What happens when a commentator loses their notes?

Commentators spend hours and hours preparing for each match they cover, writing pages upon pages of notes in order to be prepared as well as possible.

But what happens if those notes suddenly vanish?

"It's never a good idea to go into a commentary under-prepped, but it can be dropped on you," BBC Radio 5 Live's Alistair Bruce-Ball told the latest episode of The Commentators' View podcast.

"I remember a few seasons ago at West Brom for the opening game of the season. it was a lovely sunny day and I was sitting in the commentary position there with all my notes in front of me.

"Then, a gust of wind took the notes off the gantry, down into the fans below, and all the notes I'd done all week for the game had completely gone. I was just doing the commentary without any notes at all! Actually, it sharpens you up in a way, and you've really got to switch on - you've not got that crutch to lean on."

"That happened to John Acres last week," said fellow commentator Conor McNamara. "I was at the Manchester United-Nottingham Forest game, which he was doing for 5 Live, and it was very stormy.

"So when he got out of the car in the car park, apparently his notes fell from his hand, and in that classic if you've got buttered toast it's always the buttered side that lands down way…

"So whatever way he'd been doing his notes in the car, when he got out of the car, the wind blew, it turned onto the inked side and landed face down. It totally smudged.

"He showed it to me - totally indecipherable!"

As the two reflected on shared pain, Bruce-Ball suddenly remembered what exactly happened at West Brom: "t wasn't a gust of wind, it was a wasp that flew into my mouth while I was talking, and I panicked and swished my hand at the notes.

"So, I actually flipped my notes, and honestly just watching them fly in the air and just disappear. I can't remember who the summariser was sitting alongside me, and we both just looked at each other like… eek!"

Listen to the full episode now