TEST Match Special's Jonathan Agnew led the tributes to the BBC's long-serving broadcaster Bill Frindall, who has died suddenly from Legionnaires' disease.

The Beeb's cricket correspondent said: "He brought to life this weird and wonderful world of cricket-scoring that other people might find tedious and boring. He made scoring into an art form."

Made an MBE in 2004, Frindall was taken ill with the disease following a recent tour with the Lord's Taverners to Dubai.

Dubbed the `Bearded Wonder' by fellow commentator Brian Johnston, the 69-year-old Surrey-born statistician was renowned for his interjections but despite being a vital member of the TMS team was often the butt of their jokes.

Former England fast bowler Mike Selvey, who worked with Frindall for more than 20 years, said: "He took one of the most mundane jobs in cricket and made himself an institution. I was very fond of him."

A schoolmaster introduced Bill to scoring one rainy afternoon when he was a boy, and he went on to become the longest-serving member of the TMS team, covering more than 350 matches, ending with the Test in Mohali last December.