Famous Cricketers No 100 - Richie Benaud

SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test match v Pakistan 1 2 0 60 56 30.00 - 1 - Test matches v India 3 4 0 53 24 13.25 - - - Tour 4 6 0 113 56 18.83 - 1 - Career 120 171 13 5702 167* 36.08 12 30 107 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test match v Pakistan 17 5 36 1 1-36 36.00 - - Test matches v India 169.5 52 388 23 7-72 16.86 3 1 Tour (6b) 186.5 57 424 24 7-72 17.66 3 1 Career (8b) 1488.4 225 } 9247 330 7-46 28.02 13 2 (6b) 1456.2 405 1956/57 When the team finally returned home, Benaud was overlooked for the captaincy of New South Wales which had been vacated by Keith Miller. Instead, the honour went to Ian Craig, who was five years younger. While slightly disappointed by the decision, it had no negative impact on Benaud’s form as he took 32 wickets for the season, the most for New South Wales and 38 wickets in all first-class matches to place second behind Lindsay Kline. His batting reached no great heights, however, his top-score being only 63. For Cumberland, it was a different story, his 484 runs at 60.5 being the best batting average in the competition. One of the features of the season was a testimonial match for Bill O’Reilly and Stan McCabe, two great cricketers who had featured prominently in Benaud’s imaginary backyard Test matches as a boy. He and Neil Harvey put on 90 in 40 minutes as Harvey’s team raced away to a win. He also played in a gripping tied Shield match against Victoria, scoring an audacious 70 to take his team to within twelve runs of their target. Jimmy Burke and Ian Craig, both badly ill, courageously teamed up for the last wicket but Burke fell with the scores level, completing the first tied result in the Sheffield Shield. It prompted one observer to turn to his neighbour and say “That was pretty close, wasn’t it?” Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 121. New South Wales v Western Australia, Sydney, November 23, 24, 26, 27 (New South Wales won by 80 runs) (6) c B.L.Buggins b R.B.Strauss 24 145 25.4 6 69 3 B.K.Shepherd b 196 A.R.Edwards c J.W.Martin R.A.Gaunt c S.J.Carroll (6) c B.A.Rigg b R.A.Gaunt 3 318 18.5 2 59 5 R.B.Strauss b 187 2 R.B.Simpson c O.Lambert B.K.Shepherd c sub (R.M.Harvey) B.L.Buggins st O.Lambert R.A.Gaunt c A.K.Davidson 122. New South Wales v Western Australia, Perth, December 8, 10, 11, 12 (New South Wales won by an innings and 31 runs) (6) c B.K.Shepherd b D.E.Hoare 25 530-9d 32 9 72 2 R.B.Simpson lbw 301 1 D.E.Hoare st O.Lambert 28 6 75 4 R.B.Simpson c N.C.O’Neill 198 1 B.K.Shepherd c W.J.Watson A.R.Edwards b A.T.Preen c and b 123. New South Wales v South Australia, Adelaide, December 14, 15, 17 (New South Wales won by an innings and 62 runs) (4) lbw b J.Drennan 0 454 17 3 25 1 L.R.Weekley c J.W.Martin 189 2 16 6 31 3 P.L.Ridings c W.J.Watson 203 1 G.R.A.Langley st O.Lambert J.Drennan c W.J.Watson 36