Ernest William "Jim" Swanton (11 February 1907 – 22 January 2000) was an English

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, chiefly known for being a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

writer and commentator under his initials, E. W. Swanton. He worked as a sports journalist for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' and as a broadcaster for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

for 30 years. He was a regular commentator on ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

'', easily recognised by his distinctive "fruity" voice. After "retiring" in the 1970s, he continued to write occasional articles and columns until his death in 2000.

Early life

Swanton was born in Forest Hill in

south London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, the only son and eldest of three children of William Swanton, a

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

, and Lillian Emily, daughter of a German merchant who, on marriage to an Englishwoman, changed his name from Wolters to Walters. He was a large baby and known as Jim, a diminutive of "

Jumbo Jumbo (December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then tr ...

", from his earliest years. His father was treasurer of Forest Hill cricket club, and Swanton claimed that, whilst still a baby in his pram, he attended a cricket match at which

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

, then aged 59, scored a century for London County against Forest Hill. He was educated at Brightlands prep school (later part of

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

Preparatory School) and

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

. He did not excel at school academically or in sport, and decided to become a journalist on leaving school.

Pre-war journalism

Swanton started at the

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

in 1924. He became a correspondent for the London ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' in 1927, writing on cricket in the summer and rugby in the winter. He wrote about

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

for nearly 70 years, from the 2nd Test against Australia at Lord's in 1930 to the 4th Test against New Zealand at the Oval in 1999. He started a parallel career as a broadcaster for the

BBC Empire Service The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state ...

in 1934, and commentated on the MCC tour to South Africa in 1938–39, the first overseas tour to receive live

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

coverage. Swanton formed his own cricket club in 1935, the Arabs, a

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

ic club with no home ground. He also played three

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

matches for

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

in 1937 and 1938, all against university sides. He did not distinguish himself, scoring only 67 runs in five first-class

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

. He was also president of Sandwich Town Cricket Club; he is labelled as having served the role for "25 years from 1976", although he died in January 2000. H. S. Altham had written ''A History of Cricket'', covering the period up until 1914. At Altham's invitation, Swanton continued the book to cover the period from the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

onwards. This extended edition was first published in 1938. For a revised edition in 1947 it was split into two volumes, the first by Altham and the second by Swanton. There were further updated editions in 1948 and 1962.

Second World War

Swanton served in the

Bedfordshire Yeomanry The Bedfordshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Serving intermittently between 1797 and 1827, it was re-raised in 1901 for the Second Boer War. It participated in the First World War before being converted to an artillery re ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was in the rank of acting major when wounded and captured by the Japanese in the

Battle of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

, and spent three years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. His unit spent time in camps along the Burma–Siam railway, and he contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

and lost a considerable amount of bodyweight, but his well-thumbed copy of the 1939 ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' boosted morale. He later described playing cricket with makeshift equipment and under conditions of extreme privation and the constant threat of brutality in an article, "Cricket under the Japs", for the 1946 edition of ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''.

Post-war career

He became cricket correspondent for ''

'' in 1946, remaining in that post until 1975. He was also editorial director of ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county, club and schools cricket. Overview The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cric ...

'' from 1967 to 1988. He toured Australia as a cricket correspondent seven times between 1946 and 1975, but never visited Pakistan to report on cricket, only reported on one Test match in India, and refused to visit South Africa from 1964 as a protest against ''

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

''. His writing style was very spare and simple, reporting what happened and why, without the flourishes of

Neville Cardus Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Gua ...

John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's '' Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he becam ...

John Warr John James Warr (16 July 1927 – 9 May 2016) was an English cricketer. A successful county player for Middlesex County Cricket Club, he took part in two Test matches for England. Warr was known for his sense of humour and made many humorous a ...

once described it as being "halfway between the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

and

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

". His radio commentary provided a contrast to the romanticism of Arlott. Essentially a traditionalist, he regretted the passing of the gentleman amateur cricketer, and objected to the commercialisation brought about by

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to established ...

. He served on the MCC main committee from 1975 to 1984. He never served as president of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

, but was elected an honorary life vice-president in 1989. He was president of

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

in 1981, and president of the Cricket Society and the Forty Club. He was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1965 and the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1994. He published his autobiography, ''Sort of a Cricket Person'', in 1972, and published ''Cricketers of my Time'', a collection of obituaries from ''The Daily Telegraph'', in 1999. He made his selections as one of the voters for the

Wisden Cricketers of the Century The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Century are five cricketers who were judged to be the most prominent players of the 20th century, as selected by a 100-member panel of cricket experts appointed by ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' in 2000. The 97 me ...

in 2000, shortly before he died of heart failure in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. When ''

'' completed 70 years in 1991, its then-editor Christopher Martin-Jenkins invited Swanton to select a greatest XI from those 70 years. Swanton's 11 included four Australians, four West Indians, two Englishmen, and one Indian. The team was:

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Master", he is widely regarded ...

Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ born 10 July 1949), is a former captain of the Indian national cricket team who represented India national cricket team, India and Mumbai crick ...

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

Gary Sobers The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, NH, AO, OCC (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a Barbadian born former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowle ...

George Headley George Alphonso Headley Order of Distinction, OD, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a Jamaican cricketer who played 22 Test cricket, Test matches, mostly before World War II. Co ...

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

, Alan Davidson,

Godfrey Evans Thomas Godfrey Evans (18 August 1920 – 3 May 1999) was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England. Described by ''Wisden'' as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test matc ...

Lance Gibbs Lancelot Richard Gibbs (born 29 September 1934) is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player (after Fred Trueman) to pass 300, the first spi ...

, Bill O'Reilly,

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

. His obituaries were fulsome, with

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captain ...

in ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' saying "He was the standard by which other cricket commentators were judged". He helped

Tony Greig Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born cricketer and commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall () all-rounder who bowled both ...

in Greig's early cricketing career in England.

Personal life

Swanton married Ann Marion Carbutt in February 1958. She was daughter of

Reymond de Montmorency Reymond Hervey de Montmorency (6 October 1871 – 19 December 1938) was an English golfer, cricketer and rackets player. Personal life Born in Gonda, in India, de Montmorency was the son of Major Reymond Hervey de Montmorency and Marion Ell ...

, housemaster at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and the widow of a chartered accountant, George Carbutt. They lived near

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

, Kent, and both enjoyed golf at

Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club is a golf club located in Sandwich, Kent, England. It is one of the courses on The Open Championship rota, and the only one in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it b ...

nearby. They also had a winter home at Sandy Lane in Barbados. She died in 1998. Swanton's wartime experience led him to a deep

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

faith, and he considered becoming an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest. Lord Runcie, former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, delivered the address at his funeral. A respected biography of Swanton by

David Rayvern Allen David Leonard Rayvern Allen (5 February 1938 – 9 October 2014)Michael Dow"David Rayvern Allen obituary" ''The Guardian'', 26 October 2014 was a cricket writer and historian, as well as a radio producer and presenter, a speaker and a musician. H ...

published shortly after his death revealed many previously unknown facts about his life.

Bibliography

* ''Elusive Victory'' (1951) * ''Cricket and the Clock'' (1952) * ''Best Cricket Stories'' (1953) * ''West Indian Adventure 1953–1954'' (1954) * ''West Indies Revisited – MCC tour 1959–1960'' (1960) * ''A History of Cricket, Volume 2'' (1962) * ''Cricket from All Angles'' (1968) * ''Sort of a Cricket Person'' (1972) * ''Swanton in Australia with MCC 1946–1975'' (1975) * ''Follow On'' (1977) * ''Barclays World of Cricket'' (General Editor) (1980 – 2nd ed.) * ''As I Said at the Time – a Lifetime of Cricket'' (1983) * ''

Gubby Allen Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE (31 July 190229 November 1989) was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hit ...

– Man of Cricket'' (1985) * ''Kent Cricket – a Photographic History 1744–1984'' (with C. H. Taylor) (1985) * ''The Essential E. W. Swanton – the 1980s Observed'' (1990) * ''Last Over – A Life in Cricket'' (1996) * ''Cricketers of My Time'' (1999)

References

External links

*
Cricket pundit Swanton dies
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 22 January 2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanton, E. W. 1907 births 2000 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Lewisham People educated at Cranleigh School English male journalists The Daily Telegraph people English radio personalities Cricket writers English cricket commentators English cricketers Middlesex cricketers English sportswriters British Army personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Forest Hill, London Bedfordshire Yeomanry officers English Anglo-Catholics Burma Railway prisoners British World War II prisoners of war 20th-century English businesspeople Cricketers from the London Borough of Lewisham