Among the revelations that came from the evening with Henry Blofeld was the origin of his catchphrase, which apparently dates back to a 1970s road-trip to India. After a champagne-soaked evening in Iran, Blofeld was too hungover to remember his friend’s name when writing a note to him in the morning, and got stuck after the words “my dear…”. At a loss for words, he added “old thing”, and a legend was born.
Among other snippets was the meaning of the phrase a Boycott Curry (“you get the runs anyway, but they come more slowly”) and analysis of why he spent quite so much time describing buses and pigeons while commentating. He wanted his listeners to be able to get a picture of the whole ground, so that they felt they were there, which he achieved by multiple details.
His assessment of the future of cricket was mixed. He was delighted to see the growth of the women’s game, which has developed until it’s much closer in standard to the men’s game. But he lamented the influence of money on the modern game, and the decline of its prestige as a result. “Cricket was always the last game to be taken over by money, and now that’s happened. Greed takes over,” he said.
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