Cricket commentator retires after 35-year innings

A stalwart of BBC Essex's cricket commentary has announced his retirement after 35 years with the team.

Paul Newton watched as Essex won championships in the early 1990s, 2016 and 2017, and has interviewed legends of the game.

The 77-year-old said he was stepping down from radio broadcasting due to illness, having been diagnosed with bowel cancer three years ago.

He said he had "loved every minute" of the job and that doing something that combined cricket and horse racing commentary was "beyond my wildest dreams."

Newton was a Latin teacher in the 1960s and '70s in Leeds, before going on to be a sports broadcaster at Peninne Radio.

He was at the station when the Bradford City fire broke out in 1985 and had a very narrow escape from the inferno.

Newton pinpoints Graham Gooch, the former England and Essex batsman, as his favourite player.

"He really is an astonishing character," he said.

"Gooch used to give the ball one hell of a smack - it was majestic in the extreme, it was totally spiritually uplifting."

In return, Gooch praised Newton for doing a "fantastic job".

"I really enjoyed working with you and I think you've done a sterling job to promote Essex cricket," said Gooch.

"Hopefully we will see you during the cricket season."

Newton's fellow commentator Dick Davies said some listeners thought they never got on because they came across as "bickering".

"One listener thought we sounded like a married couple but there's a great deal of affection underneath it all," he explained.

Among Newton's career highlights was Essex's back-to-back county championship titles in 2016 and 2017 - despite predictions they would get related - and he said the Essex Eagles' T20 Blast triumph in 2019 was "absolutely thrilling".

BBC Essex sport editor Victoria Polley said Newton had "brought us all the amazing highs and standout performances".

A special hour-long edition of Around the Wicket will be broadcast at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday on BBC Essex.

The show will look back on his life as a broadcaster, his career as a Latin teacher and learn about his other passion in life - music.

He has written about 9,000 songs over the past 60 years - and one of them - about Geoffrey Boycott, was used in a BBC documentary documenting the England legend in the 1980s.

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