This emotional letter written to TMS proves cricket is more than a game
A letter read out by cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew detailing the life and death of a reader's father has had people reaching for the tissues.
Listener Patrick Taylor emailed Test Match Special telling them about his dad John who, "unlike the current England batting line-up, dug in and battled doggedly to reach 83" when he then "left the field of play".
What followed was a letter like no other, smartly chronicling John's life and its struggles as he grew older and with TMS an important thread through the years.
It's more than just a game. Thank you Patrick.
Listen to the emotional message that has everyone sharing their own stories. #bbccricketpic.twitter.com/ZXY2wxQPUu
-- Test Match Special (@bbctms) August 20, 2018
It prompted the TMS team to share the clip online, with commentary box footage, and captions "It's more than just a game" and "Sometimes we get messages that are more important than anything that happens out in the middle".
Patrick's letter bowled fans over with cricketing analogies about his father's life, explaining how his dad had built gradually to his 50s before there was some "unexpected cloud cover" just as he was about to enter retirement.
John, a pharmacist and father of two, had been dealt "a beamer in the form of leukaemia, the yorker of muscular dystrophy, the googly of Parkinson's, the reverse swing of diabetes, and latterly was struck down by the vicious bouncer of dementia".
Despite the bad hand, the Yorkshireman "squeezed every last drop out of life", his son wrote.
And it was TMS which gave Patrick one final moment with his dad.
Although doctors said John might not regain consciousness after a bad chest infection had seen him rushed to hospital on August 9, when Patrick turned on TMS he woke up.
It afforded Patrick the opportunity to tell his dad he was loved and a "wonderful father" and share a proper goodbye.
After some 15 minutes, the instruction was to "listen to the cricket" with Chris Woakes making his maiden Test century at Lord's.
John Taylor died just after England secured victory at the home of cricket last Sunday.
The considered letter generated a mass of praise for Patrick and the wider TMS family, with others sharing how the show has been a source of comfort for them too.
In so many times of sadness you have been there for my family. I lost my grandfather over 20 years ago but we still listen together. Him in his old green chair 'I'm not sleeping Joanne, just looking ath eyelids'
-- Joanne Vickers (@joannevickers) August 20, 2018
Difficult to explain to non-cricket lovers just what a gift and pillar of cricket TMS is. Culturally part of crickets make-up will continue to be for generations ? #TMS#MoreThanAGamehttps://t.co/WKfQESIHCc
-- Richard Wilson (@Richwilson1991) August 21, 2018
As often happens after long partnerships my Grandparents lost their wickets close together. TMS was a sound of our summers together & it was my Grandad who showed me the art of watching the TV with the sound down and the radio on. TMS is more than a radio programme about Cricket
-- Matt Warmington (@matt_warmington) August 20, 2018
What touches me most is the image of a peaceful, beautiful death at the end of a life well lived. It was a 6 Nations Saturday (Sco v Ita) when my Dad died. Had it been a Test Match day, @bbctms would undoubtedly have seen him through to the great Pavilion in the sky. https://t.co/Czy71JcKI8
-- Eleanor Oldroyd (@EllyOldroyd) August 20, 2018
The reading, during England's Test against India at Trent Bridge, had other listeners reaching for the tissues and praising Aggers for keeping his cool with the delivery.
I'm a little weepy at this. I wish Patrick the peace his father has found but more life in which to live it.
-- Richard Lyle A100394 (@RichHL) August 20, 2018
So moving, it's more than just a game and it's more than just a radio programme. Thank you Patrick for sharing a piece of your life with us.
-- jill taylor garner (@jilltaylorgarn2) August 20, 2018
Shows the great professionalism of @Aggerscricket being able to control himself while reading that. I found it hard to listen to never mind read it out live on air. Brilliantly done. ????
-- Daz (@DazzaG0412) August 21, 2018
Agnew later posted on Twitter that he delivered it "blind", meaning he hadn't read the whole thing before he read it out.
I don't know Patrick. But I'm thinking of him and his family this evening. Good job I read this 'blind'. Wouldn't have got through it otherwise https://t.co/CXz6hLLZFQ
-- Jonathan Agnew (@Aggerscricket) August 21, 2018
Here's Patrick's letter in full.
Here is that incredibly moving email in full that Patrick Taylor sent to the programme. #bbccricketpic.twitter.com/2fj0KvF8SS
-- Adam Mountford (@tmsproducer) August 20, 2018
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