Famous Cricketers No 100 - Richie Benaud

(3) b A.L.Valentine 6 258-8 23 4 53 1 R.B.Kanhai c F.M.Misson 321 188. Australian XI v Tasmania Combined XI, Launceston, March 15, 16, 17, (Australian XI won by 192 runs) * (8) c B.J.Hyland b B.C.Patterson 3 383 - - - - 169 (5) not out 77 274-7d 15 2 51 2 R.B.Simpson c N.C.O’Neill 296 B.J Hyland hit wkt 189. Australian XI v Tasmania, Hobart, March 18, 20, 21 (Australian XI won by an innings and 62 runs) * (8) b R.Dufty 17 500 - - - - 147 17 3 51 3 R.L.Heffernan c B.N.Jarman 291 B.J Hyland b I.B.Crowden c R.A.Gaunt 190. Australian XI v Western Australia, Perth, March 24, 25, 27, 28 (Match drawn) * (8) c B.L.Buggins b K.F.Punch 62 329 38 14 88 1 P.W.Wishart c B.N.Jarman 351 1 did not bat - 1-0 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test Matches 5 9 0 194 77 21.55 - 2 3 Sheffield Shield 3 4 2 198 119 99.00 1 1 2 Other matches 5 6 1 169 77* 33.80 - 2 4 Season 13 19 3 561 119 35.06 1 5 9 Career 190 264 28 8383 187 35.52 18 40 179 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test Matches 268.1 56 779 23 5-96 33.86 1 - Sheffield Shield 120.6 37 283 10 4-105 28.30 - - Other matches 123.2 38 328 16 5-31 20.50 1 - Season (8b) 512.1 131 1390 49 5-31 28.36 2 - Career (8b) 3752.7 787 } 17198 706 7-32 24.35 40 6 (6b) 2340.2 755 1961 – Australia in England Richie Benaud led his side to England in 1961 with unfinished business on his mind. In winning the Ashes at home and edging out the West Indies, he had taken Australia to the top of world cricket. Retaining the Ashes in England remained the final challenge. Ever the innovator, he implemented a rotation system for the touring party that ensured all the players had a chance to get match practice and stake a claim for Test selection. This proved popular with the team and also bore on-field results. For the first time, the Australian tourists had eight bowlers take at least 50 wickets on a tour of England. He also endeavoured to force results in the three-day matches against county sides, often declaring on the first day. Benaud’s legendary luck seemed to have deserted him early on this tour as when the first Test started Benaud had only won five tosses out of nineteen. Worse, he was struggling with fibrotisis of the shoulder, a painful injury which greatly reduced his ability to bowl the googly and ruled him out of the Second Test at Lord’s. In his absence, Neil Harvey took over the captaincy and guided Australia to victory in the ‘Battle of the Ridge’, so named because of an odd ridge on the pitch. While Benaud was out of sorts with the bat, making only 45 in six Test innings and registering a pair in two different matches, he took fifteen wickets in the Test series, third behind Alan Davidson and, somewhat surprisingly, Ken ‘Slasher’ Mackay. Benaud’s transformation of Mackay into a bowling all-rounder was a crucial move and one that says much about his captaincy style. On first glance, the laconic, gum-chewing Mackay was not the kind of player that would fit into Benaud’s attack-minded team; his nickname typical Australian irony, a reference to his graceless, ponderous way of accumulating runs. One critic was so indignant about Mackay’s batting that he deemed him a 51