John Arlott
Encyclopedia
Leslie Thomas John Arlott OBE (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English
journalist
, author
and cricket commentator for the BBC
's Test Match Special
. He was also a poet
, wine
connoisseur and former police officer
in Hampshire
. Known for his poetic phraseology, Arlott was a popular figure in the world of cricket commentary, he was noted for his "wonderful gift for evoking cricketing moments" by the BBC.
in Hampshire
, and spent his early years living in the cemetery lodge. He attended Fairfields Primary School in Basingstoke before winning a scholarship to Queen Mary's Grammar School and expressed an early interest in the local cricket matches. In 1926 he watched England and Australia play at The Oval
, becoming a fan of Jack Hobbs
, and later watched Sussex face Lancashire.
After leaving school he spent 4 years working in a mental hospital as a records clerk (1930–1934) and then 12 years as a policeman (1934–1946) becoming a member of the Southampton County Borough Police Force, which later merged with other forces to become the Hampshire Constabulary
at the outbreak of war in 1939. He progressed to the rank of sergeant
, while stationed at Southampton
.
He played cricket at club level but would spend most of his free summer time following the Hampshire
team both home and away. As a result of his regular support he became known to the team and this led to his one and only brief playing exposure to the first class game. He was watching Hampshire play Kent
at Canterbury
in August 1938 when they discovered they would be short of a twelth man for the following game. Being both willing and available young Arlott was co-opted and he travelled with the team to Worcester
. In fact Hampshire had had to use three substitute fielders when two of their XI were injured and Cecil Paris
, their captain, suffered a puncture on his way to the ground. The following day, the match report in the Western Daily Press
named one of the substitutes as "Harlott", a local policeman and a Hampshire member. It was a memorable day in the field, with the Nawab of Pataudi
scoring an undefeated century for Worcester in one of his very rare appearances on the county circuit. The match ultimately fizzled out in a tame draw - Hampshire 313 and 91 - 2, Worcester 413 - 3 declared. It was his one and only appearance in a first class cricket fixture and it proved to be the pinnacle of his playing career.
In 1980 he was asked whether playing first-class cricket would have assisted his role as a cricket writer, to which he replied "My word, I know what the problems are. I've failed at everything."
, who became a mentor for Arlott's poetic ambitions. Arlott subsequently joined the BBC as the Overseas Literary Producer the following year.
He was asked by the Head of the BBC Overseas Service, Donald Stevenson, to commentate on the warm-up games of India's tour of England in 1946. Arlott's commentary "went down very well in India" and he was invited to continue to commentate on further matches, including the Test matches
, thereby initiating a 34-year career as a cricket commentator for the BBC. He experienced some resentment from his colleagues in the commentary box at first, clashing with EW Swanton; however, he rapidly found his niche. From 1946 until he retired at the end of the 1980 season, John Arlott covered every single home Test match. He only went on two overseas England tours, to South Africa in 1948–1949 and Australia in 1954–1955.
(TMS) was launched on 30 May 1957, providing a full ball-by-ball Test Match commentary service on the medium wave service of the BBC Third Programme
. The first match covered was the first Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston
. The TMS commentators that day were John Arlott, Rex Alston
and E. W. Swanton, with summaries provided by Ken Ablack
, from the West Indies, together with Norman Yardley
and Freddie Brown
. When he retired after the Centenary Test against Australia at Lords
in September 1980, he was the longest serving TMS commentator (since equalled by Brian Johnston
in 1993 and subsequently exceeded by Christopher Martin-Jenkins
).
usually covering the last 20. He also briefly wrote, directed and narrated a topical local series for the BBC called ABC of the South in the 1960s but radio was his true metier.
One comment often noted was made in 1975, to describe a shot by Clive Lloyd as "the stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick." On England's 1948–9 tour to South Africa, the England captain George Mann
was bowled by his namesake Tufty Mann
. Arlott memorably described it as "a case of Mann's inhumanity to Mann". He also had the advantage of a distinctive voice. Frank Keating
wrote of his "articulate, leisurely, confiding countryman's burr". Keating also compared his stature as a radio journalist with those of Richard Dimbleby
and Alastair Cooke.
even removing his batting gloves to applaud. Later that day, at the end of the match, he came onto the Lords balcony to present the Man of the Match award. When he appeared, the crowd below again burst into a spontaneous ovation that lasted for several minutes before he was finally able to speak and make the presentation to Kim Hughes
.
and also writing the occasional hymn
. As his interest in wine developed he wrote a couple of books on that subject, he also wrote poetry, considering his best poem to be the one dedicated to Sir Jack Hobbs on the latter's 70th birthday.
His career in journalism began with the Evening News
in 1950. In 1955 he switched to the News Chronicle
, where he stayed until the paper folded in 1960. He began reporting football matches for The Observer
in 1958. He also wrote occasional articles for The Times
. Arlott joined The Guardian
in 1968 as chief cricket correspondent, where he would stay until 1980. He was also asked to comment on football matches. He was assigned at his own request to cover the Manchester United v Red Star Belgrade
European Cup match in Yugoslavia
. At the last minute their chief soccer correspondent Donny Davies
pulled rank and decided to go instead. The aircraft bringing back the team, officials and press crashed in what became known as the Munich Air Disaster
and Davies was one of the fatalities. Arlott finally stopped covering soccer matches in 1977 after a couple of violent post match incidents with hooligan fans.
He became an early member of the Cricket Writers Club, founded in 1947, whose dinners in those days were lavish affairs and often held in liveried halls. Basil Easterbrook, chairman in 1965, recalled an attempt to ban drinking until after the AGM which used to precede the annual dinner. "There was much noise, calls for order and the singing of a ribald chorus of 'On Rosenwater's doorstep, down Leytonstone way' to the tune of Mother Kelly. Irving Rosenwater
was a leading member at that time and some of the club's elder statesmen were angry enough to walk out. John Arlott was the chairman at that meeting and, as was his custom, had taken the odd sip of wine. John tried hard to bring some order to the proceedings by banging the table with a spoon, but he missed the table."
Well-versed in cricket history, Arlott was often viewed as a leading authority, especially on the literature of the game. He wrote annual reviews of the year's cricket books for Wisden
for every year from 1950 until 1992, except for 1979 and 1980. He also wrote a well received appreciation of Neville Cardus
for the 1965 edition. He wrote articles on cricket art and history for the encyclopaedia Barclays World of Cricket.
He had many books published, including: Of Period and Place, a book of poetry (1944); Indian Summer (1946); Concerning Cricket (1949); Maurice Tate (1951); Test Match Diary (1953); Vintage Summer (1967); Fred - Portrait of a Fast Bowler (1971); A Hundred Years of County Cricket (1973); John Arlott's book of cricketers (1979); Jack Hobbs: Profile of the Master (1981) and Basingstoke Boy: The Autobiography (1989). A Word From Arlott and Arlott In Conversation were published in 1983 and 1984 respectively as collections of his commentaries and writings.
Arlott was the narrator and technical advisor for the documentary short film Cricket (1950).
and openly voiced his distaste for the country's apartheid policy. When completing an immigration form, which required him to declare his race, he wrote "human". Upon returning to England, he became an ardent supporter of Basil D'Oliveira
in the latter's efforts to come and play in England. D'Oliveira later came from Cape Town
to play for Worcestershire. Arlott also visited Australia
during the winter of 1954-55, to cover the successful defence of The Ashes
by the team led by Len Hutton
.
club Middleton
in 1960. Arlott subsequently said that this was the achievement in his career of which he felt most proud. After topping the Lancashire League batting averages in his very first season he subsequently graduated to the first class county circuit with Worcestershire
in 1964. After acquiring British nationality the following year, he was selected to play for England, making his Test debut against the West Indies at Lords in June 1966.
During the 1968 Ashes series, D'Oliviera scored 158 on his recall to the England side in the 5th Test Match at The Oval, which seemed to make his selection for the winter tour to South Africa
a certainty. However when the touring side was announced he was controversially omitted amidst allegations of South African political interference with the selection committee. Arlott was incensed and condemned the selectors' decision in his press articles and publicly stated that he would not commentate on any matches involving the South African team during their scheduled tour of England in 1970. Arlott received support from many people over his uncompromising stand, including future England captain, Mike Brearley
, who called for the cessation of all South African tours and the Reverend David Sheppard
, who had been one of the first players to speak out against apartheid and who had also previously refused to play against the 1960 South African touring side. However, John Arlott was subjected to some strong, not entirely unexpected, criticism from the English cricket establishment over his stance particularly by the former England captain Peter May
, a former public school boy and Test selector, who wrote directly to him condemning the position that he had adopted.
When Tom Cartwright
subsequently had to drop out of the touring side because of an injury, D'Oliviera was selected as his replacement, which led to the tour's being cancelled by the South African government. The subsequent South African 1970 tour to England was also cancelled and they were then ostracised by the other Test playing countries. South Africa were then officially excluded from Test cricket for 21 years until they were reinstatment by the ICC
in 1991 following the South African government's legalization of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela
.
Botham also had a holiday home nearby in Alderney and during the last seven years of Arlott's life they often had two meals a day together when he was staying on the island. "At six minutes past nine every morning the phone would ring. John would say, "C'mon over — and bring your thirst with you. At the end when the emphysema took over and he was struggling with speech he had an oxygen mask and I often had to empty his bag for him. But he liked me being there because I knew to wait and let him finish his sentences between gasps. I didn't try to say the words for him because I knew how much they mattered. That was strange for me - to be patient and quiet. But I always wanted to listen to John."
On New Year's Day 1992, Ian and his wife instigated a family tradition of breaking open a bottle of Beaujolais alongside John's grave and toasting his memory.
in 1968, which aimed to raise salaries and improve the conditions of employment of the county cricketer. Wisden noted that "democratic views and wise counsel earned him much respect in the cricket world and among the players. His moderation and tact helped in some tight corners, notably at the time of the Packer Affair
, when he strove to keep the Cricketers' Association neutral."
(London Evening News), Kenneth Adam
(BBC) and Alf Gover
(Surrey). Membership of the club increased over the years and the annual lunch was eventually moved to the Long Room at The Oval
. Despite the demise of all of the original members, it still thrives and continues to meet for lunch every year either on, or close to, Hobbs' December 16 birthday. In keeping with tradition, the lunch always consists of Sir Jack’s favourite meal, roast lamb followed by apple pie.
, Mike Brearley
, Vivian Richards, Learie Constantine
, Ted Dexter
, Ian Botham
, Keith Miller
, Wilfred Rhodes
, George Brown
(WK), Jim Laker
and Wes Hall
. The reserves were Basil D'Oliveira
, Doug Wright
, Leo Harrison (WK) and Frank Tyson
. He didn't nominate a skipper but one might confidently assume, that amongst such august company, it would have been Mike Brearley's principal role in the side.
He was also invited in 1981 to select his Best XI from players who, for a wide variety of reasons, were never capped by England. His team was John Langridge
Sussex, Maurice Hallam
Leicestershire, Emrys Davies
Glamorgan, Edgar Oldroyd
Yorkshire, Jack Newman
Hampshire, Harry Martyn (WK) Somerset, Peter Sainsbury
Hampshire, Wilf Wooller (Captain) Glamorgan, Don Shepherd
Glamorgan, Charles Kortright
Essex and Tom Wass Nottinghamshire. "The side bats down to No. 7. There are seven bowlers...it has at least six good catchers and a number of cricketers of competitive quality and good temperament: and it would be good to watch."
in 1949, on his return journey from South Africa, John Arlott discovered wine for the very first time at the age of 35. From that day forth he eschewed beer and spirits and devoted himself to cultivating his love of wine. The following year, after recommending some wine to John Marshall, the editor of the London Evening News
, he was invited to write a weekly wine column for that newspaper and this resulted in invitations to press tours of French wine regions. In due course he became a connoisseur of wine and was often accompanied by some good claret to help lubricate his voice through a day of cricket commentating. He subsequently wrote a regular wine column for The Guardian newspaper and he also published two books, Burgundy Vines and Wines co-authored with Christopher Fielden in 1976 and Arlott On Wine in 1987. Before retiring to Alderney
, he auctioned his well stocked wine cellar containing many fine clarets, at Sotheby.
candidate for Epping
in both the 1955 and 1959 general elections coming third in both years.
. He was made a life member of the MCC
in 1980. He won the Sports Journalist of the Year Award in 1979, and was Sports Presenter of the Year in 1980. In June 1981 Arlott was also awarded an honorary degree by the Open University. His contribution to British radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy
's Hall of Fame.
On retirement he moved to The Vines on Alderney
in the Channel Islands
. His health was fragile and he suffered with chronic bronchitis. He died in his sleep in the early morning on Saturday, December 14, 1991, and was buried in the island cemetery. Engraved on his headstone were two lines from one of his own poems (originally dedicated to Andrew Young): "So clear you see those timeless things, That, like a bird, the vision sings".
Bradman out for a duck - 1948: "Hollies pitches the ball up slowly and ...he's bowled...Bradman bowled Hollies nought...bowled Hollies nought...and what do you say under these circumstances? I wonder if you see the ball very clearly in your last Test in England, on a ground where you've played some of the biggest cricket in your life and where the opposing side has just stood round you and given you three cheers and the crowd has clapped you all the way to the wicket. I wonder if you see the ball at all."
We have a freaker - 1975: "We have got a freaker [sic] down the wicket now, not very shapely as it is masculine, and I would think it has seen the last of its cricket for the day ... he has had his load, he is being embraced by a blond policeman and this may well be his last public appearance - but what a splendid one!"
"'Australianism' means single-minded determination to win - to win within the laws but, if necessary, to the last limit within them. It means where the 'impossible' is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them. It means they have never lost a match - particularly a Test match - until the last run is scored or their last wicket down."
Other Arlott quotes
"I'm going while people are still asking me why I'm going rather than thinking why doesn't he go." 1980
"In 1980, Trevor Bailey and the writer were largely responsible for a fresh cricket commentary noise, the popping of champagne corks. The senior men and BBC representatives......have all been temperate men, not teetotallers but as a rule disinclined to take wine - or any other alcoholic drink - during the course of the working day....Latterly though, Brian Johnston has been coaxed round by way of Pouilly Fume to the occasional hock and now, fizz. The others have required little persuasion." 1981
"I owe almost everything to Neville. I remember reading 'The Summer Game' when I was in my teens. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to this semi-mythology of cricketers and always said to Neville that any success I had was due to the imaginative stimulus he gave me." – his view of Neville Cardus.
Quotes about Arlott
"The very personification of Cricket." Prime Minister John Major, 1991
"He was Cricket, there has never been a commentator like him and there never will be." Ian Botham, former England Captain, 1991
"I think that he spread the gospel about Cricket around the world more than anyone else." Brian Johnston, fellow commentator, 1991
"A man of deep humanity." David Frith, editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, 1992
"He was generous with his time in the company of friends. I once sat down to Sunday lunch with John, his family and some friends at two o'clock, and we did not get up from the table until ten at night." Mike Brearley, 1992
"Johnston provided the life, Arlott the soul." Paul Coupar writing about the history of TMS on its 50th anniversary 2007
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and cricket commentator for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Test Match Special
Test Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
. He was also a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
connoisseur and former police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
in Hampshire
Hampshire Constabulary
Hampshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.The force area includes the cities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth...
. Known for his poetic phraseology, Arlott was a popular figure in the world of cricket commentary, he was noted for his "wonderful gift for evoking cricketing moments" by the BBC.
Early life
Arlott was born in 1914, the son of William John Arlott and Nellie Arlott, at Cemetery Lodge, Chapel Hill, BasingstokeBasingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, and spent his early years living in the cemetery lodge. He attended Fairfields Primary School in Basingstoke before winning a scholarship to Queen Mary's Grammar School and expressed an early interest in the local cricket matches. In 1926 he watched England and Australia play at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, becoming a fan of Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, and later watched Sussex face Lancashire.
After leaving school he spent 4 years working in a mental hospital as a records clerk (1930–1934) and then 12 years as a policeman (1934–1946) becoming a member of the Southampton County Borough Police Force, which later merged with other forces to become the Hampshire Constabulary
Hampshire Constabulary
Hampshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.The force area includes the cities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth...
at the outbreak of war in 1939. He progressed to the rank of sergeant
UK police ranks
Most of the police forces of the United Kingdom use a standardised set of ranks, with a slight variation in the most senior ranks for Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police...
, while stationed at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
.
He played cricket at club level but would spend most of his free summer time following the Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
team both home and away. As a result of his regular support he became known to the team and this led to his one and only brief playing exposure to the first class game. He was watching Hampshire play Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
at Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
in August 1938 when they discovered they would be short of a twelth man for the following game. Being both willing and available young Arlott was co-opted and he travelled with the team to Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
. In fact Hampshire had had to use three substitute fielders when two of their XI were injured and Cecil Paris
Cecil Paris
Cecil Paris was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who bowled occasional right-arm off spin. In addition Paris was also a prominent cricket administrator....
, their captain, suffered a puncture on his way to the ground. The following day, the match report in the Western Daily Press
Western Daily Press
The Western Daily Press is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England , mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Monday to Saturday in Bristol, UK...
named one of the substitutes as "Harlott", a local policeman and a Hampshire member. It was a memorable day in the field, with the Nawab of Pataudi
Nawab of Pataudi
The term Nawab of Pataudi may refer to any of an Afghan/Pashtun lineage of rulers of the princely Pataudi State in India, but most commonly refers to the 8th Nawab, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, who played cricket for both England and India. Both he and his son the 9th Nawab captained the Indian...
scoring an undefeated century for Worcester in one of his very rare appearances on the county circuit. The match ultimately fizzled out in a tame draw - Hampshire 313 and 91 - 2, Worcester 413 - 3 declared. It was his one and only appearance in a first class cricket fixture and it proved to be the pinnacle of his playing career.
In 1980 he was asked whether playing first-class cricket would have assisted his role as a cricket writer, to which he replied "My word, I know what the problems are. I've failed at everything."
BBC debut
After being invited to make a public radio address to George VI on VE Day, 1945, he attracted the attention of the BBC, and of John BetjemanJohn Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
, who became a mentor for Arlott's poetic ambitions. Arlott subsequently joined the BBC as the Overseas Literary Producer the following year.
He was asked by the Head of the BBC Overseas Service, Donald Stevenson, to commentate on the warm-up games of India's tour of England in 1946. Arlott's commentary "went down very well in India" and he was invited to continue to commentate on further matches, including the Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, thereby initiating a 34-year career as a cricket commentator for the BBC. He experienced some resentment from his colleagues in the commentary box at first, clashing with EW Swanton; however, he rapidly found his niche. From 1946 until he retired at the end of the 1980 season, John Arlott covered every single home Test match. He only went on two overseas England tours, to South Africa in 1948–1949 and Australia in 1954–1955.
Test Match Special
Prior to 1957, BBC radio covered every home Test match, with Arlott normally one of the commentators, but it did not broadcast uninterrupted ball-by-ball commentary. Test Match SpecialTest Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
(TMS) was launched on 30 May 1957, providing a full ball-by-ball Test Match commentary service on the medium wave service of the BBC Third Programme
BBC Third Programme
The BBC Third Programme was a national radio network broadcast by the BBC. The network first went on air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in Britain, playing a crucial role in disseminating the arts...
. The first match covered was the first Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
. The TMS commentators that day were John Arlott, Rex Alston
Rex Alston
Arthur Rex Alston was a leading sports commentator for BBC radio on cricket, rugby union, athletics and tennis from the mid 1940s to the mid 1960s....
and E. W. Swanton, with summaries provided by Ken Ablack
Ken Ablack
Robert Kenneth Ablack was a first class cricketer. Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad he was a left-arm orthodox spinner who appeared for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club between 1946 and 1949. He also appeared for a West Indies XI in 1944 and for Learie Constantine's XI in 1944 and 1945...
, from the West Indies, together with Norman Yardley
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,...
and Freddie Brown
Freddie Brown
Frederick Richard Brown MBE was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Surrey, Northamptonshire and England. He was educated at the Saint Peter's School in Chile, St Piran's school in Maidenhead, The Leys School Cambridge and St John's College, Cambridge...
. When he retired after the Centenary Test against Australia at Lords
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
in September 1980, he was the longest serving TMS commentator (since equalled by Brian Johnston
Brian Johnston
Brian Alexander Johnston CBE, MC was a cricket commentator and presenter for the BBC from 1946 until his death.-Early life and education:...
in 1993 and subsequently exceeded by Christopher Martin-Jenkins
Christopher Martin-Jenkins
Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins MBE, also known as CMJ , is a cricket journalist and Past President of the MCC. He is also a commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio....
).
Television commentary
Arlott undertook some BBC television cricket commentary, primarily on the Sunday League in the 1970s. These John Player Sunday League limited over fixtures were 40 overs a side, and were usually played between 2.00pm and 6.30pm. Arlott commentated on the first 20 overs of each innings with Jim LakerJim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
usually covering the last 20. He also briefly wrote, directed and narrated a topical local series for the BBC called ABC of the South in the 1960s but radio was his true metier.
Commentating style
Arlott was a popular commentator partly because of his gift for poetic phraseology. The BBC commented that "the style of commentary owed much to the poet in John. He would relish the phrases he used to describe what he saw and leave his colleagues wishing they could have thought of them," while Wisden wrote: "it is his unique gift for cricket commentary which will bring him lasting fame... His commentary technique was strongly influenced by his poetic sense. With the economy of a poet he could describe a piece of play without fuss or over-elaboration, being always conscious of its rhythm and mindful of its background. He was never repetitive or monotonous, except for effect. The listener's imagination was given free rein."One comment often noted was made in 1975, to describe a shot by Clive Lloyd as "the stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick." On England's 1948–9 tour to South Africa, the England captain George Mann
George Mann
George Mann CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer, who played for Cambridge University, Middlesex and England.-Life and career:...
was bowled by his namesake Tufty Mann
Tufty Mann
Norman Bertram Fleetwood 'Tufty' Mann was a South African cricketer who played in nineteen Tests from 1947 to 1951.-External links:*...
. Arlott memorably described it as "a case of Mann's inhumanity to Mann". He also had the advantage of a distinctive voice. Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
wrote of his "articulate, leisurely, confiding countryman's burr". Keating also compared his stature as a radio journalist with those of Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby
Richard Dimbleby CBE was an English journalist and broadcaster widely acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British broadcasting history.-Early life:...
and Alastair Cooke.
His final Test Match
Arlott's final Test commentary was on the Centenary Test between England and Australia at Lord's in 1980. At the end of his last session he concluded with his customary phrasing "nine runs off the over - 28 Boycott, 15 Gower, 69 for 2 - and after Trevor Bailey it will be Christopher Martin-Jenkins". At the end of the following over, a public address announcement that Arlott had completed his final commentary session prompted the crowd to give Arlott an ovation. The entire Australian team in the field and the two England batsman joined in, with Geoffrey BoycottGeoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
even removing his batting gloves to applaud. Later that day, at the end of the match, he came onto the Lords balcony to present the Man of the Match award. When he appeared, the crowd below again burst into a spontaneous ovation that lasted for several minutes before he was finally able to speak and make the presentation to Kim Hughes
Kim Hughes
Kimberley John Hughes is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Tests between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a "rebel" Australian team in a tour of South Africa, who at the time were subject to a sporting boycott.A right-handed...
.
Writing and journalism
Arlott was a stylish writer, contributing regularly as a journalistJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and also writing the occasional hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
. As his interest in wine developed he wrote a couple of books on that subject, he also wrote poetry, considering his best poem to be the one dedicated to Sir Jack Hobbs on the latter's 70th birthday.
His career in journalism began with the Evening News
Evening News (London)
Evening News, formerly known as The Evening News, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in London...
in 1950. In 1955 he switched to the News Chronicle
News Chronicle
The News Chronicle was a British daily newspaper. It ceased publication on 17 October 1960, being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Its offices were in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8DP, England.-Daily Chronicle:...
, where he stayed until the paper folded in 1960. He began reporting football matches for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
in 1958. He also wrote occasional articles for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. Arlott joined The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 1968 as chief cricket correspondent, where he would stay until 1980. He was also asked to comment on football matches. He was assigned at his own request to cover the Manchester United v Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
European Cup match in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. At the last minute their chief soccer correspondent Donny Davies
Donny Davies
Harry Donald 'Donny' Davies was an English first-class cricketer, amateur footballer and journalist. He was killed in the Munich air disaster.-Sporting career:...
pulled rank and decided to go instead. The aircraft bringing back the team, officials and press crashed in what became known as the Munich Air Disaster
Munich air disaster
The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes",...
and Davies was one of the fatalities. Arlott finally stopped covering soccer matches in 1977 after a couple of violent post match incidents with hooligan fans.
He became an early member of the Cricket Writers Club, founded in 1947, whose dinners in those days were lavish affairs and often held in liveried halls. Basil Easterbrook, chairman in 1965, recalled an attempt to ban drinking until after the AGM which used to precede the annual dinner. "There was much noise, calls for order and the singing of a ribald chorus of 'On Rosenwater's doorstep, down Leytonstone way' to the tune of Mother Kelly. Irving Rosenwater
Irving Rosenwater
Irving Rosenwater was an English cricket researcher and author whose best-known work was Sir Donald Bradman - A Biography ....
was a leading member at that time and some of the club's elder statesmen were angry enough to walk out. John Arlott was the chairman at that meeting and, as was his custom, had taken the odd sip of wine. John tried hard to bring some order to the proceedings by banging the table with a spoon, but he missed the table."
Well-versed in cricket history, Arlott was often viewed as a leading authority, especially on the literature of the game. He wrote annual reviews of the year's cricket books for Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
for every year from 1950 until 1992, except for 1979 and 1980. He also wrote a well received appreciation of Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
for the 1965 edition. He wrote articles on cricket art and history for the encyclopaedia Barclays World of Cricket.
He had many books published, including: Of Period and Place, a book of poetry (1944); Indian Summer (1946); Concerning Cricket (1949); Maurice Tate (1951); Test Match Diary (1953); Vintage Summer (1967); Fred - Portrait of a Fast Bowler (1971); A Hundred Years of County Cricket (1973); John Arlott's book of cricketers (1979); Jack Hobbs: Profile of the Master (1981) and Basingstoke Boy: The Autobiography (1989). A Word From Arlott and Arlott In Conversation were published in 1983 and 1984 respectively as collections of his commentaries and writings.
Arlott was the narrator and technical advisor for the documentary short film Cricket (1950).
Working abroad
In 1948, he travelled to South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and openly voiced his distaste for the country's apartheid policy. When completing an immigration form, which required him to declare his race, he wrote "human". Upon returning to England, he became an ardent supporter of Basil D'Oliveira
Basil D'Oliveira
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...
in the latter's efforts to come and play in England. D'Oliveira later came from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to play for Worcestershire. Arlott also visited Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
during the winter of 1954-55, to cover the successful defence of The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
by the team led by Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
.
The D'Oliviera affair
Basil D'Oliviera was a South African who was classified as a Cape Coloured by the apartheid regime and consequently he was ineligible to play First Class Cricket. He wrote to John Arlott in the late fifties, after hearing his radio commentaries, because "his voice and the words he spoke convinced me he was a nice, compassionate man". He wanted help to find an opportunity to play professional cricket in England and Arlott finally got him a summer contract with Lancashire LeagueLancashire League
The Lancashire League is a competitive league of local cricket clubs drawn from the small to middle-sized mill towns, mainly but not exclusively, of East Lancashire...
club Middleton
Middleton
Middleton may refer to:-Australia:*Middleton, South Australia*Middleton Beach, Western Australia*Middleton Reef, Tasman Sea-United Kingdom:England*Middleton, Cumbria*Middleton, Essex*Middleton, Greater Manchester*Middleton, Hampshire...
in 1960. Arlott subsequently said that this was the achievement in his career of which he felt most proud. After topping the Lancashire League batting averages in his very first season he subsequently graduated to the first class county circuit with Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
in 1964. After acquiring British nationality the following year, he was selected to play for England, making his Test debut against the West Indies at Lords in June 1966.
During the 1968 Ashes series, D'Oliviera scored 158 on his recall to the England side in the 5th Test Match at The Oval, which seemed to make his selection for the winter tour to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
a certainty. However when the touring side was announced he was controversially omitted amidst allegations of South African political interference with the selection committee. Arlott was incensed and condemned the selectors' decision in his press articles and publicly stated that he would not commentate on any matches involving the South African team during their scheduled tour of England in 1970. Arlott received support from many people over his uncompromising stand, including future England captain, Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
, who called for the cessation of all South African tours and the Reverend David Sheppard
David Sheppard
David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool was the high-profile Bishop of Liverpool in the Church of England who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth...
, who had been one of the first players to speak out against apartheid and who had also previously refused to play against the 1960 South African touring side. However, John Arlott was subjected to some strong, not entirely unexpected, criticism from the English cricket establishment over his stance particularly by the former England captain Peter May
Peter May
-External links:* * at Cricket Archive*...
, a former public school boy and Test selector, who wrote directly to him condemning the position that he had adopted.
When Tom Cartwright
Tom Cartwright
Thomas William Cartwright MBE was an English cricketer. He played in five Tests for England in 1964 and 1965. His withdrawal from the 1968-69 tour to South Africa, and replacement in the touring team by Basil D'Oliveira, precipitated the sporting isolation of South Africa until apartheid was...
subsequently had to drop out of the touring side because of an injury, D'Oliviera was selected as his replacement, which led to the tour's being cancelled by the South African government. The subsequent South African 1970 tour to England was also cancelled and they were then ostracised by the other Test playing countries. South Africa were then officially excluded from Test cricket for 21 years until they were reinstatment by the ICC
ICC
-Political:* International Control Commission, which oversaw the 1954 Geneva Accords ending the First Indochina War* International Communist Current, a communist organization* Interstate Commerce Commission, a now defunct US Government regulatory body...
in 1991 following the South African government's legalization of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
Friendship with Ian Botham
Ian Botham: "I met John when I was 17 and took his picnic basket up to the commentary box. There were four bottles of Beaujolais in that basket. Being a cider-boy I thought wine was a namby-pamby drink. But I was gripped as John started talking to me, this dumb yokel, about wine. His command of English just rolled off him. He got out some cheese and said this goes best with that wine. Go on,' he'd say, have a taste.' Our incredible friendship started and he became my mentor. These days they call 'em life-gurus or some such crap."Botham also had a holiday home nearby in Alderney and during the last seven years of Arlott's life they often had two meals a day together when he was staying on the island. "At six minutes past nine every morning the phone would ring. John would say, "C'mon over — and bring your thirst with you. At the end when the emphysema took over and he was struggling with speech he had an oxygen mask and I often had to empty his bag for him. But he liked me being there because I knew to wait and let him finish his sentences between gasps. I didn't try to say the words for him because I knew how much they mattered. That was strange for me - to be patient and quiet. But I always wanted to listen to John."
On New Year's Day 1992, Ian and his wife instigated a family tradition of breaking open a bottle of Beaujolais alongside John's grave and toasting his memory.
Presidency of the Cricketers' Association
He was a great advocate of county cricket and its players. He became President of the Cricketers' AssociationProfessional Cricketers' Association
The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967...
in 1968, which aimed to raise salaries and improve the conditions of employment of the county cricketer. Wisden noted that "democratic views and wise counsel earned him much respect in the cricket world and among the players. His moderation and tact helped in some tight corners, notably at the time of the Packer Affair
World Series Cricket
World Series Cricket was a break away professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 and organised by Kerry Packer for his Australian television network, Nine Network. The matches ran in opposition to established international cricket...
, when he strove to keep the Cricketers' Association neutral."
The Master's Club
John Arlott had developed a close friendship with Sir Jack Hobbs, who ran a sports shop in Fleet Street after his retirement from cricket. His admiration and respect led him to establish the Master's Club to honour the great man's birthday, on December 16. The inaugural lunch was held in 1953 at a restaurant in Fleet Street and was attended by John MarshallJohn Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...
(London Evening News), Kenneth Adam
Kenneth Adam
Kenneth Adam CBE was an English journalist and broadcasting executive, who from 1957 until 1961 served as the Controller of the BBC Television Service.-Education:...
(BBC) and Alf Gover
Alf Gover
Alfred Richard Gover MBE was an English Test cricketer. He was the mainstay of the Surrey bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War...
(Surrey). Membership of the club increased over the years and the annual lunch was eventually moved to the Long Room at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
. Despite the demise of all of the original members, it still thrives and continues to meet for lunch every year either on, or close to, Hobbs' December 16 birthday. In keeping with tradition, the lunch always consists of Sir Jack’s favourite meal, roast lamb followed by apple pie.
Dream Desert Island XI
John Arlott's dream team contained seven Englishmen, three West Indians and only one Australian. The team in probable batting order was: Jack HobbsJack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, Mike Brearley
Mike Brearley
John Michael Brearley OBE is a former cricketer who captained the England cricket team in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2007–08.-Early life:...
, Vivian Richards, Learie Constantine
Learie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
, Ted Dexter
Ted Dexter
Edward Ralph Dexter CBE is a former English cricketer...
, Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
, Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
, Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
, George Brown
George Brown
- Politicians :* George Brown, Baron George-Brown , British politician, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs* George Brown, Jr. , U.S...
(WK), Jim Laker
Jim Laker
James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
and Wes Hall
Wes Hall
Wesley Winfield Hall is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969...
. The reserves were Basil D'Oliveira
Basil D'Oliveira
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...
, Doug Wright
Doug Wright
Doug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...
, Leo Harrison (WK) and Frank Tyson
Frank Tyson
Frank Holmes Tyson is an England cricketer of the 1950s who became a journalist and cricket commentator after he emigrated to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets in...
. He didn't nominate a skipper but one might confidently assume, that amongst such august company, it would have been Mike Brearley's principal role in the side.
He was also invited in 1981 to select his Best XI from players who, for a wide variety of reasons, were never capped by England. His team was John Langridge
John Langridge
John George Langridge was a cricketer who played for Sussex. His obituary in Wisden called him "one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century never to play a Test match"....
Sussex, Maurice Hallam
Maurice Hallam
Maurice Raymond Hallam was an English first class cricketer for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. He was a right-handed opening batsman-Records:...
Leicestershire, Emrys Davies
Emrys Davies
David Emrys Davies was a Glamorgan cricketer and in his later years a Test cricket umpire.Davies was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. His first class career for Glamorgan lasted for thirty one years, from 1924 till 1954...
Glamorgan, Edgar Oldroyd
Edgar Oldroyd
Edgar Oldroyd was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1919 and 1931...
Yorkshire, Jack Newman
Jack Newman
Sir Jack Newman KBE was a New Zealand sportsman and business executive. As a cricketer, he earned three Test caps in 1932 and 1933 as a left-arm medium-pace bowler, being the first New Zealander to reach Test cricket direct from country cricket, in his case Nelson on South Island...
Hampshire, Harry Martyn (WK) Somerset, Peter Sainsbury
Peter Sainsbury
Peter James Sainsbury, , is a retired cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1954 to 1976 and the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1955 to 1960....
Hampshire, Wilf Wooller (Captain) Glamorgan, Don Shepherd
Don Shepherd
Don Shepherd was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets, 2,218 at 21.32 each, than any other player who never played Test cricket.Shepherd began his county career in 1950 as a fast-medium bowler, and was a regular in the...
Glamorgan, Charles Kortright
Charles Kortright
Charles Jesse Kortright was an English cricketer, who played for Essex and Free Foresters...
Essex and Tom Wass Nottinghamshire. "The side bats down to No. 7. There are seven bowlers...it has at least six good catchers and a number of cricketers of competitive quality and good temperament: and it would be good to watch."
Desert Island Discs
Arlott was invited to appear on Desert Island Discs twice, in May 1953 and then again in May 1975. He selected a completely different set of eight records on both occasions. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/f99d9c6b#p009ybv0Wine connoisseur
During a stopover in SicilySicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
in 1949, on his return journey from South Africa, John Arlott discovered wine for the very first time at the age of 35. From that day forth he eschewed beer and spirits and devoted himself to cultivating his love of wine. The following year, after recommending some wine to John Marshall, the editor of the London Evening News
London Evening News
The London Evening News was a newspaper that was first published on 14 August 1855.Usually when people mention the London Evening News they are actually referring to The Evening News, that was published in London from 1881 to 1980 when it was incorporated into the Evening Standard.A newspaper under...
, he was invited to write a weekly wine column for that newspaper and this resulted in invitations to press tours of French wine regions. In due course he became a connoisseur of wine and was often accompanied by some good claret to help lubricate his voice through a day of cricket commentating. He subsequently wrote a regular wine column for The Guardian newspaper and he also published two books, Burgundy Vines and Wines co-authored with Christopher Fielden in 1976 and Arlott On Wine in 1987. Before retiring to Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
, he auctioned his well stocked wine cellar containing many fine clarets, at Sotheby.
Politics
Arlott espoused strong liberal and humanitarian political views and he stood as the LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
candidate for Epping
Epping (UK Parliament constituency)
Epping was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1974. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
in both the 1955 and 1959 general elections coming third in both years.
Awards
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1970 New Year HonoursNew Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
. He was made a life member of the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 1980. He won the Sports Journalist of the Year Award in 1979, and was Sports Presenter of the Year in 1980. In June 1981 Arlott was also awarded an honorary degree by the Open University. His contribution to British radio is commemorated in The Radio Academy
Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is a registered charity that is dedicated to 'the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production'....
's Hall of Fame.
Personal life
He was married three times. First to Dawn Rees (married 1940 - divorced 1958) where there were two sons, Jim (1944–1965) and Tim (born 1950). Secondly to Valerie France (married 1959 - died 1976) with a third son Robert, (born 1963) and finally to Patricia Hoare (1977–1991) who survived him. Arlott's eldest son Jim was killed in a car accident on New Year's Eve 1965, driving home late at night from Southampton in a sports car which Arlott had helped him acquire. This tragedy led to Arlott always wearing a black tie in remembrance of his dead son and in penance for his own role in the tragedy.On retirement he moved to The Vines on Alderney
Alderney
Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...
in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. His health was fragile and he suffered with chronic bronchitis. He died in his sleep in the early morning on Saturday, December 14, 1991, and was buried in the island cemetery. Engraved on his headstone were two lines from one of his own poems (originally dedicated to Andrew Young): "So clear you see those timeless things, That, like a bird, the vision sings".
The John Arlott Memorial Trust
The Princess Royal, as President of the Rural Housing Trust, gave a Reception at Buckingham Palace on February 10, 1993 to launch the John Arlott Memorial Trust in conjunction with the National Playing Fields Association. The Trust was a tribute to Arlott's memory in creating a fund to provide affordable village housing and recreational areas in some of England's 8,000 villages and it is now a national charity chaired by former newscaster Sir Trevor McDonald. The annual charity dinner is sponsored by the Rioja Wine Exporters Group reflecting his great fondness for that particular wine.Biographies
Biography of Arlott, by David Rayvern Allen, was published in 1993 and it won The Cricket Society Jubilee Literary Award. A second biography, John Arlott, A Memoir, written by his son Tim Arlott, was published in 1994.Memorable quotes
The Times newspaper in March 2006 published a list of 25 favourite sporting quotes - two Arlottisms were included:Bradman out for a duck - 1948: "Hollies pitches the ball up slowly and ...he's bowled...Bradman bowled Hollies nought...bowled Hollies nought...and what do you say under these circumstances? I wonder if you see the ball very clearly in your last Test in England, on a ground where you've played some of the biggest cricket in your life and where the opposing side has just stood round you and given you three cheers and the crowd has clapped you all the way to the wicket. I wonder if you see the ball at all."
We have a freaker - 1975: "We have got a freaker [sic] down the wicket now, not very shapely as it is masculine, and I would think it has seen the last of its cricket for the day ... he has had his load, he is being embraced by a blond policeman and this may well be his last public appearance - but what a splendid one!"
"'Australianism' means single-minded determination to win - to win within the laws but, if necessary, to the last limit within them. It means where the 'impossible' is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them. It means they have never lost a match - particularly a Test match - until the last run is scored or their last wicket down."
Other Arlott quotes
"I'm going while people are still asking me why I'm going rather than thinking why doesn't he go." 1980
"In 1980, Trevor Bailey and the writer were largely responsible for a fresh cricket commentary noise, the popping of champagne corks. The senior men and BBC representatives......have all been temperate men, not teetotallers but as a rule disinclined to take wine - or any other alcoholic drink - during the course of the working day....Latterly though, Brian Johnston has been coaxed round by way of Pouilly Fume to the occasional hock and now, fizz. The others have required little persuasion." 1981
"I owe almost everything to Neville. I remember reading 'The Summer Game' when I was in my teens. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to this semi-mythology of cricketers and always said to Neville that any success I had was due to the imaginative stimulus he gave me." – his view of Neville Cardus.
Quotes about Arlott
"The very personification of Cricket." Prime Minister John Major, 1991
"He was Cricket, there has never been a commentator like him and there never will be." Ian Botham, former England Captain, 1991
"I think that he spread the gospel about Cricket around the world more than anyone else." Brian Johnston, fellow commentator, 1991
"A man of deep humanity." David Frith, editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, 1992
"He was generous with his time in the company of friends. I once sat down to Sunday lunch with John, his family and some friends at two o'clock, and we did not get up from the table until ten at night." Mike Brearley, 1992
"Johnston provided the life, Arlott the soul." Paul Coupar writing about the history of TMS on its 50th anniversary 2007