Chris Hollins was born into a sporting family - his father, John, played for England while his uncle, David, turned out for Wales - and he too was a good enough player to have spent brief periods with Charlton, Queens Park Rangers, and Aldershot Town. He was also a good cricketer, playing at Durham University and then making eight first-class appearances while on a post-grad year at Oxford University.

An offspinner he took four wickets on debut but it was when he hit 68 batting at No. 7 against Leicestershire that his ability with the bat became evident. He followed with 76 against Worcestershire and finished by scoring 131 in the drawn Varsity match.

Although playing regularly in club and representative cricket, he became better known as a presenter, initially with Sky Sports before joining the BBC in 1999.

In 2009 he became the third first-class cricketer to win the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, following Darren Gough in 2005 and Mark Ramprakash a year later.
Martin Williamson