'A little apart from and above the rest'

Australia's media reflected on the life of cricket great and esteemed broadcaster Richie Benaud in effusive tributes on Saturday.

Benaud, who had been fighting skin cancer and suffered serious injury in a car accident in late 2013, passed away in his sleep early Friday at age 84.

Overall Benaud played in or commentated on approximately 500 Test matches and has been lauded as the most influential Australian cricketer and broadcaster of his era.

The Sydney Morning Herald carried a 12-page wrap-around tribute, while the front cover of Sydney's Daily Telegraph remembered "a marvellous innings" and followed with five pages on the cricket icon in the news section and more in sports.

"Benaud the cricketer was as Benaud the commentator, a little apart from and above the rest," Greg Baum wrote in Melbourne's the Age newspaper.

Malcolm Knox, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, focused on Benaud's playing career of 63 Test matches and never losing a series as captain, which ran for 28 games from 1958.

"As a cricketer, Benaud was more than a symbol of post-war liberality, an icon, with his unbuttoned shirt and emotional celebrations, of the change in style from 1948, when he played his first first-class game, to 1964, when he played his last: from Peggy Lee to the Beatles," he said.

Author Gideon Haigh said in the Australian newspaper: "Benaud the commentator seldom referred to his on-field experiences and accomplishments -- a shrewd expedient which had the effect of making him seem almost ageless -- and was amused when young admirers inquired innocently whether he had been a player."

Jim Maxwell, the doyen of Australia's radio cricket commentary, said of Benaud: "If cricket had ever anointed a pope it would be Richie Benaud."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered a state funeral to Benaud's family, describing his death as "a sad day for Australia".

English newspapers also paid tribute to Benaud, who anchored cricket coverage on the BBC and Channel Four for almost half a century.

There were many tributes for Benaud in England where he began his commentating career -- after Australia's 1956 tour to England he stayed behind to train as a presenter with the BBC, then worked as a reporter at the News of the World. His first BBC radio commentary came in 1960, followed by his first TV appearance three years later.

Respected BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew explained how Benaud's "authority, popularity and skill" was unrivalled and how warmly he was accepted by English cricket viewers.