Andrew Castle has been dropped from the Wimbledon lead commentator role, with the BBC moving in “a new direction” from next year.

Castle, 62, will lead the corporation’s coverage of this year’s Championships, which begin on Monday, June 29. But the former British No 1 has announced that he was told two months ago that this would be his last year as lead commentator, with Alex Kay-Jelski, the BBC’s head of sport, keen to modernise coverage.

The BBC has offered Castle a different role to “stay on the team” but he told The Telegraph this would certainly be his last Championships. “This year will be my final final, 23 in all over 24 years,” he said. “They want me to stay on the team but I will depart with gratitude.”

Wimbledon’s coverage, and the BBC’s coverage of sport in general, has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years with Sue Barker retiring as lead presenter in 2022.

Barker later criticised the way in which her 24 years of hosting Question of Sport came to an end. “The BBC sort of wanted me to say that I was walking away from it,” Barker said. “And yet, I would never walk away from a job I love. I don’t mind being replaced. Absolutely fine. That happens… I think if we look back on it we could have handled it better. I think the BBC could have handled it better.”

Last year the BBC was criticised by viewers for moving the traditional Today at Wimbledon highlights show to a graveyard slot. Having ordinarily aired at either 8pm or 9pm on BBC2, the show was instead moved to iPlayer and a “repeat” was then broadcast at 11:55pm for the entire first week of the Championships.

Many viewers, particularly in remote areas, do not have access to iPlayer or the BBC website, with Today at Wimbledon the only way they can catch up on the day’s play. Instead, the slot traditionally reserved for daily highlights was filled with repeats of Your Garden Made Perfect, The Pembrokeshire Coast: A Wild Year and Upstart Crow.

Castle said he would leave with gratitude. “It’s been a hell of a journey,” he told The Times. “I can’t say I have enjoyed every minute because there have been moments of pressure and controversy, but it has been a huge privilege.

“To be honest, when I got the job 23 years ago, a lot of the more experienced commentators felt that they should have been first in line. Their noses were put out of joint. So, in the wider scheme of things, I am lucky that I had the best gig in sports broadcasting for so long, during the greatest age of men’s tennis.”

Asked what he would do in the future, he replied: “My wife Sophia and I are building a house and we’re about to have a third grandchild, so things are good. I am not sure what will come next professionally, but whatever it is, I’ll embrace it.”

Castle, who grew up in a flat above a fish-and-chip shop just outside Taunton, was Great Britain’s No 1 singles player in 1986, reaching world No 80 in 1988, and No 45 in doubles the same year. He made the third round at the US Open in 1987, losing in four sets to Boris Becker.

After hanging up his racket, he made the move to television, performing various roles for Sky Sports before being asked by GMTV, ITV’s flagship breakfast show, to stand on the golf course opposite the All England Club and tee up the day’s play. John Lloyd had already turned down the gig on account of it not paying well enough.

Castle impressed GMTV’s editor by managing to refer to the previous item in the bulletin, a shooting in the US, before moving on to the tennis. He subsequently spent 10 years on the sofa as host of GMTV.

Castle, who is working at Queen’s Club this week, has also been a quiz-show host, DJ and radio presenter.

While he has committed some gaffes, including repeatedly calling Trinity Rodman, the US women’s football player and girlfriend of American tennis player Ben Shelton, “Tiffany” during Wimbledon coverage, he has generally been seen as a safe pair of hands.