Charles Fortune

He died in Johannesburg in November 1994, survived by his wife Daphne (nee Walford) and their daughter.

Tony Lewis said of sharing a commentary box with Fortune on a visit to South Africa in 1987, "he let the odd ball pass by without mention, but there were three winners – the game of cricket, which he never compromised, the English language, which he adorned, and me, lucky to share a workplace with an educated mind and a master of words".

Fortune was secretary of the South African Cricket Association (later the South African Cricket Union) for 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s.

McGilvray said Fortune's "patriotism and pride knew no bounds", and describes his excitement in the commentary box as the South Africans approached victory in the Fifth Test in 1966–67 and their first-ever series victory against Australia: "he burst into uncontrolled sobbing ... His body was shaking, as if in some sort of patriotic spasm." Eventually he was able to gather himself and broadcast the moment of victory.

Speaking at a dinner held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the South African tour of Australia in 1963–64, he explained why he mentioned seagulls and other extraneous matters while commentating. "Others could give a minute-by-minute score, he said, but he felt that it was up to him to try to tempt housewives to listen to cricket so that they could pass on their enthusiasm to their sons."

Fortune was the first person in the media to measure a batsman's progress in terms of balls faced rather than minutes at the crease. He and his scorer, John Landau, instituted this method when he broadcast the Tests during the 1956–57 England tour of South Africa. It is now standard practice.

Born in Lacock, Wiltshire, Fortune gained a BSc at University College London and taught at Rutlish School in London before emigrating to South Africa in 1935, where he taught science for many years at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He took up radio broadcasting in the late 1930s and continued until a stroke forced him to give up in the late 1980s.

Charles Arthur Frederick Fortune (31 December 1904 – 22 November 1994) was a South African sport broadcaster and writer, especially noted for his cricket commentaries on radio.