My Dear Old Thing

It was a great evening out at the Swansea Grand Theatre tonight, as Henry Blofeld and Peter Baxter from BBC's Test Match Special entertained us with their stories from that fine British radio programme. Henry of course is the play by play commentator in the mould of Brian "Jonners" Johnston and John Arlott, while Peter was the Producer who tried to keep control of this unruly lot. It was great listening to their stories, and I'm sure they could have talked for hours and hours and we would all have gladly stayed on.

We were able to put questions to them at the end, and one question concerned whether sports commentary is an art form. Blowers didn't think it was an art form but he felt that you had to entertain, especially when a match is dull and boring. Both Henry and Peter didn't think that the characters, the distinct voices that we've had previously were coming through now, and that most commentators sounded the same. I think they're right take a look at this list and tell me the commentator that stands out for you now in 2013:

Cricket: Richie Benaud - 2013 ?
Tennis: Dan Maskell - 2013 ?
Rugby Union: Bill McLaren - 2013 ?
Rugby League: Eddie Waring - 2013 ?
Horse Racing: Peter O'Sullivan - 2013 ?
Snooker: Whispering Ted Lowe - 2013 ?

At the end of the show Peter and Henry kindly signed autographs and had their photos taken, I got Blowers to sign mine as "my dear old thing", well you had to didn't you? Lol!

Henry Blofeld is on the left and Peter Baxter is on the right, just in case you didn't know.