Cricket loses a golden voice
Print Edition
THE moments of silence across the globe as cricket fans reflect on Richie Benaud’s life will speak volumes about his contribution to the game. It was the frequent pauses as much as the insightful observations and dry wit that endeared the elegant former Australian test captain to people who followed cricket.
He spoke with an assured authority, clipping his words in a distinctive manner that spurred so much reverent mimicry that added to his appeal.
Benaud, who was born on October 6, 1930 in Sydney, died yesterday at the age of 84 from complications from skin cancer. He took months to recover from chest and shoulder injuries after crashing his vintage sports car on the way home from a round of golf in October, 2013.
Last November, he revealed he was receiving treatment for skin cancer. “When I was a kid we never ever wore a cap ... because (teammate) Keith Miller never wore a cap,” Benaud said at the time. “If I knew, when I was at school and playing in my early cricket days, the problems that would have come if I didn’t do something about protection of the head and using sunscreens and all sorts of things like that, I’d have played it differently.”
Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards said “our country has lost a national treasure.”
“After Don Bradman, there has been no Australian player more famous or more influential than Richie Benaud,” Edwards said in a statement. “Richie stood at the top of the game throughout his rich life, first as a record-breaking leg-spinner and captain, and then as cricket’s most famous broadcaster who became the iconic voice of our summer.”
Benaud played 63 tests for Australia, making his debut against the West Indies in 1952 and culminating in 1964 against South Africa. He ventured from newspaper reporting into TV after doing some training at the British Broadcasting Commission before he’d finished playing test cricket.
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