Legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has passed away at the age of 84.

Benaud had been admitted to a Sydney hospice on Thursday after being diagnosed with skin cancer in November and passed away this morning surrounded by his family.

"At the moment it is pretty dire," his former Channel Nine colleague Michael Slater told radio station 2KY on Friday morning.

"Things are not looking terrific, everyone is rallying around him."

A talented cricketer, Benaud notched 63 Test matches for Australia as an all-rounder between 1952 and 1964 and became the first player to score 2,000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets.

He also never lost a series as captain and would later have a significant impact on the world of commentary.

His first foray into the commentary box came on the BBC when he was still captaining Australia in 1960, and he later spent decades covering the sport for Channel Nine.

Considered by many to be the voice of cricket, he was retired from the gantry in 2013 when a car crash left him with two fractured vertebrae.

"Richie Benaud's passing has robbed us not only of a national treasure but a lovely man," Nine Network CEO David Gyngell said in a statement.

"Richie earned the profound and lasting respect of everyone across the world of cricket and beyond. First as an outstanding player and captain, then as an incomparable commentator and through it all, as a wonderful human being."

He is survived by his wife Daphne and two sons from a previous marriage.