Watch Bumble on LancsTV this summer!


Watch Bumble on LancsTV this summer!

Were you afraid to miss the incomparable voice of David “Bumble” Lloyd on your screens this summer? Fear not, Lancashire has you covered.

The Red Rose legend, an iconic figure in English cricket coverage for the past 22 years before his departure from Sky Sports this winter, has signed up to work on the popular county live stream service throughout 2022.

“It’s flexible, but it’s exciting for me. I’m really looking forward to it,” said the former Test striker and coach, explaining his summer schedule at Emirates Old Trafford.

“I know some people and have a lot of respect for the locals, my wife Diana works here, it’s really a beautiful scene for me. It feels like coming home.”

Lloyd – no, let’s stick with Bumble – has signed up to cover all of Vitality Blast’s non-televised home games from next month, while also doing the occasional day of LV=Insurance County Championship cricket.

The first of these was on the opening day of the victory over Gloucestershire last Thursday, when around 100,000 people tuned in to the 10-camera coverage directed by BBC Radio’s Scott Read and exploited by local Badger and Combes digital media.

That 100,000 was an increase from the regular daily average.

“Coming home on day one was important to me, and it was great,” Bumble said.

“Make no mistake about it, with county cricket there is a strong awareness of sleep. People have always loved it, but they can’t access games all the time for obvious reasons like work.

“Streaming helps these people, and that’s great.”

Bumble is a self-proclaimed “County Cricket Champion”.

“I was watching a boy on Thursday, George Balderson, for example. County cricket makes him a cricketer,” he said.

He is also a champion of Lancashire’s chances of becoming Premier League champions.

“I think they have a very strong team,” he said.

“Inevitably they will lose players to international cricket. But the strength is there.

“Look at the team against Gloucester. Tom Bailey wasn’t playing, Livingstone, Jennings, Wood too.

“They have ready-made players who will come into the team and do a good job when they need them. Rob Jones is another.

“I think they also signed smartly. Phil Salt took the place of Alex Davies.

“At this stage every team is like, ‘We’re going to get into it’. But it’s the depth you have to look at when they lose players. In particular, you need a good battery of bowlers Rapids Throws has both depth and bowlers.

Bumble will combine his work with Lancashire with that of a columnist for the Daily Mail, while you’ll likely hear him discuss big cricket issues on TalkSport Radio from time to time.

“I also have a tractor that needs to be repaired. The clutch went wild!” he says, as the wicked humor that has seen him entertain millions for years shines brighter than ever.

“We now live in North Yorkshire, in a fairly rural area, and I am a York City season ticket holder, Diana’s team. I also watch (Accrington) Stanley as much as I can.

If Bumble can get his tractor repaired, he could well start purring like Lancashire are doing at the start of the season thanks to an unbeaten start to the Championship.

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