Steve Cram praises "all-time great" Sue Barker as she steps down from Wimbledon TV coverage

Three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist Cram is gearing up to commentate on live coverage of the 2022 event in Birmingham later this month and claims that Barker's transition from the court to the studio helped his own journey into the media.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Cram said: "She is somebody who I've known for a long time even before we were both competing. She is a little bit older than me, I think! I got to know Sue in the '80s. You go to events and things and she was always so much fun, such a laugh.

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"When she went into television, she did such a great job, and made such a smooth transition into it. That was something which helped me a lot. You see people like Sue make the move across as smoothly and as brilliantly as she did – it helped.

"She was one of those people who, when I first joined the BBC, it was so good to work with her. I was very lucky. First Des Lynam, then Sue. I got to hang around a lot of these, even [David] Coleman from commentary perspective. I call them all-time greats. And she's definitely one of them."

Cram said Barker spoke to him about her departure at the end of 2021 as the pair were on tour with a stage version of A Question of Sport.

The 61-year-old explained the key to her success and why she, in his eyes at least, is the very best in the business.

"I spoke to Sue in the winter," he said. "We were doing the A Question of Sport stage tour. She was telling me then that this might be her last year.

"Sue to me has been, without doubt, the best. For me, anyway. I just love Sue's style, as a person she's lovely. When you sit at home and Sue comes on the telly, you just feel comfortable, she makes you feel comfortable.

"There's nothing ever confrontational or anything like that, even though sometimes she'd been in situations where she was presenting things where there might be big issues happening – she could do that as well.

"I always loved the way she handles all of her guests. Everyone was always made comfortable. I worked with Sue for so many years on athletics and she was just a joy to work with. I really miss her from the athletics team. I told her when she left, I was like, 'why are you going?'"

He laughed: "She's probably going to have about 10 send-offs this week, isn't she?"

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