By Barry Parker, AFP From Business Insider APR. 9, 2015, 11:36 PM

Sydney (AFP) – Former Australian captain Richie Benaud, whose peerless commentary made him the beloved “voice of cricket” to fans around the world following a scintillating on-field career, has died aged 84.

Benaud, one of Australia’s most influential cricketers and leading television commentators, died peacefully overnight in his sleep, Channel Nine announced Friday.

He had been fighting skin cancer and suffered serious injury in a car accident in late 2013.

“A sad day for Australia,” tweeted Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who offered a state funeral to Benaud’s family and ordered flags to fly at half-mast when he is laid to rest.

“We have lost a cricketing champion and Australian icon. What an innings. RIP Richie Benaud.”

Benaud last captained Australia against South Africa in the 1963-64 series and went on to become a legend as one of cricket’s best known characters and broadcasters.

The veteran of 63 Test matches was the first player to score 2,000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets.

Australia never lost a series under the leg-spinning all-rounder’s attacking captaincy, which ran for 28 games from 1958.

Benaud moved into commentary, first with the BBC in England, where he was as well known as in Australia for his dry wit and economical style.

“My mantra is: put your brain into gear and if you can add to what’s on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up,” Benaud said, looking back at his success.

“The key thing was to learn the value of economy with words and to never insult the viewer by telling them what they can already see.”

He could also turn a vivid phrase and was inspired by Ian Botham’s six off Terry Alderman during the 1981 Ashes Test at Headingley, part of one of the greatest cricket 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.”

– The ‘pope’ of cricket –

Benaud 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 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 told Nine.

“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 spell that saw him take five wickets 16 times.

Former England cricketer Jonathan Agnew, who worked alongside Benaud for many years in BBC’s “Test Match Special” commentary box, described Benaud as a “true one-off”.

“He was quite simply peerless. Nobody else had his authority, popularity and skill,” the BBC cricket correspondent wrote.

“He had this unique style — the choice of words, how he delivered them, the way he looked — and it all came together to make him one of the most recognisable people on television.”

“If cricket had ever anointed a pope it would be Richie Benaud,” added Jim Maxwell, one of Australia’s leading commentators.

“He has been the most influential, revered and respected person in the game for 50 years.”

Prime Minister Abbott told ABC radio: “He has been a part of the lives of millions of Australians and he will certainly be very much missed.”

Benaud was the mainstay in Australian television commentary until the past two southern summers, before announcing in November 2014 that he had skin cancer.

IMAGE: © AFP/File Manan Vatsyayana
Former Australian captain Richie Benaud, known as the “voice of cricket” to fans around the world, has died aged 84, Channel Nine reports

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