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 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. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... A cricket match in progress. ... A commentator is an individual who discusses social, political or cultural issues or events, typically in a public context; synonyms include pundit. ... A journalist is a person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Note: broadcasting is also the old term for hand sowing. ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ... Test Match Special (known as TMS) is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (long Wave). ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ...

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. Forest Hill is the name of several neighbourhoods: Forest Hill, London in London, England Forest Hill, Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Forest Hill, San Francisco in San Francisco, California, United States Forest Hill, Newark, New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, United States It is also the name of a number... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,421,328 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... A stock broker or stockbroker or stock brokerage is someone or a firm who performs transactions in financial instruments on a stock market as an agent of his/her/its clients who are unable or unwilling to trade for themselves. ... William Gilbert Grace (July 18, 1848–October 23, 1915) was an English cricketer who, by his extraordinary skills, made cricket perhaps the first modern spectator sport, and who developed most of the techniques of modern batting. ... Cranleigh has long been associated with the unprovable title of Englands largest village: this settlement is part of the Waverley district of Surrey, and was until late Victorian times Cranley. The name is popularly believed to come from the large cranes breeding ground there; hence the crane on... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,421,328 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo station The Evening Standard is a newspaper published in London. ... In the UK, County cricket is the domestic form of the sport of cricket that is considered to be first-class cricket. ... Middlesex County Cricket Club is a first-class cricket club in England, named after the historic county of Middlesex which their home ground, Lords Cricket Ground in London, is located. ... In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. ... First-class cricket matches are those of at least three days length in which both teams have two innings each, and which involve either international teams or the highest division of domestic competition. ... An innings, or inning, is a segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably baseball and cricket – during which a side takes its turn to bat. ...

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 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. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... The Cricketer was an English cricket magazine founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, the ex-England captain turned cricket writer. ... Sir Neville Cardus (2 April 1889 - 27 February 1975) was a music and cricket writer for the Manchester Guardian. ... Leslie Thomas John Arlott (February 25, 1914 - December 14, 1991) (known as John Arlott) was a British sports commentator for Test Match Special. ...

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. The Wisden Cricketers of the Century are five cricketers who were judged to be the most prominant players of the 20th century, as selected by a 100-member panel of cricket experts appointed by Wisden in 2000. ... Location within the British Isles St Peters St, Canterbury, from the West Gate, 1993 Canterbury is a cathedral city in the county of Kent in southeast England. ...

External link

• Cricket pundit Swanton dies (BBC News, 22 January 2000)
• Player profile from Cricinfo