It was reported yesterday that Richie had checked into a Sydney hospice as his friend and family members gathering to be with him.
“At the moment it is pretty dire,” Richie’s fellow Channel Nine commentator Michael Slater said on radio station 2KY on Friday morning.
“Things are not looking terrific, everyone is rallying around him.”
His family then reported that he passed away peacefully in his sleep last night.
The 84-year-old “voice of cricket” announced last year that he was undergoing radiation therapy for skin cancer on his forehead and top of his head.
“I’m going along slowly. The cancers need to be treated,” he told 9NEWS at the time.
Regarded as one of the most influential sporting personalities in history, the former Australian Captain played 64 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1952 and 1964. He took to the mike for the BBC originally, in 1960, while still playing.
Richie Benaud behind the mike
Over the next half a century he’d come to be known as one of the best cricket commentators in the world and an Australian icon.
Richie was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, as well as the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2007 and then the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Nine’s Head of Sport, Steve Crawley said today: “You didn’t have to know Richie to love him. Everything about him. Best in the business bar none. We will miss him the way you miss loved ones. And at the same time we will thank our lucky stars he came our way at all.”
David Gyngell, the CEO of the Nine Network said: “Richie Benaud’s passing has robbed us not only of a national treasure, but a lovely man.”
“He’s been part of the Australian psyche. Since way back in 1977 Richie has been a much loved member of the Nine family. More than that, he sat at the head of our table. We shall miss him dearly, but we’ll forever treasure his indelible memory and all the marvellous values for which he stood.”
“Cricket is very much the richer for Richie Benaud’s lifelong engagement.”
The Aussie icon had urged everyone to be sun smart after his skin cancer diagnosis.
“When I was a kid we never ever wore a cap. I wish I had. You live and learn as you go along,” he said.
“I recommend to everyone they wear protection on their heads. Eighty-four-year-olds don’t seem to mend as well as they used to.”
“When I was a kid we never ever wore a cap. I wish I had. You live and learn as you go along,” he said.
Richie is survived by his wife Daphne and two sons.
Richie Benaud fans loved paying tribute to the iconic commentator.
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