Show Notes
Henry Blofeld talks about his favourite cricket books with Huw Turbervill.
His admiration for WG Grace comes across. “What an extraordinary man WG was,” he tells The Cricketer editor. “He was a phenomenal cricketer, and I still, to this day, think that if you choose your best ever XI in the history of cricket, then he has had to play a part as an allrounder. And maybe as captain.”
He also talks about cricket tours, including meeting Ian Fleming in Jamaica, and the truth behind how the author chose Henry’s surname for James Bond’s greatest adversary.
“I met him at Goldeneye. It was the most uncomfortable, beastly, single-story house built by Ian. I'd been asked for lunch, but there was no food visible at all. And we were drinking infernally strong rum punches. David Niven was his first choice to be Bond. He didn't fancy Sean Connery. But then when Connery did it, he was completely won over.”
Henry also talks about England’s summer just gone, and how he is still commentating.
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