Often assumed to be as dotty as his trademark bow-tie, Henry Blofeld's quaint obsession with London buses and pigeons has ensured him a place alongside John Arlott and Brian Johnston as the one of the legendary voices of BBC's Test Match Special. For many, especially those listeners who hailed his return to the airwaves in 1994 after a stint at Sky TV, Blofeld's burbling commentaries provide a pleasingly onamatapoeic backdrop to a day's cricket, and his frequent gaffes and misidentifications merely add to that charm. Like Johnston, "Blowers" was educated at Eton College and his old-school leanings are unmistakeable. Unlike Johnston, however, his bluff and hearty image is not entirely accurate, as anyone who has read his caustic columns in The Independent would testify. In part this might be attributed to frustration. As a schoolboy wicketkeeper and batsman, Blofeld was one of the finest cricketers ever to emerge from Eton, and seemed destined to play for England until he was knocked off his bike in his final year at school. Though he recovered to play for Cambridge and Norfolk, he soon turned to journalism, where he learned his trade under the watchful eye of EW Swanton. He was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his services to broadcasting.
Andrew Miller