05-07-2025
I'm 85 not out, but I've got no intention of retiring says cricket's HENRY BLOFELD
For many years, Henry Blofeld, 85, was the voice of the BBC's Test Match Special, where his dulcet tones and droll lines rang out from 1972 until 1991, writes Dan Moore.
After three years at Sky, he returned to the BBC, before finally hanging up his TMS microphone in 2017 – his humour matched with boundless energy much-missed by cricket fans.
Affectionately known as Blowers, he has written several cricket-related books and is in demand as an after-dinner speaker.
He regularly tours with sell-out one-man shows and has no intention of retiring.
Father to a daughter, Suki, Henry lives in rural Norfolk with his third wife Valeria.
What did your parents teach you about money?
I'm not sure I learned anything from my parents. They were land-rich, with a decent holding in Norfolk, but cash-poor. So my father was very careful with money and wouldn't spend a sixpence when a ha'penny would do. This is not to say they were mean, because they weren't. They sent me to boarding school and ensured I had eight shillings pocket money to spend. But being careful with money wasn't a lesson I carried with me.
What was your first ever job?
It was at Robert Benson Lonsdale, a merchant bank in the City of London. I started on £360 in 1959. My salary had risen to £660 by the time I left three years later, having decided it was not the job for me.
How did you get into cricket journalism?
I had played cricket for Cambridge, and before being hit by a bus and spending 28 days unconscious, dared to think of a career as a player. But my experience and enthusiasm led me to a job as a freelance reporter for The Times and then to most of the other Fleet Street papers.
I covered cricket in the summer and football in the close season. I pretty much became The Guardian's Midlands football correspondent. I also covered the odd international, such as Scotland against Italy at Hampden Park. I even reported on rugby, until I mixed up the 25-yard line with the penalty line. The money was pretty good, on a pro rata basis, but I'm hopeless with the stuff – a spender, not a saver.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Not really, because I worked hard when I was freelancing on the papers. I'd switch between cricket and football, and then, of course, when I started working for the BBC on Test Match Special in 1972, I found a consistent and reliable berth, but still as a freelancer.
What was the best year of your financial life?
In 1991, I was poached by Sky, then BSkyB, for cricket commentary. I had three very lucrative years there, earning £1,000 a day as a freelancer. But all good things come to an end, which for me was when executives there decided they only wanted ex-test cricketers to provide commentary.
What would you have done if your career hadn't worked out?
Oh, I would be completely unemployable. I would have bought a cloth cap and sat on a street corner.
What was your best financial decision?
My best financial decision was made by my bank manager when I told him about the BSkyB offer. He strongly advised me to accept it and, not being good with money, I did as I was told.
What has been your biggest money mistake?
In the 1990s, a Portuguese-Indian businessman wanted me to travel the world with him, attending cricket matches and introducing him to players and other dignitaries. I was to be paid six figures. He told me after one trip he was disappointed and sacked me. I had no written contract, as he said I could trust him, and I walked away with nothing.
What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?
I suppose it would be my collections. I've spent a lot of money collecting every single first edition of PG Wodehouse's books, and that raised a lot of money – six figures – when I sold them. I later began spending a lot of money on clothes, having married a wonderful Italian lady who loves colours, as do I.
All that mounts up in cost. Apart from that, we love going on holidays, eating in restaurants and above all drinking good wine.
Are you the owner of any property?
I've always had a house in Norfolk, and live in a Hoveton cottage. My family has owned land around there since about 1480, and my older brother is the landlord. I also have a house in Minorca.
What is the one little luxury you treat yourself to?
I enjoy good food, so having an Italian wife who's a genius in the kitchen is lovely.
I buy a lot of second-hand books, and my study is full of cricket books and memorabilia.
Aside from that, I work three to four days a week, doing my one-man show in theatres around the country, cricket commentaries for charity, and after-dinner speaking engagements. I've always thought that work was more fun than fun.
What's the first thing you would do as Chancellor?
I'm an unpolitical animal. My accountant always tells me that I've got to do as I'm told and not as I wish. That said, I would look at the rather cruel inheritance laws that have been applied to small farmers. £1million sounds like a lot of money, but farmers don't have this kind of cash – it's tied up in land and property.
What is your number one financial priority?
I turn 86 this year, so I'm under no great illusions. I ran my last quick single years ago, and I'm not going to be asked to run any more.
My priority is to leave my splendid wife reasonably well-off when I die so she can live a happy life, and to look after my daughter.
