Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club are saddened to hear of the passing of Colin Slater at the age of 87.
Whilst best known as the voice of Notts County during half a century with BBC Radio Nottingham, Slater also provided local radio reports on the nation’s summer sport, and was a firm fixture at the sporting cathedrals on both sides of the Trent.
He held a number of roles at Trent Bridge, leading the venue’s marketing department from 1988 to 1996, acting as PA announcer and frequently performing master of ceremonies duties for club functions – the fees for which he frequently donated to the Church of England or the Trent Bridge Community Trust.
Slater was also a founding member of the East Midlands branch of the Lord’s Taverners charity, which works to empower disabled and disadvantaged young people through the power of sport, and was awarded an MBE in 2001 for services to local radio and the community.
His introduction to Nottinghamshire came as a correspondent on the Nottingham Evening News, before continuing with the Nottingham Evening Post. Slater also spent 27 years as a magistrate, ascending to the role of chairman of the bench.
Our thoughts are with his friends, family, and all who enjoyed his work as a totemic figure of the county’s sporting scene.
Slater shared his memories of Nottinghamshire cricket, his love of Trent Bridge and his call for James Taylor to receive a Test recall – four months before it occurred – with our Ashes blog on day one of the 2015 Test.