Voices of Cricket - From Benaud to Bumble

Personal memories of all sports are inextricably linked to the faces and voices of broadcasters, and cricket is no exception. It’s quite possible that the first cricket commentators ever heard were on radio not television. As Dad would have merrily recalled, the BBC’s great institution Test Match Special has offered ball-by-ball information and companionship to cricket fans for the best part of a century. Whether the action was in Madras, Melbourne or Manchester, at 3pm or 3am, January or July, there would be boys of all ages glued to the wireless for news of England’s progress.

It seems such an antiquated notion the twenty-first-century cricket fan, used to Sky’s satellite coverage and battery of cameras and techie gizmos, but I absolutely understand why so many man of previous generations would consume their cricket via TV pictures and simultaneous radio commentary. That says so much for the skills of those men with the microphones under the tutelage of evergreen producer Peter Baxter.

Dad would rave about the leisurely Hampshire burr of John Arlott. However, my only lasting recollection of Arlott was the news of his final, unfussy TMS sign-off in 1980. I was definitely watching on TV when the crowd were informed of his farewell utterances. Arlott excepted, I tend to associate TMS with plummy private school accents, which is only partly fair. The image is probably given credence by the major contributions over many years from Brian Johnston, Christopher Martin-Jenkins and Henry Blofeld, although the former players accompanying those posh boys provided much-needed variation, notably from those legends of the White Rose, Fred Trueman and Geoffrey Boycott. Be it on TV or radio, Boycs has been a Marmite character but his devil-may-care plain speaking gets my vote every time.

It’s many years since I tuned in voluntarily rather than out of duty (I was writing a BBC Listening Panel questionnaire and producer Peter Baxter showed no interest in co-operating!) so I cannot offer an opinion of the merits of Phil Tufnell, Vic Marks, Michael Vaughan (presumably in the opinionated Trueman role) or the long-overdue female arrivals, Isa Guha and Ebony Rainford-Brent. I know them from their TV work, of course, and the latter pair are anything but ‘token women’. Three decades have passed since Dad and I were captive audiences driving all the way to Dorset in the Vauxhall Astra (our first car with a radio!). Poor Mum must have hated it. As I recall, not a single Aussie wicket fell all day but it did give me the chance to appreciate the talents of the TMS team of 1989 in full flow.

I find it incredible that only a few years later Jonathan Agnew made his national broadcasting debut, and ‘Aggers’ is still going strong. He is also the only commentator I ever met. I say ‘met’ but in reality I just asked him prior to a post-work event if I could take a seat and he responded a touch curtly that it was reserved. Er, OK. Never mind. Despite his private education background, I find him the perfect radio commentator. Articulate and affable, he slotted into the team seamlessly and from what snippets I have heard manages to remain fresh.  

But it was the Beeb’s television output which substantially shaped my love of cricket. In the Seventies and Eighties, it was often the versatile Peter West who was the face of cricket, topping and tailing the programmes and doing the lunchtime interviews; that is, when there was no horse racing or tennis to intervene. He was succeeded by ex-Glamorgan and England skipper Tony Lewis, who added a pleasing Welsh lilt to proceedings. From that era I also enjoyed the warm commentaries of Jim Laker, Tom Graveney and Jack Bannister, complemented when the Windies came to town by the great Tony Cozier. Michael Holding and Ian Bishop have kept the Caribbean accents to the fore, armed with tales of their fast bowling exploits told with a dry impudence.

I’m not sure David Gower and Ian Botham were bosom buddies in their England heyday but on Sky Sports they display an easy-going bonhomie. From what I have seen and heard, Gower is at least the equal if not superior to any of the old BBC brigade. I was never a fan of the shouty style of Tony Greig or Dermot Reeve and, while David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd is undoubtedly at times amusing, his comedy turn during T20 matches becomes rather tiresome, to the point of forcing me to switch off or press the ‘Mute’ button. Michael Slater pushed my patience to its limits while the OTT Danny Morrison epitomises why I lost my rag with the insufferable IPL.

Of course, the T20 circus is geared towards a younger, more energetic audience, and so the commentary teams need to reflect it. However there has been one shining example of how to sound modern, relevant, erudite, witty and entertainingly engaging, even into his eighties: Richie Benaud. Whether introducing the BBC’s highlights programmes (‘G’d Evenin’, everyone…”) adopting that slightly sideways stance, right eyelid drooping quizzically, or describing live action with consummate skill, laconic phraseology and impeccable neutrality, the former Australian leg-spin bowler and captain was surely the greatest of them all. I knew the game was up for the Beeb when Richie jumped ship in 1999. As influential journalist and commentator in its widest sense, nobody comes close.