S5E1: A Brief History of Cricket Commentary
Historychatter Podcast
00:00
The Rise and Fall of Life Cricket Commentary
When heavy rains forced a suspension of play during the overall test in the 1930-31 ashes poor Gillingham was forced to improvise. He reckoned that the various advertisements on display might be an entertaining diversion for the audience. Now Lord Reed who carried a great deal of influence within the BBC at the time. Misrate this well meaning improvisation as surrogate commercialization. How dare a mere commentator and a priest to boot, sully the image of the gentleman's game by an association with something as lowly and as prophoned as money and commerce. The fuming lord at once penned Gillingham's name out of all commentary assignments for good. In fact the most impressive achievement of the
Play episode from 09:17
Transcript
