Inside the Box: My Life with Test Match Special

Test Match Special is not merely the BBC's radio commentary on Test it is a programme that has become an institution since its inception in 1957: sometimes most entertaining when no cricket is taking place, and Rain Stops Play leads to hours of the most informed, witty, nostalgic and often hilarious conversation between cricketing greats past and present. Peter Baxter first worked on the programme in 1966, and produced it from 1973 until 2007, and now he has written a delightful memoir of his time in broadcasting. Here, then, from the privileged position of inside the box are priceless memories and stories of all Test Match Special's legendary participants over the John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Fred Trueman, as well as current incumbents like Henry Blofeld and Jonathan Agnew who contributes the Foreword. On the one hand here is the hilarity of Botham's Legover and the endless succession of chocolate cakes sent in by devoted listeners, but on the other here is the inside story of a genuine broadcasting institution that has survived, mutated and matured over no less than fifty years. A top-selling hardback, this is one of the most readable cricket books of recent years, with its potential readership everyone who turns in to TMS. Peter Baxter retired from the BBC in 2007 after more than 40 years on Test Match Special. He is a frequent after-dinner speaker.

Peter Baxter was born in 1947 and joined the BBC in 1965, after a brief spell in the British Forces Broadcasting Service. In 1973 he was appointed Radio Cricket Producer and took charge of Test Match Special. As well as cricket, he also produced rugby union broadcast for the BBC and for ten years produced the University Boat Race broadcasts. He retired from the BBC after forty-two years in 2007 having produced Test Match Special for thirty-four years. During that time he had commented and reported on Test matches in all ten Test-playing countries. He has also written or co-written fifteen books, most recently Inside the Box: My Life with Test Match Special, as well as From Arlott to Aggers, Views from the Boundary and Test Match Special 50 Not Out.