1957– present (1957–1992: BBC Radio 3 MW Summer 1992: BBC Radio 3 FM 1992-1994: BBC Radio 5 MW 1994-2023: BBC Radio 4 LW 2002-present: BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2018-present: BBC Sounds)
BBC Radio was the first broadcaster to cover every ball of a Test match.[citation needed] Live cricket had been broadcast since 1927, but originally it was thought that Test match cricket was too slow for ball-by-ball commentary to work. However, Seymour de Lotbiniere, who was responsible for live sports coverage and who went on to become head of outside broadcasts at the BBC, realised that ball-by-ball commentary could make compelling radio. In the mid-1930s he got Howard Marshall to begin commentating on cricket, rather than only giving reports. From the mid-1930s to the 1950s the amount of ball-by-ball commentary gradually increased, but it was not until TMS was launched in 1957 that every ball was covered for their British audience.[1]
Robert Hudson was responsible for the launch of TMS, writing to his Outside Broadcasts boss Charles Max-Muller in 1956, proposing broadcasting full ball-by-ball coverage of Tests rather than only covering fixed periods, and suggesting using the BBC Third Programme (later to become BBC Radio 3) frequencies, since at that time the Third Programme only broadcast in the evening.[2]
TMS became a fixture on Radio 3's medium wave frequencies until Radio 3 lost them in February 1992. The programme moved to Radio 3 FM that summer and the following summer the morning session was broadcast on Radio 5, switching to Radio 3 for the afternoon session. The launch of Radio 5 Live in 1994 saw TMS move to Radio 4 long wave (198 LW, plus various localised MW frequencies including 720 MW in London and 603 MW in the north east). However, coverage on long wave ended at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
From 1973 to 2007, Test Match Special was produced by Peter Baxter. Halfway through 2007, Baxter retired and was replaced by Adam Mountford, previously the Five Live cricket producer. Mountford was aged just one when Peter Baxter became involved with TMS.[3]
Full commentaries are now available for thirty days on BBC Sounds, and since late-2015 a "live-rewind" feature has been available.[citation needed]
Format changes include the addition of daily live weather forecasts and reports on the domestic county championship for home series, plus an end of day summary with Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott. After Boycott left Test Match Special in 2020, Agnew now conducts the end of day summary alongside Michael Vaughan.
In December 2008 the BBC won the UK radio rights up to 2013.[5] On 26 January 2012 the ECB announced a further six-year deal covering home Tests until the 2019 Ashes.[6] In 2017 the ECB agreed a new deal with the BBC to cover England cricket on radio from 2020 to 2024 alongside the new rights for BBC TV coverage of live Twenty20 Cricket and Test match and ODI International highlights.
In September 2021, Melissa Story became the youngest ever commentator on TMS, an accolade previously held by Christopher Martin-Jenkins.
The BBC also covers winter series but has lost certain rights to talkSPORT over the years as broadcasting rights for tours are controlled by the host country and it is not uncommon for there to be disputes. In 2001, Agnew was forced to broadcast by mobile phone from the ramparts of Galle Fort, overlooking the Sri Lankan ground, when the BBC were locked out.[7]
On 31 July 2023, TMS aired its final broadcast on BBC Radio 4 LW ahead of the planned closure of Radio 4's long wave transmissions sometime in 2024.[8]
TMS commentators
In a Test match three or four commentators and three or four summarisers are used in rotation; each commentator "sits in" before the microphone for twenty minutes, and each summariser for thirty minutes, at a time. Some of the commentators have nicknames (a few based on the first syllable of their surname, plus the syllable "-ers"). They have included: [citation needed]
The long-standing pattern of a broadcast was commentary during the over followed by a summary or other comments between overs (usually by retired first-class cricketers). In recent years, this pattern has changed, with comments being made not just between overs but between balls. [citation needed]
In addition, visitors from overseas join the TMS team as commentators or summarisers when their country is touring England or vice versa. These have included:
The TMS team also includes a scorer. The first was Arthur Wrigley, followed in 1966 by Bill Frindall (affectionately known as "the Bearded Wonder") whose final Test was England's drawn second Test with India in December 2008. Jo King was used as scorer for overseas tours after Frindall stopped travelling. When Jo was unavailable for the 2006/07 Commonwealth Banks Series finals in Australia, Michael Robinson replaced her for the first final at the MCG. Malcolm Ashton (affectionately known as "Ashtray") became TMS scorer following Frindall's death in 2009.[10] South African Andrew Samson was the scorer on overseas tours from the Ashes tour of 2010/11, and took over from Malcolm Ashton in 2014, for the home series against Sri Lanka and India. Andy Zaltzman became the scorer on the Sri Lankan tour of England in 2016.[11] Having been the scorer on numerous England women's matches, Phil Long made his debut on the programme at the start of the 2019 Cricket World Cup where he and Zaltzman were the scorers.
The producer from 1973 to June 2007 was Peter Baxter, who was also himself a capable commentator. He succeeded Michael Tuke-Hastings, and on his retirement was succeeded by Adam Mountford.[12]
Light-hearted style
TMS has always had a distinctively irreverent style. While it takes seriously its role of describing and commenting on the action, there is also much light relief. Brian Johnston, who was as happy on the stage and working in light entertainment presentation as he was in the commentary box, was the master of this style. This could on occasion lead to hilarity in the box, for instance on one occasion in August 1991 at The Oval when Ian Botham was dismissed "hit wicket" and Agnew said Botham "just couldn't quite get his leg over." This remark led both Agnew and Johnston to collapse in a fit of giggles, which was quickly followed by Johnston's giggly chastening, "Aggers, do stop it!" This clip has become a broadcasting classic and is frequently replayed. In 2005, Radio 5 Live listeners voted it the greatest sporting commentary of all time, with ten times as many votes as "they think it's all over".[13]
Other Johnners classics include, "There's Neil Harvey standing at leg-slip with his legs wide apart, waiting for a tickle",[14] and "...and Ward bowls to Glenn Turner, short, ooh! and it catches him high up on the, er, thigh. That really must have hurt as he's doubled over in pain. I remember when..." and after 2 minutes of typical Johnners fill, he continued, "Well, he's bravely going to carry on ... but he doesn't look too good. One ball left."[15]
Listeners' letters and emails are often read out on air. Brian Johnston was once taken to task by a schoolmistress correspondent, pretending indignation, for saying during a West Indies Test commentary: "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey." However, on this occasion he was innocent.[16]
Concern about BBC Sport's commitment to maintaining the tone and style of the programme after its 50th anniversary led to an Early Day Motion being tabled in Parliament by Andrew George MP in June 2007.[17]
Cakes
Brian Johnston started the tradition of the public sending cakes to the commentary box. In Johnston's day they were chocolate cakes, whereas now fruit cakes seem to be more popular. Indeed, in 2001 the Queen herself had a fruit cake baked for the TMS team. She said that it was baked "under close supervision" by her following Jonathan Agnew's light-hearted questioning of her as to whether she might have baked it herself.[18]
In 2019, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall commissioned a cake featuring the helmets and captains from the England vs. New Zealand teams, delivered and consumed during the World Cup Final.[19][20]
Beards
Beards have become a recurring theme during TMS commentary, under the supervision of "Bearders" himself — scorer and statistician. The TMS team receive sporadic missives from Keith Flett, social historian, serial newspaper letter writer and chairman of the Beard Liberation Front, a group dedicated to the removal of a societal prejudice against the facially follically enhanced or bearded. Flett offers his opinions on the state of beards in the game today and his views are frequently discussed on TMS, particularly by Jonathan Agnew, including transformations in the recent and bygone Pakistan cricketers, and most recently with regards to the "splendidly hirsute" Monty Panesar. Bill Frindall was announced "Beard of the Year" winner in 2008.[21]
Charity
There is a tradition that every Saturday of a home Test match the commentators wear a Primary Club tie. Membership of the Primary Club is available to anybody who has been outfirst ball (a "golden duck") in any form of cricket. Proceeds are donated to a charity for blind and partially sighted cricketers.[22]
View from the Boundary
This is a regular Saturday lunchtime feature during home Test matches, in which guests from all walks of life are interviewed about their love of cricket as well as their own sphere of activity. In the early years of the feature the interviewer was usually Brian Johnston; nowadays most interviews are conducted by Jonathan Agnew. Lily Allen has been interviewed twice and stated a preference for the longer Test form of the game during her first interview on View from the Boundary.[23]Daniel Radcliffe was interviewed on his 18th birthday at the Lord's Test in 2007 after being hunted down by Shilpa Patel, TMS's assistant producer. During the Ashes Test in 2009 at Lord's Patel also attracted the New Zealand actor Russell Crowe into the TMS box, while his cousin, the former Kiwi test cricketer Jeff Crowe, was serving as the match referee. Agnew remarked "that we have been joined by the cousin of the match referee" live on air.[24] British prime ministers have been guests, including cricket fans John Major, David Cameron, who was interviewed twice, once as the Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition, Theresa May, and Rishi Sunak.
In addition to View from the Boundary, TMS regularly provides features such as interviews with ex-players or reminiscences of matches and seasons gone by. In each case, the narrator tells the story interspersed with recorded interviews with the main protagonists as well as pieces of archive commentary. This [incomplete] list is as follows:
1988: Islands in the Sun: Similar to the Poms Down Under and again produced by Peter Baxter. These were broadcast on the first day of every test match of the 1988 England v West Indies test series. This programmes focused on the England (again MCC for many years) tours of the West Indies. It contained (but is not limited to) the tours of 1967–68, 1973–74, 1980–81 and 1985–86.
1989: The Poms Down Under – produced by Peter Baxter. A series of programmes broadcast at lunchtime on the first day of every test match during the 1989 Ashes series. Each programme chronicled an England (or MCC as it was for many years) tour of Australia. These tours included 1950–51, 1954–55, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1978–79 (including the short tour of 1979–80), 1982–83 and 1986–87.
1990: A passage to India: Chronicling the England (or MCC for many years) tours of India including 1972–73, 1976–77, 1981–82 and 1984–85.
Seasons to Savour: A series of programmes produced by Peter Baxter telling the highlights of various significant seasons. Presented by Peter Baxter, these included: 1971 and 1975. In each case, not just the internationals but the country (championship, NatWest and B&H) seasons were covered.
More recent lunchtime features[when?] have tended to be more live with ex-players reuniting to share their memories with new TMS scorer Andy Zaltzman giving some statistical context. Ray Illingworth made some appearances on the programme during lunchbreaks often taking about past matches together with a synopsis of the state of play currently.
While some of the more recent lunchtime features have been made available (for a period at least) on the TMS website, many of the older recordings have been abridged. None have ever been made available for purchase except for 3 cassettes sold in the late 1980s and early 1990s:
From Bradman to Botham: The story of the Ashes 1948–1981.
England v West Indies: 1950–1976
The Great Match: Various test matches.
Brian Johnston Champagne Moment
At the end of each test match, the commentators vote for their favourite special moment in the match, and the player involved wins a bottle of Veuve Clicquotchampagne. Examples include a personal milestone for a player, such as a century or five-wicket haul, a dramatic celebration, or a spectacular piece of fielding, wicket or shot.
Criticism
In 2008 Mike Selvey was replaced as a TMS summariser as new producer Adam Mountford brought in Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan. Selvey then criticised what he described as a shift towards "laddish" commentators such as Arlo White and Mark Pougatch who have "little knowledge of the game, especially of the cadences of Test Match cricket".[25] This sentiment was echoed by some of his contemporaries.[26]
↑ However, according to EW Swanton full ball-by-ball coverage was first tried experimentally in 1939, with himself, Howard Marshall and Michael Standing as the commentators, but the full coverage only went to the West Indies. EW Swanton, Sort of a Cricket Person, Collins, 1972, p281 of the 1974 Sportsman's Book Club edition. Similarly, in 1948 the BBC provided full ball-by-ball coverage for Australia.
↑ Martin-Jenkins, Christopher (1990). Ball by Ball: The Story of Cricket Broadcasting. Grafton Books. p.91. ISBN0-246-13568-9.
Henry Calthorpe Blofeld, nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. He has established a reputation as a commentator with an accent, vocabulary and syntax that is quintessentially Old Etonian both in style and substance. He also writes on cricket and has authored eight books to date.
Brian Alexander Johnston, nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until his death in January 1994.
Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, MBE, also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of MCC. He was also the longest serving commentator for Test Match Special (TMS) on BBC Radio, from 1973 until diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 2012.
William Howard Frindall, was an English cricket scorer and statistician, who was familiar to cricket followers as a member of the Test Match Special commentary team on BBC radio. He was nicknamed the Bearded Wonder by Brian Johnston for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in moments, while continuing to keep perfect scorecards and because he had a beard. Angus Fraser described Frindall as "the doyen of cricket scorers" in his obituary in The Independent.
Jonathan Philip Agnew, is an English cricket broadcaster and a former cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers" and, less commonly, "Spiro" – the latter, according to Debrett's Cricketers' Who's Who, after former US Vice-President Spiro Agnew.
Ebony-Jewel Cora-Lee Camellia Rosamond Rainford-Brent is an English former cricketer who is now a commentator, Chair of the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme, and Non-Executive Director at The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). She was the first black woman to play for England. She was also captain of the Surrey Women's team and first Director of Women’s Cricket at Surrey County Cricket Club.
Winston Anthony Lloyd Cozier was a Barbadian cricket journalist, writer, and radio commentator on West Indian cricket for over fifty years. Scyld Berry wrote that he was both the voice and the conscience of West Indian cricket, the latter because of his harsh criticism of the West Indian board for "squandering the money and legacy that it had inherited".
James Edward Maxwell AM is a sports commentator with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation best known for covering cricket.
Andrew Zaltzman is a British comedian who largely deals in political and sport-related material.
Donald Mosey was a sports journalist and radio producer, best remembered for his lengthy tenure as a cricket commentator on BBC's Test Match Special (TMS), which he joined in 1974 and left in 1991.
Cricket on 5 was a UK television programme on Channel 5 showing highlights of England's Test cricket, One Day Internationals (ODI) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). The programme was produced by Sunset & Vine.
Robert Cecil Hudson was a British broadcaster and administrator for the BBC, primarily on radio but also on television, between 1947 and 1981. He commentated on cricket and rugby union, as well as on many state occasions. He also covered a number of royal tours abroad. He was particularly noted for the thoroughness of the research that he conducted in preparation for his broadcasts. He was responsible for the launch of Test Match Special (TMS) in 1957, having written to his boss Charles Max-Muller the previous year, proposing the broadcasting of full ball-by-ball coverage of Tests instead of the existing coverage of limited fixed periods. His obituary in The Times described him as "a man of transparent integrity whose reserved manner and innate modesty meant that he became less of a celebrity than his great ability would otherwise have guaranteed".
Peter Baxter is a former producer for BBC radio, best known as the producer of the programme of live cricket commentary, Test Match Special.
5 Live Sport is the banner of live sports coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live. The regular presenters are Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates (Tuesday), Steve Crossman and Darren Fletcher (Friday). The programme is on air from Monday to Wednesday 7pm to 10:30pm, as well as Thursday and Friday 7pm to 10pm. It is also broadcast at weekends from 12pm until the early evening, depending on the events being covered.
Alison Mitchell is a British-Australian cricket commentator and sports broadcaster, working for the BBC, Australia's Channel 7 and the Australian Open among others. She was the first woman to become a regular commentator on the BBC's Test Match Special, and has been commentating on men's and women's international cricket around the world since 2007.
Malcolm "Ashtray" Ashton is an English retired sports statistician and columnist. From 2009, he was the BBC's Test Match Special (TMS) scorer. His scoring career began in the mid-1970s at Rawtenstall Cricket Club which soon led to scoring for BBC Radio and Channel 4's cricket programmes. In 1995, he was asked by Ray Illingworth to go on the South African Cricket tour as the Team Scorer with the England Cricket Squad. This led to 12 years of involvement with the England Cricket team, totalling over 150 Test matches and 200 One Day matches.
Test Match Sofa was a radio programme providing cricket commentary for all England test matches and selected One Day Internationals. The programme was available worldwide, and broadcast on the Sports Tonight Live channel serving as alternative commentary to the BBC's Test Match Special which is only available in the United Kingdom. In 2012 Test Match Sofa was taken over by The Cricketer magazine.
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group, and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1991, and has sometimes played a large role inducing organisational changes in the sports it broadcasts, most notably when it encouraged the First Division to break away from the Football League to form the Premier League in 1992.
The Cricket Social is a television program that provides live commentary on important cricket matches. The show is aired by BBC on the Sky TV Pictures
References
Christopher Martin-Jenkins: Ball by Ball – The Story of Cricket Broadcasting, Grafton Books, 1990, ISBN0-246-13568-9
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