Please never change, Test Match Special
Test cricket – Test Match Cricket, Sky Sports and Test Match Special, 5 Live Sports Extra
On Wednesday cricket fans around the world finally got what they were almost panting for – some live test match action. Since the BBC lost the rights for live England test matches, this year is all about Sky (and social distancing).
Sky have transformed the viewing experience. Gone are the comfy slippers of Richie Benaud and Tony Lewis, where their silences sometimes spoke as much as their words of wisdom. Modern-day test cricket has much more pizzazz, not to the extent of the One Dayers or T-20, but television dictates that it’s not just sport, it’s entertainment. And Sky does it very well.
But whatever the delights of Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Rob Key are, no matter how hard they try they will never be able to beat the entertainment provided by the denizens of the Test Match Special commentary box. I grew up listening to the programme when it was ostensibly in its heyday – the 1970s and 1980s. The mellifluous tones of John Arlott and Brian Johnstone alongside Fred Truman and Bill Frindall were simply sublime. When Henry Blofeld retired in 2017, and Geoffrey Boycott was “let go” earlier this year, it really did signal the end of the old guard.
The modern-day team headed by Jonathan Agnew, Michael Vaughan, Alison Mitchell and Phil Tufnell may not contain the big names of the past, but the atmosphere remains the same. It’s listening to mates talking about cricket down the pub, with the odd bit of play as an interruption.
When I first got into cricket in the mid-1970s, the West Indies were the team to beat. Their batsmen and bowlers were the best in the world. Names like Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Curtley Ambrose, Joel Garner, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenwich – I could go on. That decade was a golden one for the West Indies, and yet forty years on it is incredible to witness their decline. For my generation, though, they will always be a main attraction.
Cricket in the Covid-19 era isn’t as weird to watch live as football. Watching a Premier League game is akin to watching a pre-season friendly. It is almost like watching a different sport. Test match cricket is different. I don’t know why. It just is. There’s a degree of normality which escapes live football matches without crowds. And long may it remain so.
David Lloyd podcasts – Radio Moments and Conversations
If you work in the radio industry, you know who David Lloyd is. If you don’t, you probably think he’s a gym. In his career, he’s managed various radio stations, including LBC and the Free Radio group in Birmingham. He’s written several books about radio and what he knows about the sector isn’t really worth knowing. Each week he contributes a 7-10-minute piece for the excellent Radio Today podcast showcasing radio moments from this particular week in years gone by.
In his own Radio Moments podcast, he posts short pieces of memorable radio from the present and the past. However, it’s his Conversations podcasts which really hit the mark for the radio geeks among us. Although the podcast is titled “Conversations”, David Lloyd doesn’t feature in them at all. But through skilful editing he makes an hour-long monologue from his interviewee sound like a conversation. Recent guests have included radio legends like Simon Mayo, David (Kid) Jensen, John Humphrys and Mike Read. It’s like putting on an old glove listening to them reminisce about their careers. I guarantee that if you listen to one episode, you’ll gradually trawl through the back catalogue.