STONES AND GLASSHOUSES.

Former England cricketer Mike Selvey isn`t happy. Not only has he been dropped from the BBC Test Match Special Team after 24 years but he is also unimpressed with those who have been chosen to take his place. You see, Selvey believes that cricket commentary and summarising can only really be done by those who have played the game at the highest level .

Now, I have some sympathy with Selvey about his unwelcome departure, for he was always worth listening to. He knew his stuff and I enjoyed his punditry, which was delivered with a pleasant sounding kind of suburban semi-drone. The recent recruits to the TMS team which have attracted his bouncer include Arlo White and Mark Pougatch, both of whom are career BBC radio journalists. Selvey`s complaint is that neither have any experience of playing first class cricket and so their introduction amounts to a dumbing down of a unique institution. Yesterday he launched a waspish attack on the programme saying many of those now on air had "little knowledge of the game". Ouch!

I have a lot of time for Jonathan Agnew and Vic Marks, both ex-professional cricketers turned commentators which would make them immune to Selvey`s criticism. As to others in the TMS team, both past and present, I confess to a serious dislike of the patronising Henry Blofeld (`No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!`) and I`m not too sure about the patrician Christopher Martin-Jenkins. Neither of these two TMS stalwarts has ever played first class cricket but then neither did two others from days gone by who were arguably the most knowledgeable, accurate and entertaining of all.

Brian (`Johners`) Johnston was a broadcaster of huge experience and sharp wit, who seemed able to combine his deep love of cricket with a delivery which made you think you were listening to a much loved uncle telling you a story to while away the summer afternoons.

And then there was the incomparable John Arlott, he of Basingstoke and Alresford, whose poetic background made him `the voice of summer` for so many years. He painted verbal pictures, such as describing the Pakistan fast bowler, Asif Masood`s awkward, gangling run-up as `Groucho Marx chasing a pretty waitress.` Not the kind of insightful gem I can ever imagine coming from Mike Selvey, however well he may have played the game.