Editing Test Match Special (section)

==History==
[[BBC Radio]] was the first broadcaster to cover every ball of a Test match.{{cn|date=October 2023}} Live cricket had been broadcast since 1927, but originally it was thought that Test match cricket was too slow for ball-by-ball commentary to work. However, [[Seymour de Lotbiniere]], who was responsible for live sports coverage and who went on to become head of [[Outside broadcasting|outside broadcasts]] at the BBC, realised that ball-by-ball commentary could make compelling radio. In the mid-1930s he got [[Howard Marshall (broadcaster)|Howard Marshall]] to begin commentating on cricket, rather than only giving reports. From the mid-1930s to the 1950s the amount of ball-by-ball commentary gradually increased, but it was not until ''TMS'' was launched in 1957 that every ball was covered for their British audience.<ref>However, according to [[EW Swanton]] full ball-by-ball coverage was first tried experimentally in 1939, with himself, Howard Marshall and [[Michael Standing (broadcaster)|Michael Standing]] as the commentators, but the full coverage only went to the West Indies.  EW Swanton, ''Sort of a Cricket Person'', Collins, 1972, p281 of the 1974 Sportsman's Book Club edition. Similarly, in 1948 the BBC provided full ball-by-ball coverage for Australia.</ref>

[[Robert Hudson (broadcaster)|Robert Hudson]] was responsible for the launch of ''TMS'', writing to his Outside Broadcasts boss [[Charles Max-Muller]] in 1956, proposing broadcasting full ball-by-ball coverage of Tests rather than only covering fixed periods, and suggesting using the [[BBC Third Programme]] (later to become [[BBC Radio 3]]) frequencies, since at that time the Third Programme only broadcast in the evening.{{sfnp|Martin-Jenkins|1990|p=91}}

''TMS'' became a fixture on Radio 3's [[medium wave]] frequencies until Radio 3 lost them in February 1992. The programme moved to Radio 3 FM that summer and the following summer the morning session was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 5 (former)|Radio 5]], switching to Radio 3 for the afternoon session. The launch of [[BBC Radio 5 Live|Radio 5 Live]] in 1994 saw ''TMS'' move to Radio 4 long wave (198 LW, plus various localised MW frequencies including 720 MW in London and 603 MW in the north east). However, coverage on long wave ended at the conclusion of the 2023 season. 

2002 saw the launch of [[BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra|Radio 5 Sports Extra]] (then known as BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra), and [[Digital radio in the United Kingdom|Digital radio]] was seen as the solution for "where to put" ''TMS'', and as a way for cricket fans to avoid broadcasts of the [[Shipping Forecast]], ''[[The Daily Service]]'' and ''[[Today in Parliament|Yesterday in Parliament]]'' which would otherwise interrupt the cricket on long wave. 

From 1973 to 2007, ''Test Match Special'' was produced by [[Peter Baxter (radio producer)|Peter Baxter]]. Halfway through 2007, Baxter retired and was replaced by [[Adam Mountford]], previously the Five Live cricket producer. Mountford was aged just one when Peter Baxter became involved with ''TMS''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2007/06/new_man_at_the_helm.shtml|title=BBC {{!}} Radio Five Live Sports Extra {{!}} Test Match Special blog|date=2007-07-01|access-date=2019-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701201159/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2007/06/new_man_at_the_helm.shtml|archive-date=1 July 2007}}</ref>

Full commentaries are now available for thirty days on [[BBC Sounds]], and since late-2015 a "live-rewind" feature has been available.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Format changes include the addition of daily live weather forecasts and reports on the domestic county championship for home series, plus an end of day summary with [[Jonathan Agnew]] and [[Geoffrey Boycott]]. After Boycott left ''Test Match Special'' in 2020, Agnew now conducts the end of day summary alongside [[Michael Vaughan]]. 

[[Calypso music|Calypso]]-tinged [[theme music]] from the track "[[Soul Limbo]]" by the American [[Soul music|soul]] band [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]] is played at the beginning and end of ''TMS'' coverage each day. <ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-04-19|title=Cellist wins Test Match Special acclaim with four-part rendition of famous theme|url=http://www.irishnews.com/magazine/daily/2020/04/19/news/cellist-wins-test-match-special-acclaim-with-four-part-rendition-of-famous-theme-1908261/|access-date=2020-07-16|website=The Irish News|language=en}}</ref>

In December 2008 the BBC won the UK radio rights up to 2013.<ref>http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/media-releases/bbc-sport-gain-radio-rights,303608,EN.html ECB media release regarding 2010 – 2013 UK radio rights</ref>  On 26 January 2012 the ECB announced a further six-year deal covering home Tests until the 2019 Ashes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/16737334|title=BBC Sport and ECB agree six-year live radio deal|date=2012-01-26|access-date=2020-01-15|language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2017 the ECB agreed a new deal with the BBC to cover England cricket on radio from 2020 to 2024 alongside the new rights for BBC TV coverage of live Twenty20 Cricket and Test match and ODI International highlights.

In September 2021, Melissa Story became the youngest ever commentator on ''TMS'', an accolade previously held by Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

The BBC also covers winter series but has lost certain rights to [[Talksport|talkSPORT]] over the years as broadcasting rights for tours are controlled by the host country and it is not uncommon for there to be disputes. In 2001, Agnew was forced to broadcast by mobile phone from the ramparts of [[Galle Fort]], overlooking the Sri Lankan ground, when the BBC were locked out.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1323898/Test-match-lock-out-fails-to-stump-BBC.html|title=Test match lock-out fails to stump BBC|last=Leonard|first=Tom|journal=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 February 2001|access-date=15 January 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

On 31 July 2023, TMS aired its final broadcast on BBC Radio 4 LW ahead of the planned closure of Radio 4's long wave transmissions sometime in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2023/bbc-radio-4-long-wave-transition|title=BBC Radio 4 begins information campaign to transition listeners from Long Wave|journal=BBC|date=29 May 2023|access-date=3 August 2023|language=en-GB}}</ref>