sentences:  Born in Sydney, the son of a solicitor, Coates was brought up in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield.He attended Homebush Boys High School.He was keen on sports at school, being a member of the school's 5th Grade cricket XI in 1963 He took a day off school in early 1964 to watch Richie Benaud play his last test match, and a photograph appeared in "The Sydney Morning Herald" the next day of a beaming Coates alongside Benaud as he left the field of play.