Famous Cricketers No 100 - Richie Benaud

SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Sheffield Shield 4 5 0 164 55 32.80 - 1 6 Other match 1 1 1 20 20 - - - - Season 5 6 1 184 55 36.80 - 1 6 Career 11 15 1 436 93 31.14 - 3 8 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Sheffield Shield 69.6 8 306 10 4-93 30.60 - - Other matches 16.5 2 75 1 1-75 75.00 - - Season (8b) 86.3 10 381 11 4-93 34.63 - - Career (8b) 155.3 13 651 16 4-93 40.68 - - 1951/52 At this stage of his career Benaud was still, to borrow one of the chapter titles from his autobiography, “Promising much but delivering little”. Despite some dominant showings in grade cricket, where he snared 46 wickets, his bowling at State level had gone backwards. New South Wales were undefeated Shield champions, a fact that comes as little surprise after a quick scan of the team sheet, which reveals names such as Arthur Morris, Sid Barnes, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Jimmy Burke and Jim De Courcy. But Benaud was something of a passenger. In terms of wickets taken, he again ranked 36th and no bowler who took as many wickets was more expensive. One interested observer at the New South Wales versus Queensland match at Brisbane was E.C ‘Chappie’ Dwyer, one third of the Test selection panel, along with Don Bradman and Jack Ryder. Dwyer wrote to Bradman about the match, which he said was “most interesting and revealed a good deal”. Unfortunately for Benaud, one of the things it apparently revealed was that “Our young spinners, Flockton and Benaud were not good enough to carry the attack”. After the return match against Queensland, Dwyer again wrote to Bradman, noting “Young Benaud and Flockton have not played well of recent date”. The interest in these two young all-rounders, who had no five wicket innings and one century between them, shows the prevailing selection philosophy of the time – that Australian sides needed a leg-spinner, regardless of whether he was one of the best eleven players or not. Another thing in Benaud’s favour was the youth policy in place at this time. As Bradman wrote to Dwyer in early 1952 “We are trying to build up for Australia.” Despite Dwyer’s doubts, the Australian selectors chose Benaud in the side for the dead-rubber Fifth Test in Sydney. He was one of three debutants, along with Colin McDonald and George Thoms. Benaud described the call-up as the most exciting moment of his life to that point. His introduction to the Test arena however was an inauspicious one as he scored just 22 runs for the match and took a single wicket. It could have been very different though - had Gil Langley not dropped an edge he procured, Benaud would have had a notable first Test scalp – the great Everton Weekes. In the end, Benaud’s first wicket was a somewhat more modest one – bespectacled tailender Alf Valentine, who finished with a career batting average under 5 runs. Benaud also ran out Frank Worrell, who, of course, went on to be his opposing captain in the famous Tied Test a decade later. After Benaud’s Test debut, Bradman wrote to Dwyer, saying “The low scoring of Benaud was disappointing, but he shaped really well. Was out to a splendid catch.” He went on to describe Benaud’s fielding as “first class” before making the enigmatic declaration: “I would like him to be a little better than he really is”. Dwyer seemed unconvinced that Benaud would become a quality Test player in the near future. He suggested that a move should be made to get either George Tribe, Bruce Dooland or Cec. Pepper to return to Australia and play Test cricket. Meanwhile, Benaud returned to Shield cricket to post a century stand with a hotly tipped debutant, sixteen year old Ian Craig. His 97 included one six, one five and ten boundaries. 17