OTD in early British television: 19 August 1939
John Wyver writes: On Saturday 19 August 1939, two weeks and a day before the declaration of war, one of the BBC’s OB units was at the Oval for the first day’s play (of just three) in the final Test match between England and the West Indies. Transmissions started with an establishing shot of the iconic gasometers at 11.30am. An hour of play was shown then, followed by a further hour at 2.30pm, and then 35 minutes running up to tea at 4.30pm. The final session ran from 5.30 to stumps an hour later.
Aidan Crawley was the main commentator, helped out at times by Howard Marshall and the legendary E.W. Swanton. England had won the first Test at Lord’s in late June and the second, held at Old Trafford in mid-July, was drawn. Wikipedia summarises the first day’s play, after England won the toss:
Debutant [Tyrell] Johnson took the wicket of Walter Keeton with his first delivery in Test cricket, but Norman Oldfield made 80 on his first appearance for England, and with [Len] Hutton making 73 and [Joe] Hardstaff 94, England were all out for 352 before the end of the first day.
The great Learie Constantine, who would be knighted in 1962 and become the first Black peer in 1969, took 5 England wickets for a tidy 75 runs in just 17.3 overs. In response, on the second day and the morning of the third, West Indies posted an impressive 498, aided by a very fine 137 from Bam Bam Weekes.
To see out the draw on the remainder of the third day Len Hutton scored 165 not out, partnering Wally Hammond who was eventually skittled out by Bertie Clarke for 138. With the match drawn, England won the series 1-0. Both the second and third days were also partly televised.
Both of the 1938 Tests against the Australians at Lord’s and the Oval had been televised, but it was generally agreed that coverage in 1939 was considerably more effective. The cameras were installed in the grounds in what one report described as ‘more effective positions’, a more reliable cable connection to AP was employed rather than the radio link previously, and a higher ‘facility fee’ of £52 (not a payment for rights) was agreed.
With the coverage of the 1939 matches, television went a long way towards establishing its close relationship with the nation’s favourite summer spectator sport. As one observer commented in The Times about the Lord’s Test, ‘It is a happy thing to be at one with the Test crowd in your own home, and to see the batsman sending the ball to the boundary and to hear the roar of the crowd. The transmissions were indeed excellent, and at times the viewer must have felt himself almost on the pitch.’
Image: BBC OB camera at The Oval in August 1938 for the final Test match against the Australians.
[OTD post no. 245; part of a long-running series leading up to the publication on 8 January 2026 of my book Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, which can now be pre-ordered from Bloomsbury here.]
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