BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

Classic View From The Boundary

On BBC Sounds

Hello Jonathan Agnew here to welcome you to a very special series of classic

View From The Boundary interviews as we celebrate 40 years of this iconic radio

feature.

The concept of a consistent view from the boundary feature came about after the first celebrity

interview had taken place.

Ben producer Peter Baxter was walking to broadcasting house from St. Pancras station

when the name came to him and it stuck ever since.

As we launch our series on BBC Sounds, it only seems right that we include that very

first interview and what a remarkable discussion it is.

Ben Travers isn't a name that will necessarily be familiar to all listeners, but for the majority

of the 20th century he was one of the most prolific and acclaimed writers for both stage

and screen this country has produced.

We'll hear plenty more about his career, but it's his cricketing memories that really

stand out.

Born in 1886, Travers was 93 when it climbed to the Old Lords Country Box in 1980.

He began by telling Brian Johnston about the first first class game he'd watched.

Well, the first test match I like, I think it was the first first class match I saw,

the first test match I saw was at the Obo in 1896.

I was nine years old and my father took the...

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