Another gong for Benaud

Richie Benaud, who at Lord's became the first person to watch 500 Test matches as a player or commentator, last night received another honour - a lifetime achievement award from Britain's Royal Television Society.

The award was presented at a dinner at London's Hilton Hotel. Benaud's citation observed: "His broadcasts bring us unparalleled knowledge and insight ... no man is better prepared - never mind the statistician alongside him, providing information, he's already worked out all the information for himself. He also manages to make the modern game as compelling as the old game - every day for this remarkable person is as exciting as the day before."

Benaud, who's now 73, splits his time between Channel 9 in Australia and Channel 4 in England, and his English employers walked off with an award of their own - C4's cricket coverage, produced by Sunset + Vine, was named as the best outside broadcast of 2003, just pipping ITV Sport's coverage of the rugby World Cup.

Michael Johnson, the great American 400-metre runner, was named sports pundit of the year; another ex-athlete, Steve Cram, was voted sports commentator of the year; and Clare Balding was named presenter of the year for her "confident and lively" approach to horse racing.