Famous Cricketers No 100 - Richie Benaud

Garfield Sobers were playing in the competition, which created a great deal of interest. It was important that this popularity was capitalised upon and Benaud’s New South Wales team led the way by playing bright cricket, committing themselves to quick over rates, aggressive batting and field placement and a willingness to getting results in the four-day game, through bold declarations if necessary. Chris Harte’s History of the Sheffield Shield gives Benaud much of the credit for the resurgence of the fading competition into a vital and popular form of the game. Harte writes “It was his (Benaud’s) flair and attacking captaincy that encouraged others to follow suit”. Benaud’s team was also a highly settled one, using the same twelve players (ten of whom had played Test cricket) for the whole summer. Benaud had come a long way from the days when the ‘Festival cricketer’ tag may have stuck – he was now consistently producing big performances on big occasions. He took 47 wickets at 17.97 to top both the wickets and bowling averages. Against Victoria, he put on 255 runs with Graeme Thomas for the seventh wicket, rescuing New South Wales from a perilous position at 6/141 and establishing a platform from which his team could make a positive declaration. His own innings tallied 140 and only ended when he tried to smash Bob Cowper out of the ground and was caught on the fence. The partnership established a new record for his state. There was also a visit by the New Zealand team, still not given Test status for the tour. Benaud was particularly effective in these matches, at one stage producing a spell of 7 overs for six maidens and 3 wickets for four runs, conceding a single scoring stroke. He also appeared in Jack Chegwyn’s touring side, which played at regional centres. Opponents included the unorthodox spinner Johnny Gleeson, who totally deceived Richie with a wrong-un. Benaud later played a role in recruiting Gleeson to grade cricket, organising a place for him at Balmain. A couple of years later, another country cricketer with a big reputation, Doug Walters, made the trip down to Sydney to play grade and chose to play at Cumberland, believing he would benefit from playing under the experienced Benaud. Benaud was also named ABC Sportsman of the Year, the first cricketer to win this award. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 213. New South Wales v Western Australia, Sydney, November (24), (25), 27, 28 (Match drawn) * (9) c H.G.Bevan b D.E.Hoare 7 218 18 5 41 2 J.F.Parker b 176 K.N.Slater b did not bat - 121-2 214. New South Wales v Queensland, Brisbane, December 1, 2, 4, 5 (New South Wales won by 48 runs) * (9) b B.Fisher 26 291 29 13 73 4 P.J.P.Burge c N.C.O’Neill 263 1 J.J.McLaughlin lbw A.T.W.Grout c R.B.Simpson B.Fisher c and b did not bat - 245-6d 21 1 64 2 T.R.Veivers lbw 225 1 J.R.E.Mackay c A.K.Davidson 215. New South Wales v Victoria, Melbourne, December 23, 26, 27, 28 (New South Wales won by 174 runs) * (8) c K.W.Kirby b R.M.Cowper 140 398-8d 17 6 32 2 R.C.Jordon lbw 236 K.W.Kirby b did not bat - 254-5d 22 6 60 2 R.C.Jordon c R.B.Simpson 242 1 K.W.Kirby c R.N.Harvey 216. New South Wales v Queensland, Sydney, December 30, January 1, 2, 3 (New South Wales won by 30 runs) * (8) c W.W.Hall b K.D.Mackay 55 390 35 14 63 5 D.F.E.Bull b 351 3 P.J.P.Burge b K.D.Mackay c and b J.J.McLaughlin c I.D.Craig A.T.W.Grout c B.C.Booth did not bat - 234-4d 13 3 46 0 243 55