Richie Benaud, the doyen of cricket commentary, will return to work at Channel Nine on Friday for the first time since he was seriously hurt in a car crash.
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Benaud, 84, will head to Nine's studios to voice an introduction for next week's Twenty20 international between Australia and South Africa.
Nine's head of sport Steve Crawley told Fairfax Media on Thursday he was delighted that Benaud would again play a role in the network's summer coverage.
"Richie is coming in to work to voice a teaser for the first Twenty20 next week. That is the first bit of work Richie has done in more than a year since his car accident," Crawley said.
"He is good. In his words, he is moving along slowly but happily. It will be lovely to have him launching our summer of cricket next week."
The former Australian captain and Nine's voice of cricket since the World Series breakaway was rushed to hospital in October last year after a car accident near his home in Coogee.
Benaud had been driving home in his 1963 Sunbeam Alpine, back from the Australian Golf Club in Rosebery, when he lost control and hit a parked car and then a small brick fence. He suffered shoulder and chest injuries and a broken sternum. He missed the entire 2013-14 Ashes summer.
Benaud will be eased back into work, with Nine unsure how much of a role he will have in a busy summer featuring a short visit from South Africa, a Test series against India, a home tri-series with India and England and the World Cup.
