Henry Blofeld, Cricket Commentator

Available for over a year

Henry Blofeld was born in Norfolk in 1939. He was educated at Eton, and has called London home since his late teens. In his youth he played cricket at a first-class level, before turning to commentary and journalism, when successive injuries hampered his playing career. Henry's father, Thomas Robert Calthorpe Blofeld, was at Eton with Ian Fleming and his name is believed to have been the inspiration for the name of James Bond super villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. From 1972 to 2017 he was a loquacious host of Test Match Special, blessing with energy, vividness, and - in the word’s of colleague Jonathan Agnew - a flavour of PG Wodehouse. Robert Elms spoke to Henry in May 2009, shortly before his 70th birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall, and just a few weeks before England’s winning home Ashes series that year.