Henry Blofeld OBE

Henry Blofeld OBE is one of cricket’s most loved commentators. His rich, plummy tones are known and loved around world.

Born in 1939, Blofeld was educated, to a point, at Eton for whom he played cricket for three years, from 1955 to 1957. He went straight on to King’s College, Cambridge where they suffered him for two years before showing him the door in 1959. By this time he had acquired probably the worst cricket Blue as an opening batsman since the Crimean War although he managed to hit a first-class hundred against MCC at Lord’s.

After three abortive years in the City of London, he began writing about cricket for The Times in 1962 and has been a journalist ever since. He has written at different times for The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Mirror, The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, and, since its beginning in 1986, for The Independent and, later, The Independent on Sunday.

His broadcasting career began at the start of the seventies and in 1972 he joined BBC’s Test Match Special for two of the one-day matches against Australia. He has been a regular member of this famous commentary team ever since and after the departure of John Arlott and Brian Johnston, has become the great character of the show.

‘Blowers’ as he is fondly known, has a tremendous zest for life; his broadcasts are always lively and full of humour and he is famous for the way in which he paints the picture for listeners omitting no detail, down to the pigeons, aeroplanes, red buses and helicopters. He invariably has his leg pulled unmercifully by his colleagues and this is all very much part of the fun and the atmosphere of Test Match Special. One of his gaffes, which caused shrieks of laughter, came in 2003 when he described the young Pakistani, Yasir Hamid as Yasser Arafat! It will be a long time before he is allowed to forget this.

As an author, his humour comes through well in all his books and his book Cricket and all That, reached the Top Ten Bestsellers list. His autobiography, A Thirst for Life, which came out in 2000 was also a huge success and his last four books are all still selling well in paperback. It can be seen form this brief resume of his career that he is truly a man of many parts with the humour to fit just about any situation.

Henry Blofeld – After-Dinner Speaker:

Having spent years touring the UK and internationally with his solo show, and in partnership with former TMS producer Peter Baxter, Henry Blofeld is adept at entertaining large audiences with fascinating, hilarious, anecdotes all delivered in his own inimitable style.

Whether a short feature, or a longer address, Henry is the ideal speaker for an occasion that demands class, performance and entertainment.