He was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Sports Broadcasting.
He was a schoolboy cricketer for Marlborough, and also played for Surrey. His journalism career was encouraged by the legendary EW Swanton, and he joined the Cricketer magazine as assistant editor.
In 1973, he succeeded Brian Johnston as the BBC's cricket correspondent, a post he held until 1991, with a break between 1981 and 1984.
He was cricket correspondent for the Daily Telegraph in the 1990s, and for The Times from 1999 to 2008.