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Great blog Adam. Best wishes to Team TMS at Old Trafford.




Dr. Cajetan Coelho

Shame about Michael Vaughan not being on TMS this match.

looking forward to the TMS charabanc rolling "on to" Old Trafford (you're not literally going to park on the outfield, are you?) :)

I must admit I thought Vaughany was pretty good at Lord's, too. His first few appearances on TMS made me cringe, but he seems to have "got his eye in" a bit now :)

long live TMS!

The Lord's Test turned out to be special, for all the reasons Adam has listed above, which is heartening, given that most people anticapted a humdrum Test, due to our opponents. It's surprises like this that make TMS, and Test cricket, so compelling.

I look forward to the reurn of Blowers and Vic although, as someone above has said, Vaughan has certainly earned his spurs now and CMJ is always good value. In particular, the on-air partnership of Blowers and Tuffers is a delight.

Congratulations to Aggers on his 'ringing the bell moment' - you can see an unusual picture of the moment, by @cecimasters, here: :o)

Adam, looking forward to TMS as usual, particularly any Tufnell-Blofeld double acts! Please give Boycott a rest, preferably an extended one. Yes, he's knowledgable and has strong opinions which should in theory provoke interesting discussion, but we've heard them all before countless times and it just becomes tedious. Even the "Geoffrey bating" by the rest of the team can't compensate! If you have to have him on, perhaps you and the rest of the team could run a sweepstake on how long he's on air before first mentioning that he used to play on uncovered pitches, or how many times over the course of his stints at the mic he will talk of himself as if he were still a current international player?

I'm afraid that I don't greet the return of 'Blowers' with any enthusiasm. He's become an anachronisitic cliche, whose continual misidentification of players and misannouncing of the score detract from the otherwise excellent TMS.

Can someone tell Vaughan to stop reminding listeners how cushy a number TMS is? Repeated references to playing golf, nice dinners and wine are not required. Agree with postings re Boycott being tedious - the joke has worn thin.

Can you ask Alison and Vaughan on 5Live to give updates on when Blofeld is finished commentating so I can tune back to TMS to hear the others.

Boycott is a master broadcaster beside Blofeld.

A word of praise however for the Cat. I would never have belived he would make any kind of broadcaster but he is becoming required listening. He was once refered to by an ols school friend of his as 'a waste of a good education'. As long as he doesnt try to tell anyone how to bat! Although I was present for his maiden (Only?) first class fifty at Lords against Worcester about a hundred years ago.

Aggers is still the best though.

P.S. Love to Shilpa, still looks not a day older. Love you Patel

Boycott tedious? Time to give him a rest? I don't believe so. He tells it how it is and is a breath of fresh air compared to the "he'll be disappointed with that" type banal comments.

I can't wait to hear Blowers again. There's more to TMS than accurate reporting of the score. For me, it wouldn't be summer without Henry's dulcet tones.

Ohhh, reading this post makes me pin for TMS. Living in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada prevents this due to licensing restrictions :-( That is simply not cricket!

The melliflous voice and naughty humour of Tuffers, the wonderful sound of TMS in the garden on a glorious English summers day - what greater pleasure could there be in life!

Could you keep Boycott to a minimum though please and with the volume turned down and ask Aggers to lay off the KP-nitpicking. But thank you all at TMS for bringing us so much happiness. Life would not be the same without you all.

Agree with most of the comments re Tuffers - who knew he had such an acute cricket brain when he was playing. Often insightful and excellent reading of the game with really helps the listener. Likewise Vaughan, whos thoughts are always intelligent and on-point - although like some other posters I do wish he'd lay off the golf/wine stories a little - remember some of us are working hard (ahem) while listening to TMS.

Disagree with some about Boycs - he can be a little bit too straighforward and sometimes come across as laughing at players he feels are less able than himself (almost everybody?) which does not make for comfortable listening. That said he's worth having around because his reading of the game is good, he's not afraid to make more controversial comments and his banter when Aggers and co are winding him up are radio gold.

For Mr Holding - I hope you will be gently reminding Geoff Boycott about 'the fastest over of all time'!



As a young lad, I was spellbound watching the 1976 West Indies - England Test series on television, it inspired a lifelong love of cricket in me and got me playing the game and wanting to be a fast bowler. Watching the greats like Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd was absolutely inspirational because of their gifts and the passion with which they played the game.

I hope that one day soon the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will be able to show Test matches again, as that pleasure is now restricted to a few, which is a great shame.

One thing about Geoff Boycott though, he is refreshingly unafraid to call a spade a spade! - that's something to treasure in this day and age when we're constantly assailed by bland corporate jargon and motivational-speak even from sportspeople. I heard him summarise the quality of an England bowling performance in a Test session a year or two back simply as - "It was rubbish" - and he was absolutely right, nothing more needed to be said!

Please pass on my very best wishes to Angela Marks. Jim Laker introduced me to cricket at the tender age of 11 in 1956 when he took 19 wickets in that Old Trafford Test against Australia. I watched over 3 days in a schoolmate's house as we didn't have a TV until the following year. And I'm still watching some 54 years later. And still enjoying it.

Nice blog Adam!. Do you have a picture of Aggers when you guys were taking mickey out of him?.

Mikey holding back on TMS! AWESOME! He's the best cricket commentator around!

Bit disappointed there's no room for Boycott's mum on TMS! I hear she can knock spots off his comments with a stick of rhubarb. My view is she'd have to go some. I don't tire of Sir Geoff's opinions, even when I don't agree with them.

Like some, I'll be delighted to hear Henry Blofeld again. There won't be any more summers after he's gone. Vic Marks too is always good for a dodgy prediction and some wryly amusing comment along the way. Phil Tufnell seems to have walked effortlessly into everyone's estimation

You're spoilt for choice, really. CMJ is the most precise and well-informed of commentators and Michael Vaughan is settling in well.

As for the great Jim Laker whom I used to watch week after week at the Oval, I'm here to break the news that I once bowled him out! - On matting at the Schoolboys'Own Exhibition in about 1951/52 (??) Frank Chester said he was out and that made me even happier. - And anyway, I'm sure Jim would have done the same for me!

I thought when I seen the headline that Holding was joining the TMS commentary team, not just popping in for a chat during the lunch break!

Would have been good if he was, as I enjoy listening to him and to TMS while at work during week.

As for Holding reminding Boycott of that over, I've heard Holding asked about this before, and in fairness to him, he is always quick to point out that Boycott was well passed his best when he bowled it.

It was a great Champagne Moment, indeed. Hats off the the great men (minds) who came up with the idea. Perhaps one day cricket will reclaim its stolen innocence!

Don't agree about Boycott being repetitive. He was a master defensive batsman - arguably the best ever. Certain basic points about defensive technique - getting in line, foot to the ball, playing straight - are repeated because they need to be. My fear about 20/20 cricket is that is damages further (already damaged in my opinion by limited overs cricket)the defensive techniques and mental concentration needed to sustain an innings over a long period of time. I fell in love with cricket because it went on a long time and batsmen could score huge totals if they took advantage of bad bowling.Boycott knows all about bad bowling! Youngsters can learn. OK Boycott have have been selfish, but he had to be to prepare himself mentally for a big opening innings.
By the way, well done TMS for providing fantastic live commentary of many years and making so many people's summer for them.

re magnetic_monopole 11:16am

As the article states:

"but any lesser mortal would have been out." Gladstone Holder in The Nation. Lasting 5 deliveries of such quality is a testament to Boycott's ability

Long live Sir Geoff
( mind you, I'd have paid good money to see his face when Michael Holding reminded him of it )

Thanks for adding TMS to the listen again iPlayer. Now I can listen to any part of the matches that I wish to hear again. Now to make it perfect, you just need to be allowed to stay on air rain or shine.

It's also nice to have Henry back on air. When the cricket is exciting, so is Henry. When the cricket is boring, Henry isn't. Just how I like it.

Thank Rod Hudson, RIP. I wasn't alive when he worked with TMS but thanks to him I can enjoy it.

Sorry I meant Rob Hudson, RIP. Not Rod.

i remember as a kid hearing robert hudson on tms .Also Ive just checked out the england fixtures this summer, what a complete mish mash of games.How come we are playing australia in a 1 day series? I thought the ashes start in november?.We seem to be playing australia nearly every year now its getting tedious.I prefer to follow the county stuff these days , much more interesting.