Neil Durden-Smith OBE (born 18 August 1933,

Richmond-upon-Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a former English sports commentator and

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er.

Governor General Lord Cobham at the Kelliher art exhibition

Life and career

Durden-Smith was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

and the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

. His service as an officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

from 1952 to 1963 included a period as aide-de-camp to the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

, Lord Cobham, from 1957 to 1959. He worked as a radio and television

sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

and producer in England from the 1960s to the 1990s. He played four matches of first-class cricket in the 1960s. His highest scores were 33 and 50 in his first match, for

Combined Services The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in 1961. He was awarded the OBE in 1997.NEIL DURDEN-SMITH OBE British Sports Commentator Pictured at Buckingham Palace after receiving his OBE
/ref> He has been married to

Judith Chalmers Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers (born 10 October 1935) is a British television presenter who is best known for presenting the travel programme '' Wish You Were Here...?'' from 1974 to 2003. Early life Chalmers was born in Gatley, Cheshire. Her ...

, a

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

, since 1964. They have a son and a daughter; their son,

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

, is also a television presenter.

References

External links

Neil Durden-Smith at CricketArchive
*
Debrett's
:_People_of_today:_Neil_Durden-Smith.html" ;"title="Debrett's"> Debrett's">Debrett's
:_People_of_today:_Neil_Durden-Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Durden-Smith,_Neil 1933_births.html" ;"title="Debrett's
: People of today: Neil Durden-Smith">Debrett's">Debrett's
: People of today: Neil Durden-Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Durden-Smith, Neil 1933 births">Debrett's
: People of today: Neil Durden-Smith">Debrett's">Debrett's
: People of today: Neil Durden-Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Durden-Smith, Neil 1933 births Living people People educated at Aldenham School English cricketers People from Richmond, London Combined Services cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricket commentators Officers of the Order of the British Empire