Editing Richie Benaud (section)

==Consolidation==
After returning home from his first overseas tour, Benaud was prolific during the 1953–54 Australian season, which was purely domestic with no touring Test team.<ref name=auslist/> He contributed significantly with both bat and ball in New South Wales' Sheffield Shield triumph, the first of nine consecutive titles.<ref name=o/> In the opening match of the season, he struck 158 and took 5/88 and 1/65 against Queensland. He made another century in the return match, striking 144 not out and taking a total of 2/55. Midway through the season, he played in Morris's XI in a testimonial match for Hassett, who captained the other team. Benaud scored 78 and 68 and took a total of 5/238, his dismissals being Davidson and frontline Test batsmen in a 121-run win.<ref name=o/><ref name=ow/> He then finished the summer strongly, and ended the season with 811 runs at 62.38 and 35 wickets at 30.54.<ref name=o/> Benaud was the only bowler selected for all five Tests of the [[English cricket team in Australia in 1954-55|1954–55 series when England visited Australia]]. He secured his place after scoring 125 against Queensland at the start of the season,<ref>Benaud, p. 92</ref> although his lead-up form in two matches against England for his state and an Australian XI was not encouraging.<ref name=o/>

At this stage of his career, he had played 13 Tests with mediocre results. Selected as a batsman who could bowl, he had totalled 309 runs at 15.45 without passing 50, and taken 23 wickets at 37.87 with only two four-wicket innings hauls.<ref name="testlist"/> Even so, he was promoted to vice-captain above several senior players when [[Ian Johnson (cricketer)|Ian Johnson]] and [[Keith Miller]] missed the 2nd Test at Sydney through injury and [[Arthur Morris]] was made temporary captain. He also made 113 against the touring side for the Prime Minister's XI.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/114/114892.html|title=Australia Prime Minister's XI v Marylebone Cricket Club|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171302/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref>

Australia's selectors persisted and selected him for the squad to tour the West Indies in 1954–55. Their faith was rewarded by an improvement in performances. Benaud contributed 46 and match figures of 2/73 in a First Test victory at [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21455.html|title=Australia in West Indies 1954/55 (1st Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222204055/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21455.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After a draw in the Second Test,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21458.html|title=Australia in West Indies 1954/55 (2nd Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=22 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222223147/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21458.html|url-status=live}}</ref> he took three wickets in four balls to end with 4/15 in the first innings at [[Georgetown, Guyana]], before scoring 68 (his first Test half century) as Australia moved to a 2–0 series lead.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21463.html|title=Australia in West Indies 1954/55 (3rd Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171305/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Fifth Test at Kingston, he struck a century in 78 minutes, despite taking 15 minutes to score his first run. He ended with 121 and took four wickets in the match as Australia won by an innings and took the series 3–0.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21579.html|title=Australia in West Indies 1954/55 (5th Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171306/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref> Benaud had contributed 246 runs at 41 and taken wickets steadily to total 18 at 26.94.<ref name=battingbyseason>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/919/t_Batting_by_Season.html|title=Test batting and fielding in each season by Richie Benaud|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171306/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 1956 tour to England, he helped Australia to its only victory in the Lord's Test, when he scored a rapid 97 in the second innings in 143 minutes from only 113 balls.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22055.html|title=Australia in British Isles 1956 (2nd Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=25 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525201332/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22055.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His fielding, in particular at gully and short leg, was consistently of a high standard, in particular his acrobatic catch to dismiss [[Colin Cowdrey]].<ref name=guardianobit>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/10/richie-benaud-obituary|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Richie Benaud: Obituary|access-date=10 April 2015|date=10 April 2015|first=David|last=Frith|archive-date=10 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410072850/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/10/richie-benaud-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> He was unable to maintain the standards he had set in the West Indies, contributing little apart from the Lord's Test. He ended the series with 200 runs at 25 and eight wickets at 42.5.<ref name=battingbyseason/>

Benaud's bowling reached a new level on the return leg of Australia's overseas tour, when they stopped in the [[Indian subcontinent]] in 1956–57 en route back to Australia. In a one-off Test against [[Pakistani cricket team|Pakistan]] in [[Karachi]], he scored 56 and took 1/36 as Australia fell to defeat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22244.html|title=Australia in India and Pakistan 1956/57 (Only Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=28 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228191035/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22244.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He claimed his Test innings best of 7/72 in the first innings of the First Test in [[Chennai|Madras]], allowing Australia to build a large lead and win by an innings. It was his first five-wicket haul in a Test innings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22246.html|title=Australia in India and Pakistan 1956/57 (1st Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171321/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref> After taking four wickets in the drawn Second Test in [[Mumbai|Bombay]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22250.html|title=Australia in India and Pakistan 1956/57 (2nd Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=2 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102090216/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22250.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Benaud bowled Australia to victory in the Third Test in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], sealing the series 2–0.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/22/22254.html|title=Australia in India and Pakistan 1956/57 (3rd Test)|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924171332/https://cricketarchive.com/subscribe|url-status=live}}</ref> He took 6/52 and 5/53, his best-ever match analysis, ending the series with 113 runs at 18.83 and 24 wickets at 17.66.<ref name=battingbyseason/><ref name=bowlingbyseason>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/919/t_Bowling_by_Season.html|title=Test bowling in each season by Richie Benaud|publisher=Cricket Archive|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415031116/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/919/t_Bowling_by_Season.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

It was the first of his successes against [[Indian cricket team|India]], against whom he took his wickets at an average of 18. This put him in a small group of spinners whose career averages were inferior to their performances against India, generally regarded as the best players of spin in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricket.yahoo.com/blogs/yahoo-cricket-columns/both-pace-spin-succeed-india-24.html|title=Both pace and spin can succeed in India|publisher=Yahoo! Cricket|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824223403/https://cricket.yahoo.com/blogs/yahoo-cricket-columns/both-pace-spin-succeed-india-24.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At this stage of his career, he had yet to perform consistently with bat and ball simultaneously, apart from his breakthrough series in the Caribbean. He had managed, in the 14 Tests since then, 559 runs at 27.95 and 67 wickets at 24.98.<ref name=battingbyseason/><ref name=bowlingbyseason/>

Benaud took part in Australia's [[Australian cricket team in New Zealand in 1956–57|tour of New Zealand]] from February to March 1957. The tour included seven first-class matches, three of which were unofficial Tests. Benaud was the top wicket-taker on the tour, with 32 wickets at 19.31, and Australia's top wicket-taker in the three matches against [[New Zealand cricket team|New Zealand]], with 15 wickets at 21.73.<ref>[[Don Neely]] & Richard Payne, ''Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985'', Moa, Auckland, 1986, pp. 259–62.</ref> Early in the tour, when the team visited [[Timaru]] to pay a minor match, Benaud went to a pharmacy to see if he could get something to soothe his spinning-fingers, which had been torn by his spinning action for many years. The pharmacist, Ivan James, suggested a treatment with [[calamine lotion]] and [[boracic acid]]. It worked at once, and Benaud used it thereafter. "Meeting Ivan James was a remarkable piece of luck," he wrote later; "walking into that chemist's shop in Timaru saved my bowling career."<ref>Richie Benaud and friends, ''Remembering Richie'', Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2015, pp. 69–71.</ref>