Famous Cricketers No 100 - Richie Benaud

SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 5 9 0 148 34 16.44 - - 3 Sheffield Shield 3 4 0 194 125 48.50 1 1 6 Other matches 4 6 1 188 68* 37.60 - 2 4 Season 12 19 1 530 125 29.44 1 3 13 Career 75 110 7 3685 167* 35.77 8 18 74 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test matches 116.7 23 377 10 4-120 37.70 - - Sheffield Shield 68 8 276 5 2-101 55.20 - - Other matches 106 24 311 6 3-58 51.83 - - Season (8b) 290.7 55 964 21 4-120 45.90 - - Career (8b) 1209.4 171 } 5864 181 7-46 32.39 5 - (6b) 444 103 1954/55 – Australia in the West Indies This was Australia’s first tour of the West Indies and, despite some grumblings at Ian Johnson’s disciplinarian leadership style, it is still remembered fondly by all involved, Benaud describing a mix of buoyant crowds, bright cricket and “very pleasant” Caribbean rum. Australia won the Test series 3-0, clawing back some of the credibility they had lost in their failure at home to England the previous summer. The tourists proved tremendously popular, attracting grateful attention wherever they played. It was a batsman’s summer, with 21 Test centuries, but Benaud found the hard pacy wickets to his liking and captured 18 wickets at the best average of any of the regular bowlers. He was particularly effective on the spin-friendly wicket at Georgetown, where he took three wickets in four balls, the first Australian to do this since Bill O’Reilly in 1934. He ended the innings with figures of 4/15. While this tour may have been a successful one on the field for Benaud, it came at a difficult time. He went out to bat in Kingston having just received a cable saying that his wife Marcia, who had given birth only a month before, was seriously ill. Understandably, he found it hard to concentrate and after a quarter of an hour hadn’t registered a run. In a mid-pitch conference with captain Ian Johnson, Benaud admitted he was struggling to concentrate and Johnson suggested he try to forget about it and play his strokes. That he did. He raced to his first Test century in just 78 minutes, the fastest in over half a century. At one point, he smashed fast bowler Frank King for 20 runs in an over. That remarkable innings, one of five the Australians scored, helped his side to an innings victory and 3-0 series scoreline. It also boosted his batting average for the series above forty, evidence of a maturation of his game. His value to the team was also evident in the quality of wickets he took - he dismissed Everton Weekes four times, Walcott three times, Collie Smith twice and Worrell once. He also broke the record partnership between Dennis Atkinson and Clairmonte Depeiza which had lasted a full day. However, Benaud’s progression on this tour is perhaps best measured by some typically forthright barracking from the Caribbean crowds. In an early match, one spectator yelled “Here comes the poor man’s Keith Miller” as Benaud came to the wicket. By his century in the last Test at Kingston, the crowd had changed its tune, with one wit yelling: “Do it to England, man, not us!” Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 76. Australians v Jamaica, Melbourne Park, Kingston, March 19, 21, 22, 23 (Match drawn) (6) b R.O.Scarlett 55 453 20.5 3 79 2 A.P.Binns c P.J.P.Burge 474 1 L.C.Mullings c sub (R.G.Archer) (6) b F.M.M.Worrell 20 319 1 0 6 0 28-0 28