Mike Selvey rounds on ‘laddish’ presenters

Mike Selvey (pictured), the former England cricketer, has accused the new producer of BBC Radio's Test Match Special of dragging the programme downmarket by introducing new presenters with a more "laddish" mode of commentary. While Selvey, who was recently dropped from TMS after 25 years service, doesn't mention any names, it is thought he is referring to Five Live's Arlo White, Mark Pougatch - a regular on football programmes - and boundary reporter Alison Mitchell.

Says Selvey: "Once upon a time, Test Match Special was part of a great tradition of BBC radio, but they are bringing in commentators with little knowledge of the game, especially of the cadences of Test Match cricket."

Critics say the change in style followed the arrival of TMS's new producer Adam Mountford last year. Although household names such as Henry ‘Blowers’ Blofeld, Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew and Christopher Martin-Jenkins remain, insiders on the programme have expressed their doubts about the new boys, who are said to use football analogies when commentating.

The Daily Telegraph reports one critic saying: "Some of the one-day internationals have been perfectly dreadful, very much B Team. They are coming from the shopfloor of the sports room. We need two or three really top flight commentators, that is all that Test Match Special needs to get by. They have got to be the best."