Ashes Heroes No 47: Richie Benaud

Continuing our weekly series of essays on the men who shaped the Ashes. This week it is one of Australia's finest captains who perhaps became more famous as the voice of cricket

"Morning everyone." As much as the cuckoo is the sound of spring and Cliff Richard signals the approach of Christmas, so Richie Benaud's chirpy greeting always meant summer and Test match cricket. Nowadays children, those with Sky anyway, have to make do with the smarm of David Gower, but for those of us who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the toad-faced Benaud who greeted us each morning, ever optimistic, ever wise, ever fair.

In the days before Neighbours, Richie was our main contact with Australia and we loved some of his Aussie-isms. For some reason, the word "shemozzle" sticks in the mind, mainly because the England team always seemed to be in one. "What a shemozzle," Richie would say as both batsmen ended up at the same end or as two fielders collided going for a catch. There was also the holy grail of hearing Richie say "Two-twenty-two for two" in that clipped Australian way.

As he got older, Benaud became more and more like Yoda, in both his appearance and the way that his words sounded wiser when compared with the banalities of some of his co-commentators. No waffle, no needless reminiscences, just commonsense description of what was happening and why it mattered. He always said that he regarded his position as commentator like a guest in people's homes and so it was important to respect that and not intrude. Those who miss Benaud's live commentary can still occasionally see archive footage of him introducing matches from the 1970s on ESPN Classic, wearing a wonderful collection of paisley shirts and kipper ties.

But he was more than just a commentator. Gideon Haigh, the Australian journalist, calls him the most influential cricketing personality since the Second World War for the mentoring he has done of tearaway cricketers such as Shane Warne and Ian Chappell, as well as his role as peacemaker during Kerry Packer's World Series. And as Australia's captain between 1958 and 1963, he gave his country back their pride.

After losing the Ashes in three consecutive series in the early 1950s, Australia turned to the captain of New South Wales to lead them in the 1958-59 quest to retain the urn. Benaud was a competent leg-spinner who knew how to hold a bat, having made three Test hundreds and three fifties. He had just had a very succesful tour of South Africa and the selectors thought that the enthusiasm and shrewdness of Benaud as captain would be just what they needed.

In truth, Benaud's respectable if not brilliant averages for batting (about 25) and bowling (about 27) barely changed over the 28 matches in which he was captain, but he was able to get more out his team than anyone else had. His first task was to reclaim the Ashes and he led from the front, taking seven for 112 in his first Test in charge as Australia went 1-0 up at Brisbane.

They won the second, too, with Benaud only taking one wicket but he took nine in a drawn third Test and then, at Adelaide, his all-round skills showed, making 46 and taking nine wickets as Australia reached an unbeatable 3-0 series lead. In the final Test, which Australia also won, Benaud made 64 and took five wickets to give him 31 in the series at an average of just under 19. It was the best haul and the second best average for a series in his career.

Benaud captained Australia in two more Ashes series. At Old Trafford in the fourth Test of the 1961 series, he bowled a spell that took five wickets for 13 runs in 25 balls, ensuring that Australia won a match that they looked like losing and thus retained the Ashes. Australia again held on to the urn in 1962-63 when the series Down Under was drawn 1-1. His bowling by this stage was unthreatening and Benaud played only one more series as captain, against South Africa, before retiring.

In total, Benaud captained Australia in seven series over five years. They won five of them and drew two. Under his captaincy, Australia became a dominant force in world cricket. It is a role that they have rarely relinquished since.

Comments

[Vishy]

As the series is about the Ashes heroes, there is no mention in the article about the Australia - West Indies series of 1960-61 and the first tied test. I remember watching a video of the tied test, where Benaud bowls to Sobers and when Sobers hits him for a boundary, he applauds it. Must have been a gentleman in his playing days. Read in one of Benaud's books (I think it was 'Willow Patterns'), where he says 'Captaincy is 90% luck and 10% hard work. But don't try it without that 10%.' Also Graham Gooch mentions in his book on captaincy that Benaud was a person who could make someone sell his own grandmother :-) He must have been a wonderful captain and leader to be rated so high. Something which Benaud said which brings me a chuckle is when he said about Keith Miller 'There were many rumours about Keith, and they were all true...His name will live as long as cricket exists' :-) When I watched the video of the 1981 Ashes, and Benaud's commentary and presentation during the 2005 Ashes, it was nice to see him having changed much in appearance (he had snowy hair recently) but his analysis and commentary were as wonderful as before. We are going to miss him in future Ashes.