He was also the longest serving commentator for Test Match Special (TMS) on BBC Radio, from 1973 until diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 2012.

Johnston invited him to Broadcasting House, took him out to lunch and told him to develop his ability and review his performance by practising his commentating skills by using a tape recorder.

[4] That year he also scored a valiant 99 in Marlborough's second innings in the annual fixture against Rugby School at Lord's, but despite this they still lost by 22 runs.

During his time at Cambridge he won two half-blues for Rugby fives but never played for the University cricket first XI, although he narrowly missed out on gaining his blue after he was named 12th man for the 1967 Varsity match at Lord's.

[7] He 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.

In March 1970 he left to join the BBC Radio Sports News department and subsequently commentated on his first match, a one-day international between England and Australia, in 1972.

In The Daily Telegraph, his obituarist wrote of his radio commentary that: "Nobody excelled him... in what he regarded as the first duty: that of giving a precise, clear, well-informed and accurate account of every ball that was bowled and every stroke that was played.

"[8] Scyld Berry wrote: "What made him so good as a radio commentator, apart from his precise and unforced diction, was that he came closer than anyone to combining the knowledge of an expert with the enthusiasm of a student.

He was subsequently 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.

The family is extremely proud of all that he did to pass on his love of cricket worldwide with his gift of communicating through the spoken and written word.

The service included readings by his sons, James and Robin, and tributes by Sir Tim Rice and Jonathan Agnew.