February 1989, Margaret Thatcher is UK Prime Minister, the Berlin Wall still stands, Simple Minds top the UK chart and new TV station Sky begins broadcasting.

Somehow, Sky’s then sports channel, Eurosport, had managed to schedule handball on its inaugural day and so it was, that as a former GB player and current GB Women’s team coach, I found myself pressed into commentating alongside football pundit Martin Tyler. It was an unusual start, not least because I arrived at the studio blissfully unaware that they expected me to co-commentate. I had briefed Martin on the finer points of the game and as I sat in the studio waiting to watch him in action, he leant over and said, “When I lift my hand, stop talking,” I nearly spat my coffee out. “What do you mean ‘stop talking’, why would I start?” – the penny dropped.

Two months later, and having run out of football pundits to lead the commentary (or was it to work with me?), I found myself as the sole handball commentator.

Since then I have covered over 1,200 games, including 15 European Championships, ten World Championships, six Olympics, eight Champions League seasons and two Asian Games. Much has changed in 25 years, aside from my grey hair and deteriorating eyesight, my two children are nearly grown up, France has gone from B world championship minnow to powerhouse, 18-17 is no longer considered a high score and ball technology has evolved from the cow’s bladder I used to play with.

The media visibility of the sport is light years ahead, with cumulative TV audiences of 1.5 billion for Euro 2012 and exciting new camera angles provided by goal and spider cams. In the UK the London Olympics have led to a boom in the sport and better recognition. No longer do you get asked “Is that the one over the net?” More likely they will say, “I saw that at the Olympics.”

For commentators these days, it is hard to convey the challenges of pre-worldwide web research, when the fax was the height of technology and you risked starting any number of broadcasts with only a rudimentary knowledge of the teams. These days there is all manner of information at your fingertips and I often end a match having used only 30% of what I prepared. But then again I started in the single-channel, pre-digital age. I once had to commentate to a blank screen for four minutes, while some local engineer clambered onto the roof of a building in Moscow to kick the satellite dish – I like to be prepared.

Much of my Eurosport commentating has been done off a monitor from a studio in London or Paris. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, sitting in a glorified broom cupboard, staring at a small screen, with minimal real-time match data. But my enthusiasm for the sport has always allowed me to project myself into the arena.

Commentating from a studio has other less obvious drawbacks. As I was nearing the end of a handball commentary one Sunday evening, the booth door opened, I cut the microphone and the lone assistant on duty asked me what I knew about skiing. “It’s on snow and you go downhill – never tried it.” I replied. “Good,” he said, “the skiing commentator’s running late so you’re starting the Alpine Skiing Cup recording right after this,” and before I had time to open my mouth, the door closed. Five minutes later the door opened again and a start-list was dropped on the desk. “Is it a speed competition or are there points for style?” I enquired, “Don’t know,” came the reply. So there I was, heart in mouth, I announced the Skiing from Val d’Isère, the first competitor edged-up to the start line and launched himself. “And he’s off!” Just then the door opened and the welcome face of the skiing commentator appeared. “I just need a cup of tea, give me two minutes,” he said. “I’ll get the tea, you sit here” I replied.

Mind you, it could have been worse. I recall a Dutch football commentator similarly pressed into covering a 5000m athletics final in the late 1990s. When advised that Gebrselassie was going for a world record and had a pacemaker, the hapless Dutchman spent most of the race expressing his astonishment at the Ethiopian’s performance, given that he had only recently undergone open heart surgery!

Mercifully I have also had the opportunity to broadcast live on-site. Since 2002 I have covered every European Championship for the EHF world feed, and from 2007 the World Championships for the IHF world feed, broadcasting all over the globe. Unsurprisingly, I thoroughly enjoy being on-site. I can take in the atmosphere, see everything that’s happening, meet players and coaches and get the insights.

But it can be demanding. I commentated 46 matches on my own for the BBC at the London Olympics, although that is still below my record of 52 matches in ten days at the 2005 Asian Games in Doha – throat lozenge anyone?

Commentating has given me the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and travel to great locations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Not too many people can say they have commentated a handball match between Mongolia and India, in Guangzhou – come to think of it, between Mongolia and anybody.

I’m often asked which was my favourite game to commentate and that’s a difficult one. I love handball, so to me every game is special, but I guess some are more special than others. The 2007 Men’s World Championship final in the packed Cologne arena stands out. The commentary position was almost at ground level behind the team bench, so in the last two minutes, when the German players stood up to start celebrating, I found myself sitting three metres from the court, unable to see anything and commentating off the small monitor on my desk, but the atmosphere was incredible. The second leg of the Champions League final that same year between Kiel and Flensburg was another nail-biting classic. For personal reasons, and my links with the GB team, the whole of the London Olympics was a real emotional buzz, especially the GB games in the Copper Box. How much time have you got?