Cricket - the voices of Summer

The Voices of Summer. And they are. Rich. Fruity. They are as warm as sunshine; and as English as cucumber sandwiches. You can smell the newly-mown grass.

Witness the voices of the great cricket commentators like John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, and Richie Benaud and Henry Blofeld. A little like the shipping forecast, one can revel in their character and humour regardless of whether one understands much of what they are saying or not.

It is worth marking the contribution too of Robert Hudson. Frustrated by coverage being yanked off-air at a dramatic moment in favour of some other seemingly more important output, he devised what became Test Match Special in 1957.

Enjoy this great slice of sunshine from BBC 5 live’s programme ‘the Voices of Summer’ in May 2013, on the 56th anniversary of that first programme.