Sir Trevor McDonald addressed The Oldie Literary Lunch yesterday about his latest book, On Cricket. Sir Trevor is a huge fan of The Oldie, having attended The Oldie lunch for Queen Camilla’s 75th birthday in 2021 hosted by Gyles Brandreth. Sir Trevor told the Oldie, “If ever on any other Tuesdays of the year you find it terribly difficult to get some guests, you know where I live! So please feel free to invite me again."
The News at Ten legend told the Oldie literary lunch that he would always try to reassure his mother that he was safe in warzones, but he never thought he was very convincing. “I’d tell her, ‘It’s a bit of a holiday really,’ ” he said. Turns out he was a reassuring presence even then. He soon rang her and said he was in Beirut, and her response to this news was: “How could the West Indies do that?” It turned out she was less worried about her son’s proximity to a civil war in Lebanon and more concerned with the Cricket World Cup final loss to India. “To be very honest,” McDonald said, “in Beirut, for once in my life, I couldn’t care less what the West Indies were up to.”
