Jack Bannister

John David Bannister (23 August 1930 – 23 January 2016) was an English cricket commentator and former first-class cricketer who played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. He was, for many years, a BBC television cricket commentator and later the Talksport radio cricket correspondent.

For the footballer, see Jack Bannister (footballer).

Jack Bannister
Personal information
Full nameJohn David Bannister
Born(1930-08-23)23 August 1930
Wolverhampton, England
Died23 January 2016(2016-01-23) (aged 85)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1950–1969Warwickshire
FA debut26 August 1950 Warwickshire v Glamorgan
Last FA31 August 1968 Warwickshire v Leicestershire
LA debut22 May 1963 Warwickshire v Northants
Last LA6 July 1969 Warwickshire v Surrey
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 374 20
Runs scored 3,142 12
Batting average 9.43 4.00
100s/50s 0/4 0/0
Top score 71 4
Balls bowled 68,633 1,148
Wickets 1,198 25
Bowling average 21.91 22.44
5 wickets in innings 53 0
10 wickets in match 6 0
Best bowling 10/41 3/14
Catches/stumpings 167 3/0
Source: CricketArchive, 4 October 2012

Early life

Bannister was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England and went to King Edward VI Five Ways school in Birmingham.[1]

Playing career

He played professionally on the county scene for Warwickshire as a fast-medium bowler, taking 1198 first-class wickets in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1969.[2] Against the Combined Services cricket team for Warwickshire at the Mitchells and Butlers ground in Birmingham, Bannister took all 10 Services wickets in an innings for 41 runs.[3] These remain the best bowling figures in an innings for Warwickshire.[4]

After cricket

Together with Fred Rumsey he was instrumental in setting up the Professional Cricketers' Association in 1967 which he served in various capacities for 20 years,[1] notably in helping setup up the Professional Cricketer's Pension Scheme.[5] Bannister worked as a bookmaker in Wolverhampton, which was taken over by his daughter as his media career took off.[6]

Media career

He was a familiar voice on BBC TV's cricket coverage from 1984 through to 1994 firstly as a summariser then moving on to commentating in 1988. David Gower joined the team in 1994 and eventually replaced Bannister the following summer, but Bannister continued to commentate on Natwest Trophy and Sunday League games until 1999, and had a full role at the BBC's coverage of the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

In later life, he provided commentary on and summaries of England international cricket matches on talkSPORT.

During the 1995 South Africa vs England test match series in South Africa, he promised he would eat a newspaper if South Africa won.[7] He eventually did, when South Africa won.

For many years he wrote the highly regarded cricket column in the Birmingham Post.

References
  1. Frith, David (24 January 2016). "Jack Bannister obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  2. "Jack Bannister". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  3. "Scorecard: Warwickshire v Combined Services". www.cricketarchive.com. 27 May 1959. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  4. "Most Wickets in an Innings for Warwickshire". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  5. "The PCA - A history". PCA / YouTube. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  6. "Jack Bannister: Former BBC cricket commentator dies". BBC Sport. 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  7. Charles Nevin (21 March 2013). Jack: Stories of Britain’s Favourite Name. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78057-810-1.
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