Henry Blofeld: 'Sky paid me £1,000 a day then ditched me after a year. It was unpleasant'

**** me they can be as unpleasant as they want
towards me for that money

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/fa...ar-unpleasant/

Oh bless , how did he manage , and from him coming from a harsh under privalged background and all ,could have left him penniless,and broken .

Henry Blofeld, aka Blowers, 79, began writing about cricket for The Times in 1962 and joined the BBC’s Test Match Special cricket commentary team in 1972. In 1991 he was poached by Sky, then returned to the BBC in 1994.

He has also broadcast for many radio and television networks around the world. He announced his retirement as the longest-serving Test Match Special commentator in June last year.

He is moving to Menorca with his wife, Valeria, and has a daughter from his first marriage.
How did your childhood influence your attitude to money?

I had a privileged background. I come from Hoveton, an estate in Norfolk, which was built by my family in 1666. There were Blofelds in the county in the 12th century. I also went to Eton.

My father was land-rich and cash-poor, so we watched the pennies a bit. I reacted against that and it didn’t help that I had a few friends who were better off than I was. I ran before I could walk.

I’ve always been hopeless with money – and too extravagant – but I’m a hard worker. At the moment I’m touring 50 theatres in my one-man show 78 Retired and driving 300 miles a day.
What was your first job and do you remember your first pay cheque?

I worked as a trainee merchant banker at Robert Benson Lonsdale, a company run by my uncle in the City of London. I was paid £360 a year with luncheon vouchers on top at a rate of half a crown a day. I absolutely loathed it, but stuck at it for nearly three years.

The truth is, I’d been sent down from Cambridge in something approaching disgrace and my parents hadn’t a clue what to do with me. When Uncle Mark suggested I start off under his auspices, it must have been a straw they clutched at with both hands.
Henry Blofeld
Henry Blofeld started his career in a merchant bank, but loathed it Credit: Andrew Crowley
Did you show any financial prowess in the City?

Buying and selling shares was the only aspect of the job that held any appeal. My mother’s village hairdresser had heard from a relation working in the Far East that a rubber company was a snip because it was about to be taken over, or so the rumour had it.

When I broke the news in the office it was met with raised eyebrows and sympathetic smiles. I felt I had a point to prove, so I held my breath and bought 200 shares. Over the next few days the price rose and first one colleague, then one or two others, jumped aboard.

The following week the press reported that the company had indeed been taken over. The office had never witnessed such scenes of celebration and I became the office hero. There wasn’t the slightest chance it would last. My subsequent suggestions went unerringly in the opposite direction and my status soon returned to that of an upstart office boy.
How did you get into cricket commentating?

I played first-class cricket and knew the game well. You don’t start broadcasting until you’ve had masses of trials and I had a voice that worked. I was also able to string words together to describe things. I was paid very little for my first commentary in the West Indies in 1971, but I didn’t mind – it was good experience.
How much were you paid on Test Match Special?

Let’s just say it didn’t pay anything like as much as television, and I was never going to get rich on my earnings, but it opened so many doors.
What has been your worst investment?

In the late Seventies I bought a couple of very expensive apartments on Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I held on to them for about 10 years, but the development didn’t turn out to be the luxury resort I had anticipated and I sold them at a fraction of their original price, losing about £100,000.
Has there ever been a time in your life when you worried about how you would pay the bills?

In 1991 Sky asked if I would join their commentary team. They wanted to sign me up for the full season, which would mean leaving Test Match Special, but they offered me a sum I couldn’t refuse – £1,000 a day. My bank manager and I danced around the room. It helped pay some of my debts, but didn’t do much more.

The following winter they decided they would go the way that everyone has gone and use only former Test players as commentators for Test matches. They stopped using me but didn’t tell me their intentions, which left me in limbo for a couple of rather unpleasant years.

By that stage the BBC had taken the view that, by leaving Test Match Special amid such a fanfare and going to the enemy, I was beyond the pale. In 1994 they held their noses and had me back. I’ve never felt happier or more relieved.
What has been your worst business decision?

In the Nineties, Mark Mascarenhas, a television mogul from southern India, offered me a lot of money to do some commentating and help him meet the authorities in the various cricketing countries in a bid to buy their television rights.

Later he pulled the plug, having refused to sign a written contract, and paid only a third of the promised fee. Had I been sensible I would have gone on working for him as a commentator, but I stamped my foot.
Henry Blofeld
In 1991 Sky offered Blofeld £1,000 a day to leave the BBC. ‘I couldn’t refuse’ Credit: AFP
Are you a saver or a spender?

A spender. I don’t know what saving means. I’ve never drunk wine by the glass, I’ve always drunk it by the bottle. I’ve reached the stage in life where I shouldn’t really drink at all. I have appalling indigestion. But I’ll drink anything that’s good. White burgundy is the finest wine in the world, but I love red wine too.

I also collect old cricketing books and first editions. I spent a fortune on American and English first editions of PG Wodehouse, but sold them at Christie’s in the early Nineties after one of my financial setbacks.
Was there an obvious financial turning point in your career?

Yes, last year when I retired from Test Match Special. I had never realised people were so keen to get rid of me. I did a walk around Lord’s in front of 30,000 people. I wrote a book about my career on Test Match Special, which became a bestseller. I did a sell-out theatre tour and now I’m doing another. As I earn more, I spend more, so it doesn’t really amount to anything.
How much property do you own?

I’ve just sold my house in Chelsea and I’m moving to Menorca. I’ve lived in London for 60 years, but it has lost the village atmosphere that it once had. If you live here and don’t use its facilities, which we don’t really, why pay through the nose? Menorca is a lovely country and I have huge numbers of friends there.
Do you have any plans to retire?

Never. God or ill health may make me retire, but even in a wheelchair I would still tap away at a keyboard. I don’t think I could ever conceive of doing nothing.

Over and Out: My Innings of a Lifetime with Test Match Special by Henry Blofeld is out now (Hodder, £9.99). His one-man show tours until Nov 14
Related Topics

Fame and fortune

Follow Telegraph Money

Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter

Follow on LinkedIn

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dandywarhol

Henry Blofeld, aka Blowers, 79, began writing about cricket for The Times in 1962 and joined the BBC’s Test Match Special cricket commentary team in 1972. In 1991 he was poached by Sky, then returned to the BBC in 1994.

He has also broadcast for many radio and television networks around the world. He announced his retirement as the longest-serving Test Match Special commentator in June last year.

He is moving to Menorca with his wife, Valeria, and has a daughter from his first marriage.
How did your childhood influence your attitude to money?

I had a privileged background. I come from Hoveton, an estate in Norfolk, which was built by my family in 1666. There were Blofelds in the county in the 12th century. I also went to Eton.

My father was land-rich and cash-poor, so we watched the pennies a bit. I reacted against that and it didn’t help that I had a few friends who were better off than I was. I ran before I could walk.

I’ve always been hopeless with money – and too extravagant – but I’m a hard worker. At the moment I’m touring 50 theatres in my one-man show 78 Retired and driving 300 miles a day.
What was your first job and do you remember your first pay cheque?

I worked as a trainee merchant banker at Robert Benson Lonsdale, a company run by my uncle in the City of London. I was paid £360 a year with luncheon vouchers on top at a rate of half a crown a day. I absolutely loathed it, but stuck at it for nearly three years.

The truth is, I’d been sent down from Cambridge in something approaching disgrace and my parents hadn’t a clue what to do with me. When Uncle Mark suggested I start off under his auspices, it must have been a straw they clutched at with both hands.
Henry Blofeld
Henry Blofeld started his career in a merchant bank, but loathed it Credit: Andrew Crowley
Did you show any financial prowess in the City?

Buying and selling shares was the only aspect of the job that held any appeal. My mother’s village hairdresser had heard from a relation working in the Far East that a rubber company was a snip because it was about to be taken over, or so the rumour had it.

When I broke the news in the office it was met with raised eyebrows and sympathetic smiles. I felt I had a point to prove, so I held my breath and bought 200 shares. Over the next few days the price rose and first one colleague, then one or two others, jumped aboard.

The following week the press reported that the company had indeed been taken over. The office had never witnessed such scenes of celebration and I became the office hero. There wasn’t the slightest chance it would last. My subsequent suggestions went unerringly in the opposite direction and my status soon returned to that of an upstart office boy.
How did you get into cricket commentating?

I played first-class cricket and knew the game well. You don’t start broadcasting until you’ve had masses of trials and I had a voice that worked. I was also able to string words together to describe things. I was paid very little for my first commentary in the West Indies in 1971, but I didn’t mind – it was good experience.
How much were you paid on Test Match Special?

Let’s just say it didn’t pay anything like as much as television, and I was never going to get rich on my earnings, but it opened so many doors.
What has been your worst investment?

In the late Seventies I bought a couple of very expensive apartments on Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I held on to them for about 10 years, but the development didn’t turn out to be the luxury resort I had anticipated and I sold them at a fraction of their original price, losing about £100,000.
Has there ever been a time in your life when you worried about how you would pay the bills?

In 1991 Sky asked if I would join their commentary team. They wanted to sign me up for the full season, which would mean leaving Test Match Special, but they offered me a sum I couldn’t refuse – £1,000 a day. My bank manager and I danced around the room. It helped pay some of my debts, but didn’t do much more.

The following winter they decided they would go the way that everyone has gone and use only former Test players as commentators for Test matches. They stopped using me but didn’t tell me their intentions, which left me in limbo for a couple of rather unpleasant years.

By that stage the BBC had taken the view that, by leaving Test Match Special amid such a fanfare and going to the enemy, I was beyond the pale. In 1994 they held their noses and had me back. I’ve never felt happier or more relieved.
What has been your worst business decision?

In the Nineties, Mark Mascarenhas, a television mogul from southern India, offered me a lot of money to do some commentating and help him meet the authorities in the various cricketing countries in a bid to buy their television rights.

Later he pulled the plug, having refused to sign a written contract, and paid only a third of the promised fee. Had I been sensible I would have gone on working for him as a commentator, but I stamped my foot.
Henry Blofeld
In 1991 Sky offered Blofeld £1,000 a day to leave the BBC. ‘I couldn’t refuse’ Credit: AFP
Are you a saver or a spender?

A spender. I don’t know what saving means. I’ve never drunk wine by the glass, I’ve always drunk it by the bottle. I’ve reached the stage in life where I shouldn’t really drink at all. I have appalling indigestion. But I’ll drink anything that’s good. White burgundy is the finest wine in the world, but I love red wine too.

I also collect old cricketing books and first editions. I spent a fortune on American and English first editions of PG Wodehouse, but sold them at Christie’s in the early Nineties after one of my financial setbacks.
Was there an obvious financial turning point in your career?

Yes, last year when I retired from Test Match Special. I had never realised people were so keen to get rid of me. I did a walk around Lord’s in front of 30,000 people. I wrote a book about my career on Test Match Special, which became a bestseller. I did a sell-out theatre tour and now I’m doing another. As I earn more, I spend more, so it doesn’t really amount to anything.
How much property do you own?

I’ve just sold my house in Chelsea and I’m moving to Menorca. I’ve lived in London for 60 years, but it has lost the village atmosphere that it once had. If you live here and don’t use its facilities, which we don’t really, why pay through the nose? Menorca is a lovely country and I have huge numbers of friends there.
Do you have any plans to retire?

Never. God or ill health may make me retire, but even in a wheelchair I would still tap away at a keyboard. I don’t think I could ever conceive of doing nothing.

Over and Out: My Innings of a Lifetime with Test Match Special by Henry Blofeld is out now (Hodder, £9.99). His one-man show tours until Nov 14
Related Topics

Fame and fortune

Follow Telegraph Money

Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter

Follow on LinkedIn

---

That's an interesting read. I like his attitude to life.

An endearing human being. That was enough of a pre-read to make me get the book

Bit of trivia that may be already known. His father was a friend of Ian Fleming hence the name of one of James Bond's villains.

Another privileged descendent of the Norman landgrabbers. I'm surprised he wasn't offered a place in the House of Lords.

I have bought the audio book ,his voice is brillant , so is his love of cricket , the world is made up of all different classes ,I suppose his english gentry persona, is unique and liked around the world .