Saturday, January 16, 2010
When England are experiencing bad times, such as the current bloodbath in Johannesburg, your correspondent finds it very, very tough to keep listening to the radio commentary. This might hold equally true for television; we can’t comment on that since we follow our cricket on the radio. But for the last couple of days the radio has been off.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
“An off-air comment made by Geoffrey Boycott in a live broadcast was heard by some listeners which we apologised for as soon as we realised it had been audible” – the BBC has to say sorry after Sir Geoffrey is heard to shout “Fucking tosser!” in the background of TMS after England took a sixth South African wicket. The first draft of history does not record who he meant.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
“Do 2 ODI wins constitute a run of form? Strauss not getting carried away, but it will help the team’s confidence no end” TMS’ Alison Mitchell on Twitter.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
“We open the batting with Bertram Wilberforce Wooster, a bit of a flasher with the bat, I think. Alongside him, I select Roderick Spode, also known as Lord Sidcup, the only man in the books who never has one single redeeming feature, unless you include making women’s underwear. I’m sure these two will run well together, although they are bound to run each other out at some point” – Blowers names his All-Wodehouse XI.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
“Ricky Ponting told me at Chester-le-Street that he would rather have lost the ODI series 7-0 than lose the Ashes, which reflects his opinion of what was the most important element of this busy season” – Jonathan Agnew reveals how we and The Old Enemy have at least one thing we can agree on – a love of Test cricket.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
“Resisting temptation to suggest that following 3 weddings in hotel last night, the funeral takes place at Riverside today” – Jonathan Agnew is clean out of enthusiasm for one-day cricket at the moment.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
“While nibbling on a chocolate brownie, he announced that ‘my wife is a brilliant cake maker… she’s not a professional but she makes cakes for all sorts of people’. It was at that moment I knew Michael Vaughan and TMS would be a match made in heaven!” – Adam Mountford explains why the former England skipper has been recruited to the box.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
“He was probably the worst batsman I have ever seen. And he was probably the toughest human being I have ever had to captain – the best to have a drink with, but the worst to captain. I remember here at Lord’s a few years ago, Tufnell just left the field at one point and then returned a few minutes later smelling of cigarette smoke. He said ’sorry skipper – I just had to have a fag’… he was a nightmare” – what the Langer dossier would have to say about his former Middlesex team-mate Phil Tufnell.
“As I write this I am 38,000 feet above sea level, hurtling towards New York City at 533 statute miles per calendar hour. Happily Alan, the captain of the plane, has personally popped down to tell me the current cricket score – my chosen career and its attendant baggage of fame have their advantages (carry-on baggage of fame, I suppose one should term it). The flight deck had tuned in to the BBC’s 198 longwave transmissions of TMS to receive the news that England were 100 for 3″ – Stephen Fry’s surely unique Ashes experience.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Us listeners of the Test Match Special can be a defensive lot. And not to realise this was a major mistake by Observer writer Will Buckley when he decided to take a pop at Jonathan Agnew.
Cricket Blips: England feed