: Cricket's permanent witness
Richard Cooke has penned this tribute to Benaud, whom he calls cricket’s “permanent witness”:
Of all the words used to pay tribute to Richie Benaud, “inimitable” shouldn’t be one of them.
Cricket’s greatest commentator was unique in a way that made people want to copy him, and the tribute of imitation – what Coco Chanel called “the homage of the street” – has been paid for decades.
You could see it in the stands at the SCG, Benaud’s favourite ground, during Australia’s whitewash of England in 2014. He hadn’t presented for almost five years and hadn’t worn an off-white blazer for even longer than that. But there was a battalion of Benauds over the concourse, a sea of silver-haired wigs, ivory jackets and oversized microphones.
As the Nine Network reports the flags at the Sydney Cricket Ground will be flown at half mast today, tributes continue to roll on from Benaud’s cricketing colleagues.
Very sad news about Richie Benaud. A legend of Australian cricket & the commentary box. We've lost a true Aussie icon 😢 RIP Richie
— Glenn McGrath (@glennmcgrath11) April 9, 2015
Growing up the summer of cricket had only one voice. Richie RIP, you will be missed mate #Legend #RIPRichie #VoiceOfTheGame
— Peter Siddle (@petersiddle403) April 9, 2015
Very sad to hear the news that the great Richie Benaud has passed! #truelegend #RIP
— Nathan Lyon (@NathLyon421) April 9, 2015
I've never been around a more revered person! A true LEGEND! RIP Richie.
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) April 9, 2015
Another former Australian captain, Ian Chappell, also spoke about Benaud this morning to Melbourne radio station 3AW.
Here’s Steve Crowley, the boss of Nine Network Sport, discussing Richie Benaud’s life on Australian radio a little earlier:
My colleague Daniel Hurst has passed along this statement from the Australian opposition leader, Bill Shorten:
Today Australian Cricket has lost a legend, Australia has lost an icon and Australians have lost a dear friend.
The most decent of men and the voice of all our summers has left us.
Richie Benaud was a captain his whole life: a leader on the field, a cool head in the tumult of World Series Cricket and the doyen of the commentary box.
Generations of Australian cricket lovers owe their passion for the game to Richie Benaud’s eloquence, his dry wit, his brilliant mind and his seemingly limitless store of anecdotes and remembrances.
In a profession that can lend itself to hyperbole and histrionics, Richie was always an island of calm understatement. When he spoke, we listened. For millions of Australians, Richie Benaud was cricket – the personification of our noble game.
Long before he spoke to us in our lounge rooms, Richie was already an icon. A dashing all-rounder, striking boundaries and bowling leg-breaks with his hair slicked back and shirt unbuttoned.
From young tyro, Richie became a courageous captain whose daring and sportsmanship helped revive and enrich test match cricket.
Age never diminished Richie, it strengthened him. Sadly now it has taken him from us.
Richie will be mourned by millions, not just in Australia but right around the world.
No-one will miss him more than the wife and family he adored so deeply, our hearts go out to them today.
All Australians give thanks for the life of Richie Benaud.
Our nation will not see his like again, but he will live forever in our treasured memory.
As the great man said so many times: marvellous innings, that.
Richie Benaud’s commentary made him famous wherever cricket is played, including in the UK, where he got his start with the BBC. His last spell in the commentary box in England was during the 2005 Ashes series. A few minutes of that session are captured below:
Here more’s of what the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has had to say about Benaud’s passing:
Richie Benaud passed away overnight. Richie Benaud has been the voice of cricket. There would be very few Australians who have not passed a summer in the company of Richie Benaud. He was the accompaniment of an Australian summer. His voice was even more present than the chirping of the cicadas in our suburbs and towns and that voice, tragically, is now still.
But we remember him with tremendous affection. He hasn’t just been the voice of cricket since the early 1960s, he was an extraordinarily successful Australian cricket captain. He led our country for 5 years in 28 Tests and he never lost a test series. He was the first cricketer to achieve the remarkable double of 2,000 test runs and 200 test wickets. This is the greatest loss for cricket since the loss of Don Bradman and for that reason I’m pleased to have offered the Benaud family a state funeral. But this is a sad day for everyone who loves cricket and it’s a sad day for everyone who has felt that Richie Benaud is a part of his or her life.
Benaud's family to be offered state funeral
BREAKING: PM Tony Abbott says a state funeral will be offered for Richie Benaud (@NinaBStevens)
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 10, 2015
Michael Clarke pays tribute
Australian Test captain Michael Clarke has told the Nine Network Benaud was a gentleman who played cricket in the right spirit.
“He was a great player and a great captain; a wonderful leader of men and he continued that off the field,” Clarke said.
“He loved winning. He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. He played the game the right way.”
The Guardian’s obituary for Richie Benaud, who died this morning, Australian-time, is now live:
Richie Benaud, who has died aged 84, was perhaps best known latterly for his work as a global cricket commentator, with his distinctive voice, familiar fixed stare, prominent bottom lip and carefully tended coiffure. But he had been a distinguished performer for Australia on the cricket field himself, playing for his country for 12 years until 1964.
The best of his career hung principally on the special Test series of 1960-61, when he captained Australia against the visiting West Indies side led by Frank Worrell. Some tedious contests had been inflicted on the watching public, with more to follow in the 1960s. But that extraordinary five-match encounter produced electrifying batsmanship, and bowling that was less concerned with shutting the game down than keeping it moving.
Benaud’s voice is the soundtrack to some of cricket’s greatest moments, including “that ball” bowled by Shane Warne in 1993 to dismiss Mike Gatting. Benaud’s comments on the ball have become synonymous with that dismissal: “Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to it.”
Our sports series The Joy of Six took on the great man in 2013, writer Richard Cooke nominating a half-dozen moments from Benaud’s career of the many worth remembering today. Here’s a taste:
1) The cream of the crop?
The legend of Richie Benaud wasn’t born overnight, instead it was a long and difficult labour. It’s unlikely a player today would be given the chance to overcome such snakes-and-ladders beginnings, but even in his failed performances there was a vein of genius that keep selectors persisting.
Benaud’s early career was also tinged by a slapstick variety of bad luck. Five catches were dropped off his bowling in a single innings, three by the keeper. He ducked into a bouncer which fractured his forehead, leaving a ball-shaped hole in his head and a shard of bone in his sinus. He broke his finger and splintered his thumb, and fielded a slashing cut shot with his teeth, shattering them into pieces. Fortunately they were dentures; less auspicious was the timing, only days before his wedding. Richie’s vows were muffled by plaster, and his champagne enjoyed through a straw.
He was third choice to be captain, and he and his team had played poorly against England. That was to change.
It’s a great piece, do read the whole thing here.
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Very sad to hear the news today of the passing of Richie Benaud. What a legend of a cricketer and broadcaster for @Channel9 @WWOS9 #bestever
— Brett Lee (@BrettLee_58) April 9, 2015
Cricket writer Gideon Haigh has penned this terrific obituary in the Australian:
Richie Benaud was a stranger to winters, experiencing few as a cricketer in a 63-Test career, and none after 1963 when his life as a commentator and critic began. Instead he became a constant of summers in Australia and England as his era’s most celebrated sports broadcaster.
John Arlott has been garlanded as the ‘voice of cricket’; Benaud was indisputably the ‘face of cricket’, being involved in the telecasts of Test matches and one-day internationals by Australia’s Channel Nine, the BBC and Channel Four for half a century.
A sad day for Australia. We have lost a cricketing champion and Australian icon. What an innings. RIP Richie Benaud
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) April 9, 2015
A sad day in cricket. I will sadly miss listening to the legend #richiebenaud 's commentary. His voice IS cricket #RIPRichieBenaud #legend
— Harry Kewell (@HarryKewell) April 9, 2015
RIP Richie Benaud. The greatest cricket commentator of them all & a wonderful man. #MourningEveryone
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 9, 2015
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"The best in the business bar none"
My colleague Amanda Meade passes on these comments from staff at Channel Nine, the network with which Benaud became synonymous in Australia throughout his media career.
The chief executive of Nine David Gyngell said Benaud’s passing had robbed the nation of a national treasure.
“Richie earned the profound and lasting respect of everyone across the world of cricket and beyond - first as an outstanding player and captain , then as an incomparable commentator and through it all as a wonderful human being,” Gyngell said.
Benaud was a critical part of Nine’s success as a sports broadcaster and his role as a cricket commentator gave Nine’s coverage authority and gravitas.
“Richie is a true legend not only to all the people who knew him , but to the many millions who didn’t. Which speaks volumes.
“He’s been part of the Australian psyche. Since way back in 1977 Richie has been a much loved member of the Nine family. More than that, he sat at the head of our table.
“We shall miss him dearly , but we’ll forever treasure his indelible memory and all the marvellous values for which he stood. Cricket is very much the richer for Richie Benaud’s lifelong engagement. And so are we all.
“Our deepest sympathies go to Daphne and Richie’s family. “
Nine’s Head of Sport, Steve Crawley, said everybody loved Benaud.
“You didn’t have to know Richie to love him,” Crawley said.
“Everything about him. Best in the business bar none. We will miss him the way you miss loved ones. And at the same time we will thank our lucky stars he came our way at all.”
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One of Benaud’s early forays into the media: an article in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1949 making light of the fact that Benaud pipped his father, Lou, for a spot in the Cumberland first-grade eleven.
Here’s our news story on Benaud’s death, which we’ll be updating throughout the next hour:
Former Australia cricket captain and renowned commentator Richie Benaud has died aged 84. He had been receiving treatment for skin cancer since November.
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. He also captained the Australian national side in 28 Tests from 1958 to 1964.
“Richie Benaud’s passing has robbed us not only of a national treasure but a lovely man,” Nine Network CEO David Gyngell said in a statement.
“Richie earned the profound and lasting respect of everyone across the world of cricket and beyond. First as an outstanding player and captain, then as an incomparable commentator and through it all, as a wonderful human being.”
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also paid his respects. “There would hardly be an Australian over the last 40 years who hasn’t listened to Richie Benaud,” he told ABC radio on Friday, describing him as a very effective cricketer and great personality.
“He certainly will be very, very much missed.”
Some early tributes via Twitter:
Vale Richie Benaud. #RIPRichieBenaud We are a grateful nation.
— Christine Milne (@senatormilne) April 9, 2015
Super innings that. He was the sound of summer. #RIPRichieBenaud #richiebenaud
— Melissa Doyle (@melissadoyle) April 9, 2015
Sad news to hear of the passing of Richie Benaud - a true Australian cricketing legend and voice of Australian Cricket. #RIPRichieBenaud
— AnnastaciaPalaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) April 9, 2015
Though he was gravely ill, one of Benaud’s last public acts was to lend his inimitable voice to this tribute to Phillip Hughes, who tragically died in a cricketing accident last November.
He was at the time, as always, a voice of reassurance and grace.
Richie Benaud dies aged 84
Good morning. Legendary Australian cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud has reportedly died overnight in his sleep. He was aged 84.
Born in Penrith in New South Wales in 1930, Benaud went on to captain his country in 28 tests and became the first player to complete the test double of 200 wickets and 2,000 runs in 1963.
He remained in the spotlight for decades after his retirement in 1964 as a researcher, writer, critic and, most prominently, a commentator with Channel Nine.
Benaud had been undergoing treatment for skin cancer since late last year.
We’ll be rounding up tributes and reactions to Benaud’s death and as they come in.
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