This Is Your Life: Colin Milburn

Colin MILBURN (1941-1990)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Colin Milburn, cricketer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews during a meeting at his adviser's office in central London.

Colin, who was born in Burnopfield, County Durham, showed an exceptional talent for cricket from an early age. He was selected to play for Durham against the visiting Indian national team while still a schoolboy and scored a dynamic century, which brought him to the attention of the first-class counties. In 1960, he signed for Northamptonshire CCC, where he made a name for himself with his forceful strokeplay, backed up by a larger-than-life personality.

He played in nine Test matches for England between 1966 and 1969 while spending time in Australia playing for the Western Australia team. In May 1969, he was involved in a car accident which cost him the sight of his left eye and prompted his retirement from playing.

"Dear oh dear - you never told me! Dear oh dear - what a performance!"

programme details...

Edition No: 276
Subject No: 278
Broadcast date: Wed 8 Apr 1970
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 7 Apr 1970
Venue: Euston Road Studios
Series: 10
Edition: 20

on the guest list...

Denis Compton
Jack - father
Bertha - mother
Linda Thorson
Lesley Woolley
Bill Brown
Thomas Henderson
Bill Coverdale
Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie
Barry Smith
Malcolm Scott
Fred Trueman
Samantha Jones
Ray Lindwall

production team...

Researchers: Jack Crawshaw, John Stapleton
Writers: Jack Crawshaw, John Stapleton
Director: Margery Baker
Producer: Robert Tyrrell

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Life Before Wicket

bowling up the cricketers

Fred Trueman

Screenshots of Colin Milburn This Is Your Life

Mark Peel recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, Cricketing Falstaff...

Further kudos came his way when he was the subject of Eamonn Andrews' popular programme This Is Your Life during a meeting in his adviser's London office.

He was in London discussing his future in the game with his friend Denis Compton when Andrews caught up with him.

Andrews had managed to impose on Jack and Bertha a sworn secrecy about the programme, so effective that people in Burnopfield were subsequently offended that they hadn't been let into it and Jack fell out with his brother over the affair. In the lead-up to the live recording which went out at prime time on ITV, Bertha, uneasy with all the fuss, but not wanting to let Colin down, allowed her anxieties to get the better of her. She lost a stone in weight and was unable to sleep the night before the programme. In the event she need not have worried. The show went off without a hitch and her own composure in front of the cameras won commendation from Andrews afterwards.

In a programme barely half an hour in length it was impossible to do full justice to Milburn's sporting prowess, but the appearance of cricketers such as Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, Fred Trueman and Ray Lindwall, specially flown over from Australia for the occasion, blended easily with stars from show business such as Linda Thorsen of The Avengers to provide ample testimony to Milburn's celebrity status as a cricketing Pavarotti.

Open Writing website 28 September 2011

A Geordie All-Rounder: 42 - The Burnopfield Basher

All-round sportsman Malcolm Scott tells of his final season playing county cricket.

Over and above Colin Milburn's cricket success in Australia, 1969 was a tragic year for my mate from Burnopfield. Just before midnight on the 23rd May at Moulton in Northamptonshire four vehicles lay in ruins.

Unfortunately so did Colin's cricket career. The same day we had achieved one of the highlights of the season by beating the West Indian touring side by 65 runs. Due to play Surrey the next day we were all shocked to hear Colin had been injured. Later we learnt he had lost an eye in the crash. The Burnopfield basher made a brave comeback but unfortunately was never the same again.

About six months later Barry Smith (a friend of Colin) and I were contacted by a member of the BBC, who asked if we would, amongst others, appear on the Eamonn Andrews popular TV show This Is Your Life, the celebrity being Colin Milburn. We readily agreed and were told it would take two evenings, with a rehearsal run through the day before the show.

As it happened, we had already planned a few days holiday in the north east before this came up. So Colin, Barry, Mary and myself spent time together both in Shields and in Burnopfield. Colin of course had no idea about the forthcoming show and after a few 'bevvies' we were all on edge in case we gave the game away. Somehow we managed to keep the secret and finally said cheerio, with Mary, who had just passed her driving test, driving me back to Shields.

The next week's rehearsals was chaos, with people forgetting their lines, myself included. The Milburn's family milkman was there and when he approached Eamonn Andrews, he just froze. When he finally did speak up nobody could understand a word he was saying because of his broad Geordie accent. At that point I didn't think there would be a show.

On the 'night' things improved, although behind the curtain, watching the proceedings on TV waiting for our turn to go on, the nerves were stretched. Colin was shocked, but the secret had been kept. He put on a great performance and Eamonn Andrews seemed please with the proceedings.

Personally I had mixed feelings about how Colin would cope with the evening. Normally, he would have enjoyed the event, but knowing him so well, I was aware he was silently suffering from the loss of his left eye. At the end of a successful evening Colin went off with his parents to some after-show celebrations.

There were a lot of well know people at the show such as famous cricketers Denis Compton, Fred Trueman and Australian Ray Lindwall. I have no idea how it happened but later in the evening I found myself in a nightclub sitting alongside Fred and Ray, two of the best fast bowlers the world has ever known. It was a memorable night.

Series 10 subjects