John Benaud (born 11 May 1944) is a former Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Benaud is the son of Louis and Irene Benaud. His only sibling was fellow cricketer

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

, who was older by 13 years. John is married to Lindsay Benaud with two children. Benaud has lived in the Blue Mountains since 1971. John began his working career at

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

's '' Sydney Sun'' newspaper as a copy-boy. He was subsequently awarded a journalism cadetship and his career progressed at the paper where he remained for his entire working life. By the time the ''Sun'' was closed in 1988 following the disastrous takeover by

Warwick Fairfax Warwick Fairfax (born December 1960) is an Australian businessman and consultant based in the United States. He was well known in the 1990s as the media heir and business tycoon who privatised the publicly listed media company, John Fairfax Hold ...

, Benaud had risen to be the editor-in-chief of the paper. Throughout the 1990s Benaud wrote cricket columns for Australian, British and Indian sports magazines and ghost-wrote several autobiographies. In 1997 he released the book ''Matters of Choice'', the story of his time as an Australian cricket selector. Benaud played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

for six years, from 1966/67 to 1972/73, becoming captain of the State side. While Captain of the NSW team, Benaud was famously suspended for a month after refusing to obey the ban on Adidas Grass-sports shoes. The public and media outcry forced Cricket NSW to overturn their decision, and in the off-season the ban was lifted. He represented Australia in the summer of 1971/1972 playing against

Gary Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...

' Rest of the World XI. He was selected for three

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

in 1972 to 1973. He made his Test debut in the 1st Test against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

over Christmas 1972, making little contribution as Australia won easily. He also played in the 2nd Test at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

over the New Year, which Australia won again. He made the top score of 142 in the second innings, in the knowledge that he had been dropped for the 3rd Test. He returned for his third and final Test appearance in the 5th Test against

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

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, in April 1973. He contributed little with the bat, but bowled four overs to take 2–12 in a drawn match. He was later a selector for the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

. The 20-year gap between Richie's and John's Test debuts is the second-longest for two brothers. The longest being the English brothers,

Clem Wilson The Reverend Clement Eustace Macro Wilson (15 May 1875 – 8 February 1944) was an English amateur first-class cricketer and Church of England clergyman. Cricket career Wilson played first-class cricket for Cambridge University between 1895 an ...

and

Rockley Wilson Evelyn Rockley Wilson (25 March 1879 – 21 July 1957) was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Yorkshire, and England. Life Wilson was born in Bolsterstone, Stocksbridge, Yorkshire, and ...

, 22 years, between 1899 and 1921. He wrote the book ''Matters of Choice: A Test Selector's Story'', which was published in 1997. Mark Lawson said it provided "intriguing insights into the mixture of statistical chicanery, personal friendships, regional politics, hunches and finger-crossing that decides the identities of Test elevens in most parts of the world".Mark Lawson, "Cricket Books, 1998", ''Wisden'' 1999, p. 1437.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benaud, John 1944 births Living people Australia Test cricketers New South Wales cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from Sydney People from the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Australia national cricket team selectors