The BBC listings demonstrate how much cricket coverage has changed over the years, from educational radio programming and brief match reports in the early years of the BBC to live coverage all day on both television and radio.
Cricket is a sport that is distinctly British and has a long history. According to a 1933 Radio Times report, the activity was originally prohibited because it interfered with archery practice. But cricket has won in the long term – there are only 204 references to archery in BBC Genome, while cricket listings, including women’s cricket matches, number thousands. The schedules are more interested in boundaries than in bullseyes.
First Broadcasters of Cricket
One of the first broadcasters of cricket on BBC radio was John Arlott. Before transitioning to broadcasting, he worked as a police officer in his native Hampshire for a period of years. On VE Day 1945, he spoke on the radio to King George VI on behalf of the police, which aided in his transfer.
Arlott’s work as a broadcaster crossed over with his love of poetry and cricket, which he frequently let to overlap. Cricket was the inspiration for this 1945 listing of poetry and prose, while his cricket commentaries were known for being articulate and rhythmical, but he wasn’t unnecessarily florida with his language. Writing in The Nightwatchman magazine, journalist Simon Barnes described “reticence and understatement as aspects of Arlott’s talents”.
Arlott joined the team as one of the commentators for Test Match Special when it debuted on the Third Programme in 1957 and stayed until the 1980 Centennial Ashes Test match. Several tribute programs were produced after his retirement, and in a 2003 episode of Desert Island Discs, longtime coworker Henry Blofeld reflected on his interactions with Arlott.
Blofeld made his debut on Test Match Special in 1972, and he continued to play a significant role in the show up until the conclusion of the summer of 2017—with the exception of a few years spent at Sky. “Blowers” has had a lot of homes over the course of its 60-year history, but Radio 3 was where it first debuted on TMS. The program was moved to Radio 4 long wave in the middle of the 1990s, and since 2002, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra has broadcast it continuously. After reaching “60 not out,” it seems prudent to attempt the century in terms of cricket.
Coverage of Women’s Cricket Matches
In the second half of the 20th century, Blofeld’s contemporary and cricketer Rachael Heyhoe Flint fought for more coverage of women’s cricket matches. Two years before the first men’s equivalent, she organized the first women’s World Cup in 1973, which was covered by Radio 2. In 1983, Just After Four profiled her “one-woman drive to put women’s cricket on the map,” and in 1993, she appeared on Woman’s Hour with Brian Johnston to talk about the sport.
Marjorie Pollard, a hockey player who promoted women’s cricket in the early years of the BBC, came before Heyhoe Flint. She was a natural athlete and is said to be the first individual to play two sports at The Oval concurrently. Two years after arguing in favor of cricket ICC women’s on a special episode of Sports Talk, Pollard provided commentary for the nation’s first-ever women’s Test Match in 1937.
With Test Match Special covering every ball of the 2017 Women’s Ashes, coverage of women’s cricket is now considerably more regular on the BBC. In October 2017, a discussion about whether 2017 had been the best year for women’s cricket on BBC Radio 5 Live took place. In the BBC commentary box, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Alison Mitchell can frequently be heard on air.
Although an early inclusion in Radio Times just included a few lines, Test match cricket has been shown on BBC television for nearly 80 years. In 1937, Wimbledon also had its television premiere, signaling a significant period for sports broadcasting. There were no highlight packages or replays that could be incorporated into the analysis, thus coverage was very different from what we are used to. After the war, live cricket matches frequently appeared on television. In 1946, before a test match against India, future radio legend Brian Johnston gave a look back at 200 years of cricket. In 1963, Johnston—affectionately referred to as Johnners—became the BBC’s first cricket correspondent. In 1968, color television broadcasts of Test matches debuted.
Cricket provided the BBC television with a ton of fodder to fill the schedule and at home. Up until 1999, only the BBC aired test matches. Then, Channel 4 obtained the rights. As Australia won the 2005 Ashes series, Channel 4 kept airing live cricket matches till the conclusion of the match. However, Sky gained the rights in 2006, a year after cricket was taken off the list of “crown jewels” athletic events designated for terrestrial TV. Since that time, live test cricket has not been shown on terrestrial TV. The BBC has since broadcast highlights from a few World Cups and an away Ashes series in 2006–2007.
The narrative of cricket on the BBC is far from over as I get close to the stumps at the conclusion of this blog. Every county cricket match has been live-commentated on the BBC Sport website in recent years. Since 2016, the BBC has broadcast highlights and match clips online. Beginning in 2020, live cricket will also be broadcast on BBC TV.
For more information on ICC women’s matches follow CBTF tips.
