An army of 501 cricket fans who will turn up to the Test against the West Indies on Monday dressed as Richie Benaud want Cricket Australia to honour the late Test skipper and Channel Nine commentator by naming the second day of all future SCG Tests in his honour.
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Michael Hennessy, who helped form "The Richies" in 2009 when it was speculated Benaud would retire from the commentary box, expected the public would support the move to officially honour Benaud, who died last April at 84.
"Our aim is for the second day of the SCG Test to be known as 'Richie Benaud Day' and we'd love all cricket fans to get behind it," Hennessy said.
"The younger fans grew up listening to him as a commentator, but the more you learn about Richie the more you appreciate how great he was as a cricketer and captain of Australia."
Hennessy said the group capped the number of Richie lookalikes to 501 after tallying Benaud's Test player number (190) with the 63 Tests he played and haul of 248 Test wickets.
Beige boys: Cricket supporters and fans of Richie Benaud called The Richies (from left) Michael Hennessy, Steve Blacker, Dudley Crothers and Trent Jones at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Photo: Fiona Morris
"That's why we kept it at 501, we could've had a lot more," said Hennessy. "It was an auspicious number and a great way to commemorate a great man."
Former Test bowler Glenn McGrath will meet the group at a pub near the SCG after they donated money to the McGrath Foundation and to melanoma research, the disease that claimed Benaud.
For anyone wanting to support their call The Richies ask that they hashtag any social media surrounding the Test with #Day2RichieDay.
