Richard "Richie" Benaud (born October 6, 1930) is an Australian cricketer and latterly cricket commentator.

Born in Penrith, Benaud played 63 Test matches for his country between 1952 and 1964 amongst a total of 259 first-class games. One of Australia's best leg spin bowlers, he took 248 Test wickets at a bowling average of 27.03 and a batting average of 24.45 to compliment his all-round performance. He led his country in 28 Test matches, most memorably in the 1960-61 series against the West Indian team including the famous Tied Test in Brisbane, Queensland.

After his retirement from professional cricket, Benaud turned to cricket journalism and commentary, dividing his time between England (where he worked for the BBC for many years, prior to joining Channel 4) and Australia (for the Nine Network).

His voice, appearance, and penchant for cream (bone/white/off-white/ivory/beige) jackets are so well-known a succession of comedy albums by The Twelfth Man parodying Benaud's foibles have been best-sellers in Australia.

In 2004, Benaud starred in a series of television advertisements for the Australian Tourism Commission, aimed at promoting Australia as a tourist destination. Benaud's ad featured him in various scenic locations uttering his signature comment, "Marvellous!". He also appeared in "Richie Benaud's Greatest XI" a show in which he chooses his own XI. A limited version was shown on the Nine Network after a match between Australia and Pakistan.

Teams

• New South Wales
• Australian national team

Career Summary

Tests

Test Debut: vs West Indies, Sydney, 1951-1952
Last Test: vs South Africa, Sydney, 1963-1964

• His highest Test score of 122 was made against South Africa, Johannesburg, 1957-1958
• His best Test bowling effort of 7 for 72 was against India, Chennai, 1956-1957

External link

• Cricinfo Player Profile on Richie Benaud