Ted Lowe

Ted Lowe (born 1 November, 1920) is a retired BBC snooker commentator. His hushed tones led to him being dubbed 'Whispering Ted Lowe', and he was instrumental in the game's rise in popularity in the 1980s. He was the commentator for the popular show "Pot Black" from 1969 onwards. He went on to become the "voice of snooker" and led commentary in many tournaments. He also commentated in what is widely regarded as snooker's greatest ever final between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor in 1985.

Lowe had the occasional on-air gaffe, similar to motor racing commentator Murray Walker; Lowe's most famous quote was, "for those viewers watching in black and white, the pink ball is just behind the green" and he once told viewers that Fred Davis, struggling to rest one leg on the edge of the table in order to reach a long shot, "is getting on a bit and is having trouble getting his leg over".citequote According to Dennis Taylor years later, Fred Davis changed his cueing hand rather than use the rest to reach the ball in question, to which Ted Lowe then whispered: "so he's going to use his left hand instead", which makes the commentary much funnier and inadvertently ruder, but I only have Dennis Taylor's word for it.

Lowe retired after the 1996 World Snooker final after 50 years, although he briefly joined in the commentary for the 2005 World Championship final between Matthew Stevens and Shaun Murphy.