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Ernest William Swanton (11 February 1907 – 22 January 2000) was an English
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, chiefly known for being a
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
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 national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' and as a broadcaster for
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
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. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ...
'', 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 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, London Borou ...
, the only son and eldest of three children of William Swanton, a
stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...
, 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 (about 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 t ...
", 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 amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...
, 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 2–19 independent, 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 public school (English independent day and boarding 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 principles o ...
. 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 ...
in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
in 1924. He became a correspondent for the London ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' in 1927, writing on cricket in the summer and rugby in the winter. He wrote about
Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
in 1934, and commentated on the MCC tour to South Africa in 1938–39, the first overseas tour to receive live
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
coverage. Swanton formed his own cricket club in 1935, the Arabs, a
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic club with no home ground. He also played three county cricket 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). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
. 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 Harry Surtees Altham (30 November 1888 – 11 March 1965) was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His ''Wisden'' obituary described him as "among the best known personalities ...
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 1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. 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,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...
, and spent three years as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is 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 wa ...
. 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 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
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" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' 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 ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' 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 and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...
'' 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: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
''. 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 ...
or
John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, OBE (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 bec ...
.
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 ...
once described it as being "halfway between the
Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
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 b ...
". 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 ...
's
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 establishe ...
. He served on the MCC main committee from 1975 to 1984. He never served as President of the
Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
, 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 Ke ...
in 1981, and president of the
Cricket Society The Cricket Society is a charitable organisation founded in 1945 as the Society of Cricket Statisticians at Great Scotland Yard, London. It has grown steadily to be the largest body of its kind in the cricket world. The Cricket Society now has mor ...
and the
Forty Club The Forty Club (XL) is an English cricket club, established by Henry Grierson in 1936 and playing its first matches in 1937. Grierson's original intention was to enable good players to enjoy cricket into middle age. In a letter to a prospective ...
. He was awarded the OBE in 1965 and the
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established 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, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
. When ''
The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...
'' 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), always known as Jack Hobbs, 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 Mast ...
,
Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
, Don Bradman,
Gary Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...
,
George Headley George Alphonso Headley OD, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before World War II. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for the West Indies and one of the greatest cri ...
,
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 match ...
,
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 captai ...
in ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in 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 Telegraph'', kn ...
'' 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 Test cricket captain turned commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish parentage. He was a tall () all-rounder w ...
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 in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
, and the widow of a chartered accountant, George Carbutt. They lived near
Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
, Kent, and both enjoyed golf at
Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...
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 Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...
faith, and he considered becoming an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
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 ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, 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. Hi ...
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-hittin ...
– 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)


Further reading

*''Jim: The Life of E. W. Swanton'' (2004) 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. Hi ...


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 broadca ...
, 22 January 2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanton, E. W. 1907 births 2000 deaths Military personnel from London People educated at Cranleigh School British male journalists The Daily Telegraph people British radio personalities Cricket historians and writers English cricket commentators English cricketers Middlesex cricketers British 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