MY PICK OF THE LAST 50 YEARS

FAVOURITE CRICKETER Sir Garfield Sobers

Wonderful. Simply the finest all-round cricketer I ever saw. The man I would most readily fill up the car and spend my own money to watch.

FAVOURITE BATSMEN

(excluding Sobers)

Denis Compton

I was lucky enough to play against the great man in a Minor Counties game. What a swashbuckling batsman.

Tom Graveney

I shall never forget his hundred in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1968. My goodness he played well — the most technically perfect innings.

Sir Vivian Richards

Viv is a dear man. He was a majestic batsman in full flight, and I hugely enjoyed working with him on radio afterwards.

Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock

You often see one outstanding batsman while another is watching from the other end, but at Kingsmead in 1970, just before South Africa’s isolation, two great players were at the top of their game at exactly the same time.

FAVOURITE KEEPER Alan Knott

Agile and never dropped anything. Unquestionably the greatest wicketkeeper of my lifetime.

FAVOURITE GROUND Trent Bridge

I absolutely love it. It’s one of the only grounds where gatekeepers welcome you in rather than look for every possible reason to keep you out. Then Adelaide; Newlands, Cape Town; Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

FAVOURITE TEST MATCH Headingley 1981

The extraordinary match when Ian Botham (below) and Bob Willis won it by 18 runs after England had followed on. The perfect illustration of why two-innings matches are infinitely preferable to one-day cricket. And I had a bit of luck in that I was on air when Bob Willis finished it off by clinically removing Ray Bright’s middle stump, and caused a lot of car crashes. At least they were happyppy crashers.