Former Tasmanian MP and cricketer Tony Benneworth dies in a Boating Mishap

In one of the unusual boating mishaps that saw an Ex-Tasman Cricketer turned Politician, Tony Benneworth, 67, and his friend Anthony Long, 73, died in the incident at Ansons Bay in Tasmania’s northeast in Australia. The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when the victims were seen fishing along with another man in the area on a five-meter boat when it started taking on water.

The third person who was along with them, tried his every bit to save the two but it was too late even when he swam about 500m to shore to raise the alarm. As per the inference from the police investigations, one of the men who died failed to inflate his jacket and the other was not wearing a life jacket when he entered the water. For further investigations, police seemed to secure the boat as the part of the report for the coroner.

Tony will be missed: President

Mr. Benneworth who represented in the Tasmanian parliament from 1992 to 1998 and unsuccessfully ran in the federal election in 2001 was a Liberal MP at the office. Mourning the death of the senior former MP, the president grieved about the loss that the Tasmanians incurred, “Tony will be greatly missed, ” he said.

“As a member of the Tasmanian parliament from 1992 to 1998 and part of both the Groom and Rundle governments, Tony was a great advocate for northern Tasmania and particularly the electorate of Bass,” Tasmanian Liberals president Geoff Page said in a statement.

Influence on the cricket in Tasmania

Tony, before he began his second innings in Politics, represented Riverside Cricket Club in Launceston. He made his debut for the World XI and played for Tasmania from 1971-1981. H even played a vital role in Tasmania’s inaugural Sheffield Shield win in 1977-78.

Highlighting about his role in the first class cricket in Tasmania, Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin said,”Tony was a key part of Tasmanian cricket’s early first-class history and a passionate supporter of cricket in northern Tasmania. His influence as a player and later on as a Cricket Tasmania Board director was considerable and he will be sorely missed.”