greatest series ever.
“Don’t bother looking for that, let alone chasing it,” Benaud commentated. “It’s gone straight into the confectionery stall and out again.”
He also played a key role in the formation of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket that revolutionised the professional game in the 1970s, and anchored the billionaire’s Channel Nine cricket coverage for decades.
Tributes poured in from around the nation for Benaud, who was born in Penrith, in western Sydney, in 1930.
“My vintage, we grew up with that voice,” said current Australian captain Michael Clarke.
“He was a great player and a great captain. A wonderful leader of men and he continued that off the field,” Clarke said.
“He loved winning. He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. He played the game the right way.”
Benaud took 248 Test wickets at an average of 27.03 and had a highest score of 122 in a remarkable career that saw him take five wickets 16 times.
Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar called his passing a “great loss to the world of cricket”.
Tendulkar said on Twitter Benaud brought “great insights on the game” and that he had fond memories of talking with him and his fellow Australian bowler Shane Warne about the art of leg spin.
Warne left an emotional tribute on Instagram praising Benaud as a hero and “the godfather of cricket”.
Another former Australia captain, Steve Waugh, said Benaud was “irreplaceable.”
“He was unique as he covered all facets of the game, as a player, a commentator, an administrator and a writer. His legacy to the game will always live on.”
International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson saluted the “stellar” lifetime of one cricket’s “most beloved sons”.
“Richie was a true legend, charismatic but always the perfect sportsman and gentleman,” he said.
Ex-England cricketer Jonathan Agnew, who like Benaud in years past worked on BBC’s “Test Match Special”, described him as a “true one-off”.