A fascinating account of how two BBC broadcasters battled for the soul of English cricket during a time of great social change

For more than a quarter of a century after the Second World War, two of the instantly recognisable English voices were commentators on games of cricket. BBC broadcasters John Arlott (1914-1991) and E.W. ('Jim') Swanton (1906-2000) were for many years the dominant voices of English cricket. For any cricket follower in his fifties or older, just the mention of their names immediately evokes a flood of memories.

Swanton was born into a middle-class family and privately educated; Arlott was the son of a working-class council employee. Because of their strong personalities and distinctive voices – Swanton's, crisp and authoritative, and Arlott's with its unique Hampshire burr – each had a loyal following in the post-war years, when England's class system had a slot for almost everyone.

As the BBC tightened its grip on the national consciousness, their voices revealed mannerisms and prejudices which transformed the broadcasting of the nation's summer game into a national institution. Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket is a detailed account of how these two very different men, who seldom warmed to each other, reported on – and sought to influence – a game that was changing as society at large was also changing.