On Saturday 17 January the BBC World Service launched Stumped, a
new programme dedicated to exploring the global world of cricket. The
programme brings together three of the hubs of world cricket - the UK,
India and Australia - in a programme made by the BBC in co-operation
with All India Radio and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC).
The Stumped team will be made up of presenters from all three
broadcasters who will drive lively, informative, irreverent and
humorous debate. Alison Mitchell - the BBC's first female cricket
commentator - will host, assisted by the voice of cricket on ABC, Jim
Maxwell, and the lead cricket commentator for All India Radio in
English, Prakash Wakankar.
The first series will coincide with the start of the 2015 World Cup
and aims to entertain and inform cricket and non-cricket fans alike.
Each week, the programme will examine key talking points as well as
look at some of the lighter stories in sport from around the world
while on location in World Cup host countries Australia and New
Zealand.
Renowned cricketing raconteur Henry Blofeld will also appear each week
with his 'tales from the test'. With almost 40 years of cricket
travels behind him, Henry has stories to tell from right around the
cricket world.
Hard-hitting questions on Stumped will include,
Why did penguins once stop play?
Why do so many cricket terms find their way into everyday language?
And which international team score highest in the fashion stakes?
Steve Titherington, Senior Commissioning Editor for BBC World Service,
says: "Cricket is a game with huge international appeal, but is
understood fully only by some. It's a game where the heroes can be as
popular as pop stars and the facts and figures studied as much as
mathematical equations. Most of all it's a game which has attracted
some of the best conversation and the best writing around the world.
Stumped will concentrate this heritage into a programme that will
delight the hardcore fans in any continent while appealing to the rest
of us."
Listeners can tune in to Stumped weekly. The first edition airs
Saturday 17 January from 0030 GMT around the world on the BBC World
Service; in India at 1130 IST on All India Radio; and on Sunday 18
January in Australia at 1130 EST on ABC News Radio and ABC's
Grandstand DAB Sport network. It will be available as a listen again
at
bbcworldservice.com and with extra content as a BBC podcast.
(BBC Press Release)