article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud was one of cricket's great personalities and will be remembered for Richie Benaud dry wit and knowledge .
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud loved cricket, and Richie Benaud loved conveying Richie Benaud love, by visual means or verbal.
article_snippet.sent: That much was evident during Richie Benaud playing days.
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud won 63 Test caps between January 1952 and February 1964, collecting 248 wickets with Richie Benaud leg-spin (at a very good average of 27) and scoring 2,201 runs at 24.
article_snippet.sent: (Richie Benaud c Statham b Laker 0; Benaud b Laker 18).
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud did Richie Benaud best to change all that.
article_snippet.sent: Sport was fun, emotional and human: if Richie Benaud got a wicket, Richie Benaud’d do more than hitch Richie Benaud trousers up, Laker-style.
article_snippet.sent: : take a look on YouTube at Richie Benaud enjoying Bob Simpson’s slip catch at Old Trafford in 1961, where Richie Benaud leg-breaks spirited Australia to a come-from-behind win.
article_snippet.sent: But Richie Benaud was their spiritual forefather.
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud loved not just cricket, but cricketers too.
article_snippet.sent: Not everyone was enamoured by Richie Benaud involvement in Kerry Packer’s rebellious World Series Cricket in the late 1970s.
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud’s involvement and influence were central to that.
article_snippet.sent: It was as a TV commentator that Richie Benaud came into Richie Benaud own.
article_snippet.sent: When Richie Benaud welcomed viewers, viewers were able to relax: not just cricket was about to begin.
article_snippet.sent: ’ Richie Benaud was Australia captain and  the first cricketer to score 2,000 runs and take 200 wickets in Tests .
article_snippet.sent: After Richie Benaud playing career, Richie Benaud forged an incredibly successful career as a cricket commentator .
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud (right) in discussion with England's Michael Vaughan ahead of a Test match in 2004 .
article_snippet.sent: And if they have been less adept at putting they brains into gear before opening they mouths, then that also reflects the almost impossibly high standards set by Richie Benaud.
article_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud successors were always going to pale by comparison.
article_snippet.sent: The first time I met Richie Benaud, Richie Benaud almost broke my fingers with Richie Benaud handshake.
highlights_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud captained Australia as a player before going into broadcasting .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Richie Benaud commentary style became globally synonymous with cricket .
  