Sir Michael Parkinson reminisces about meeting his wife on a bus in Yorkshire in 1959 and discusses new book inspired by revisiting Barnsley Cricket Club

In May The Telegraph arranged for Parkinson, now 87, to meet with former England cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott and international umpire Dickie Bird at Barnsley Cricket Club to reminisce about their time playing together – the first time in around 60 years they had all been together at the ground on Shaw Lane.

As young men, the three miners’ sons were stalwarts of the 1st XI in the 1950s. At the time, county player Bird and Parkinson, who was working as a local newspaper reporter, initially kept Boycott, the youngest of the trio, out of the team and were playing when he made his debut.

Parkinson, who had Yorkshire County Cricket Club trials in his day, has now revealed to The Telegraph in a follow-up interview that the encounter last spring inspired him to write his latest book, My Sporting Life. The title will be his ninth published work and covers the modern sporting landscape and its relationship with money.

There is also mention of his first meeting with his wife Mary on the top deck of a bus in Doncaster in 1959, and she went with him when had an interview at The Guardian. His first television screen test was in 1965.

Parkinson also poignantly refers to the death of his father John from lung disease in 1976 after a life spent working in Grimethorpe Colliery, and says he is considering writing about their relationship and his childhood in a future book.

He now lives in Berkshire and played his club cricket for Windsor after moving south for his television career.