Shropshire Magazine

Henry Blofeld.

Andy Richardson talks to a broadcasting legend for whom cricket is a way of life – but who has plenty else to talk about too . . .

The voice is unmistakable. “My dear old thing,” it burrs, in plummy Old Etonian tones. Henry Blofeld, the doyen of sports broadcasting, is talking about Test Match Special, cricket commentary and his fondness for Shropshire. His voice resonates like a double bass and is mature like fine port.

“Oh, I do love Shropshire ever so much,” he says, the sonorous timbre rising higher as enthusiasm fills his lungs. “I’ve fond memories of it. I think the last time I was there I travelled on to collect my OBE. And I’ve stayed with Johnners’ son, Andrew and his wife, Tilly. They are real darlings. I do like them so.”

Blowers will be in Shropshire on November 26 for a one-man show at The Place, in Oakengates, Telford. He’ll regale the audience with tales of Test Match Special, his extraordinary life and the many celebrities he’s encountered along the way.

“It’s a one-man show,” he explains. “It’s not a cricket show at all. I’ve done 160 of them and I love doing them. I’ve led a very extraordinary life and I talk about it, telling stories about the main people in it. I talk about my upbringing, which would be inconceivable in today’s world.

“I had a tough, though not brutal, upbringing. I didn’t see my parents until I was 14. My mother and father were both tremendous characters.

“There are some very funny stories about my life. Then I go on and talk about school, about being at Eton and playing against Harrow at Lords at the age of 16. I went to Cambridge for two years and managed to get a blue; I talk about working in the City, which I loathed; then I tell how I got into journalism. That’s the first act.”

My, oh my, there goes a bright red Routemaster down the Vauxhall Road . . .

He’s on a roll. The man who enlivens the summer with descriptions of chocolate cake, pigeons and London Routemaster buses continues: “The second act starts with a rather improbable story about getting into broadcasting.

“Then I tell stories from the commentary box about John Arlott and Brian Johnston. Then I tell stories about Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond who based one of his villains on my father. There are stories about Noël Coward, Clive Dunn, Nigel Havers, Boris Johnson and so on. It’s very much unscripted and different things occur on the night.

“I love it. I was a born show-off. It is very much lady-friendly. It’s humour. I’m not a stand-up comic but it’s all about bringing things alive.”

Blowers is an incredible character. He was born 69 years ago at Hoveton Home Farm, Norfolk, where his family were landowners. His father went to school with Ian Fleming, and his name was the inspiration for the name of James Bond supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Blowers was a prodigious schoolboy wicketkeeper tipped to represent England. Injury curtailed his career but, after two years at Cambridge and a subsequent ill-fated diversion into the City, he moved into journalism with the help of former Times correspondent John Woodcock. He created a reputation as a commentator with an accent and usage of English commensurate with his background as an Old Etonian.

He joined the Test Match Special team in 1972 and his commentaries became much admired for their idiosyncratic descriptions of cranes, pigeons, buses, aeroplanes and cakes.

“I’ve had the most tremendous fun and been extraordinarily lucky. Arlott and Johnston turned TMS into something more amusing and lighter; I like to think we carry that on in our way. When cricket is exciting the commentary takes care of itself. But long patches of cricket are boring. The commentator needs the confidence to go beyond the boundary.”

Blowers is concerned that the tradition is being changed. He adds: “I’m not sure I see that continuing. We are owned by Radio 5 Live, which brings an emphasis different to that of Radio 4. It wants football-style commentary and that’s not what cricket is. But I enjoy TMS hugely. I enjoy cricket enormously . . . I sometimes wonder whether I’m a bit too old-fashioned.

“I don’t know what the BBC really thinks of me. I feel it is all changing and whether I therefore become anachronistic remains to be seen. I think there’s a slight danger that people tell listeners what they want them to hear rather than giving them what they would like to hear.”

Blower’s on-air gaffes are as memorable as those made by such luminaries as David Coleman. He frequently makes errors, calling the England spinner Monty Panesar “Monty Python”, and paceman Ryan Sidebottom “Ryan Stringfellow”.

He was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2003 and Blofeld has written a partly autobiographical book entitled My Dear Old Thing: Talking Cricket.

Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, named his villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld after Henry’s father.

He is unsure whether the present vogue for Twenty20 cricket will last, believing Test matches will remain more popular in the long term. “I’m an old fuddy duddy; I enjoyed the cricket very much from years ago. I see it is much more fun. There have been changes for the better – you seldom get draws in test-match cricket these days, for instance, and the pace is tremendous. But I’m a purist, I like test cricket more. Twenty20 is a gold rush, and I hope the tail doesn’t wag the dog.

“I’m not certain how long Twenty20 will sustain itself. Next year we have the Ashes and there won’t be an empty seat in the house. Things continue to change. In the old days, we all used to mix with the players and were great friends; nowadays we couldn’t be further apart.”

• Henry Blofeld is at Oakengates Theatre on November 26, 2008. For tickets call 01952 382382 or visit the website.