Alison Mitchell

Alison Mitchell is an award winning broadcaster and journalist and the first woman to commentate regularly on the BBC’s Test Match Special. A trailblazer in her field, she was also the first woman to provide international cricket commentary for ABC Grandstand in Australia.

Mitchell is a respected journalist, adept at handling hard sports news such as corruption in cricket, the sudden death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, and the death of Bob Woolmer at the Cricket World Cup in 2007 when police launched a murder inquiry – a story Mitchell broke on air and had to cover single handedly as the only BBC reporter in Jamaica’s capital at the time.

A perfect speaker at any sport-themed event, Mitchell also inspires audiences of all kinds with her background of breaking into the highly male-dominated world of cricket. She shares her experience of how she established herself, the work required and the insight to break boundaries.

As well as cricket, Mitchell  has commentated on and presented live from Wimbledon, the French Open, Australian Open, The Open golf, international hockey, netball and artistic gymnastics. In 2014, she was voted Sports Broadcaster of the Year by the SJA (Sports Journalists’ Association).

Mitchell was the gymnastics commentator for BBC Radio Five Live at the London 2012 Olympic Games, helping the station to win a Sony Gold Award for its coverage. She was also a reporter for Channel 4’s Bafta Award winning coverage of the Paralympics.

Mitchell represented Northamptonshire and the Midlands at hockey, earned a district vest in athletics and still plays recreational sport, enjoying tennis, cycling and horse riding in particular. She is trained on the classical guitar and loves the great outdoors.

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