Richie Benaud, Commentator Whose Native Tongue Was Cricket, Dies at 84

nytimes.com - The path from the cricket field to the commentary box is well trod, but never with greater distinction than by Richie Benaud, known to many as the voice of cricket, who died in Sydney, Australia, on Friday. He was 84.

Cricket has numerous halls of fame, but none with the singular authority of the American institutions in Canton, Ohio, for football; Cooperstown, N.Y., for baseball; and Springfield, Mass., for basketball. If it did, Mr. Benaud would have been sure of enshrinement as a player if he had done nothing else in the game, or as a broadcaster had he never played.