Neil Durden-Smith OBE (born 18 August 1933) is an English former sports commentator. He was previously a naval officer and played a small number of first-class cricket matches.
 Durden-Smith (left) with Lord Cobham in 1958 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 18 August 1933 Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||
| Relations | Judith Chalmers (m. 1964) Mark Durden-Smith (son) | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: Cricket Archive, 27 November 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Life and career
editDurden-Smith was educated at Aldenham School and the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon. His service as an officer in the Royal Navy from 1952 to 1963 included a period as aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Cobham, from 1957 to 1959.[1] He worked as a radio and television sports commentator and producer in England from the 1960s to the 1990s, often covering hockey.
He played four matches of first-class cricket in the 1960s. His highest scores were 33 and 50 in his first match, for Combined Services against Nottinghamshire in 1961.[2]
Durden-Smith was awarded the OBE in 1997.[3] He has been married to Judith Chalmers, a television presenter, since 1964. They have a son Mark, who is also a television presenter, and a daughter.