Henry Blofeld
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Henry Calthorpe Blofeld | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
23 September 1939 Hoveton Home Farm, Norfolk, England |
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| Nickname | Blowers, Tycoon, Typhoon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper, commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–59 | Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956–65 | Norfolk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 7 May 1958 Cambridge University v Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 11 June 1960 Free Foresters v Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only List A | 1 May 1965 Norfolk v Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 14 May 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Henry Calthorpe Blofeld, OBE (born 23 September 1939; nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston) is an English sports journalist and broadcaster, best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. He has established a reputation as a commentator with an accent, vocabulary and syntax that is quintessentially Old Etonian both in style and substance. He also writes on cricket and has authored eight books to date.
Blofeld's family were landowners in Norfolk and he was the youngest of three siblings. His older brother, Sir John Blofeld, became a High Court judge. Henry's father (Thomas Robert Calthorpe Blofeld, 1903–1986) was at Eton with Ian Fleming and his name is believed to have been the inspiration for the name of James Bond supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Henry Blofeld is a distant relative of the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe, a former England Test captain, but, contrary to common belief, he is not Calthorpe's nephew. Blofeld had spells at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, but failed both his final exams "by an innings".
Blofeld was educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College and played cricket at both. He was wicket-keeper for Eton College first XI and had an exceptional career as a schoolboy cricketer. In 1956, Blofeld scored 104 not out for a Public Schools team against the Combined Services, and he was given the Cricket Society's award for the most promising young player of the season. Appointed Eton captain in his final year at school, Blofeld suffered a very serious accident, when he was hit by a bus while riding a bicycle, remaining unconscious for 28 days.
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