Rex Alston

Who was Rex Alston?

Arthur Rex Alston was a leading sports commentator for BBC radio on cricket, rugby union, athletics and tennis from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s.

Rex Alston was a considerable sportsman in his own right, obtaining a Cambridge Blue for athletics in 1923, captaining Bedfordshire County Cricket Club in 1932, and playing on the wing for Bedford and Rosslyn Park rugby clubs. He was a pupil at Trent College, Nottingham. He was a schoolmaster at Bedford School from 1924 to 1941, before joining the BBC. He was originally a billeting officer, but it was soon realised that his voice - a clear, light baritone - was too good for him to remain in an administrative role. He remained on the BBC staff until 1961, and continued broadcasting for a few years after that as a free-lance. He wrote on cricket and rugby for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, continuing to report on county cricket for the former until 1987. He also had a column in Playfair Cricket Monthly.

His first major cricket commentary was on the Old Trafford "Victory Test" in 1945, as a deputy for Howard Marshall. He quickly became an ever-present in a Test Match commentary team which included John Arlott and E W Swanton, and also was the producer. He commented on about a hundred Tests in all, many of them after the launch of Test Match Special in 1957 expanded the coverage to include the full day's play rather than only portions of it. His last Test was in 1964.