Robert Hudson: creator of BBC's Test Match Special
BBC Radio was the first broadcaster to cover every ball of a Test match when it launched its Test Match Special in 1957
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
BBC Radio was the first broadcaster to cover every ball of a Test match when it launched its Test Match Special in 1957. While cricket commentary had been on air before then, it was relayed only in fits and start. Today you’ll find many a spectator at a match in England listening to the show using a portable radio and headphones; commentary radios are even sold at the grounds. In the Guardian, Bob Chaundy pays tribute to Robert Hudson, the man who started it all.
In 1955, while Hudson was commentating for radio on a Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire county match, Fred Trueman was on a hat-trick with only a few minutes of airtime remaining. The incoming batsman, Cyril Poole, took an age to prepare for Trueman's next delivery, which, with only seconds to spare, had him caught at short leg. Hudson had just enough time to yell: "It's a hat-trick, back to the studio."
The experience made him determined to liberate cricket from its piecemeal scheduling that might see coverage move between three different BBC radio networks during a single day's play. Less than half of Jim Laker's record-breaking 19-wicket haul at the 1956 Old Trafford Test against Australia was broadcast. In 1957 Hudson persuaded his superiors, despite howls of protest from the music lobby, to allow Test cricket on to the little listened-to Network Three, the forerunner of Radio 3, and to broadcast every ball bowled.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo