HENRY BLOFELD - Dancing Down the Pitch

His ebullient, breathless story-telling without full-stops, his unique, infectious style and resonant voice have made his one-man show a riotous success with full houses across the nation. And now at Great Saint Mary’s.

 

Henry's idiosyncratic and colourful, picture-painting commentary reached a world-wide cricket audience over his 45 year-tenure in the commentary box of the legendary TMS, BBC’s Test Match.

 

Blower’s made every ball sound like an event: every rotation of a Duke’s or a Kookuburra ‘cherry’, the thwack of a bat, the pandemonium of a run-out or the gymnastics of an un-makeable catch he described with exuberant energy and verve. He filled the spaces of ‘Rain stops play’ with poetry.

Henry took you to the ground with him observing the colourful, eccentric and random observations of the pigeons in the outfield, the medium-fast aeroplanes flying over Lords into Heathrow, the buses past Trent Bridge or the butterflies and seagulls. He showed the radio audience pictures beyond the narrow view of what went on in the middle.

Jonathan Agnew, our Aggers of TMS, paid this tribute; ‘Special broadcasters like Henry cannot be created or coached - they just happen naturally. Henry,’ he went on, ‘brings pizzazz to the commentary box, where everyone has their role. I know when I'm sat alongside Henry that the colourful, eccentric and random side of things is taken care of.’

 

Enjoy the eccentric and random side of things with Henry. His cricketing stories are legion and he reveals his hidden talent as a mimic. Blowers as you’ve rarely heard him!

 

After the show, Henry will be signing copies of his new book ‘My A-Z of Cricket: A personal celebration of our glorious game’ that will be on sale.

 

Sponsored by Catherine Jones, the Cambridge jeweller, 9 Bridge Street, next to the Round Church. is the organising sponsor of the event. www.catherinejones.com

Funds are raised for the Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent charity. Charity Commission 1085050