E. W. Swanton

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Ernest William (Jim) Swanton CBE (11 February 1907 – 22 January 2000) is chiefly known for being a cricket writer and commentator under his initials, E. W. Swanton. He worked as a sports journalist for The Daily Telegraph newspaper and as a broadcaster for BBC Radio for 30 years. He was a regular commentator on Test Match Special, easily recognised by his distinctive "fruity" voice. After "retiring" in the 1970s, he continued to write occasional articles and columns, virtually until his death.

Swanton was born in Forest Hill, London. His father was a stockbroker. He claimed to have attended a cricket match at which W. G. Grace scored a century while a baby in his pram. He attended Cranleigh School, and became a journalist. He started as Amalgamated Press, but began to write for the London Evening Standard newspaper at the age of 27. He also played three county cricket matches for Middlesex County Cricket Club in 1937 and 1938, all against university sides. He did not distinguish himself, scoring only 67 runs in 5 first-class innings.

He served in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry in the Second World War. He was captured by the Japanese in the fall of Singapore, and spent 3 years as a prisoner of war. After the war, he became cricket correspondent for The Daily Telegraph in 1946, remaining in that post until 1975. He was also editorial director of The Cricketer from 1967 to 1988. His writing style was very spare and simply, simply reporting what happened and why, without the flourishes of Neville Cardus or John Arlott.

He was awarded the OBE in 1965 and the CBE in 1994. He made his selections for as one of the voters for the Wisden Cricketers of the Century in 2000, shortly before he died in Canterbury.