1. Christopher Martin-Jenkins was the longest serving commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio, from 1973 until diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 2012.
21 Facts About Christopher Martin-Jenkins
1. 2.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was born at his grandmother's house in Peterborough, the second of three boys.
3.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins's mother was a radiologist and GP, working in the Gorbals during the war.
4.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins went to St Bede's Prep School in Eastbourne and then to Marlborough.
5.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins first played for the school team in 1962 under the captaincy of future Sussex captain and chairman of MCC, Mike Griffith.
6.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins went to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he read Modern History and graduated with an upper second in 1967.
7.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins had a great talent for mimicry, which enabled him to progress to final auditions for the Cambridge University Footlights, where his performance was adjudicated by a panel that included Germaine Greer, Eric Idle and Clive James.
8.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins played one Second XI Championship match for Surrey against Warwickshire at the Oval in 1971.
9.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins joined the TMS team in 1973 and was appointed cricket correspondent in succession to Brian Johnston in 1973 and worked as cricket correspondent for the BBC, The Daily Telegraph and The Times.
10.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was a BBC TV commentator for their cricket coverage between 1981 and 1985, before returning to radio.
11.
Barker threatened to sue, believing incorrectly that Christopher Martin-Jenkins had called him a cheat.
12.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was renowned among his broadcasting colleagues for a certain vagueness regarding practical matters.
13.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins struggled with modern technology, once mistaking the television remote control in his hotel room for his mobile phone.
14.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was the author of The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers.
15.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins edited The Cricketer from 1980 and was President of the Cricket Society from 1998 to 2008.
16.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours.
17.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins met Judy Hayman at Cambridge and they married in April 1971.
18.
Robin Christopher Martin-Jenkins played county cricket for Sussex before retiring in 2010, while elder brother James played club cricket for Radley Rangers from 1993 to 2006.
19.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 2012, shortly after returning from commentating duties in the UAE, and was forced to step down from Test Match Special due to his illness.
20.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins died of lymphoma, at his home in Horsham, on the morning of 1 January 2013, at the age of 67.
21.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins was above all a much loved husband, brother, father and grandfather.