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commentators
Paddy Whack – Kerry O’Keefe’s frog joke
By Will last year, mid-April, 1 Comment »
It’s an oldie, sure, but it’s a damn fine goodie. Listen to Kerry O’Keefe’s old frog joke
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200603/r74772_210339.mp3
1 Comment »Warne to figure in 2009 Ashes
By Will last year, at the end of February, 4 Comments »
He may no longer be terrifying Englishmen with his leggies, but Shane Warne will continue to wind up the old enemy by commentating on Sky for the summer. This is a good thing, and Warne has the charisma and confidence to become a really good commentator. I’ve listened to him on and off during the winter for his occasional stints on Australian TV and have liked his wit, cheek and general piss-taking of his colleagues (particularly Michael “Slats” Slater).
There is also the distinct probability of Warne making one or three howling howlers or un-PC comments, which can only be a good thing for the world in general.
4 Comments »Evening, everyone
By Will last year, mid-February, 14 Comments »
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What with Sir Allen Stanford hogging the limelight, the news that Richie Benaud is to hang up his mic has gone rather unnoticed.
Benaud moved into television commentary soon after retiring from international cricket in 1964 – he took 248 wickets in 63 Tests – and joined the Channel Nine team in 1977. He soon became an icon of sports broadcasting for his crisp style and dry humour – and sharp dress sense. In 2005 English fans mourned the end of 42 years of Benaud’s commentary in the country after the free-to-air Channel 4’s contract ended with the ECB.
The same year Benaud was voted Australia’s most popular commentator in a poll conducted by the Wisden Cricketer and Cricinfo. At the time he said he wanted to continue writing books, which he had begun doing long before making a career in television.
I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to Richie twice, and although he is a remarkably humble person, the sheer length of his involvement in the game makes you check your words. After all, he has seen it all. Or played against so-and-so. Or been on holiday with thingy wotsit. He’s also surprisingly tall.
I won’t mourn his radio-wave silence – we in England had to do that in 2005 when the ECB greedily sold television rights to Sky – but it’s still a sad thought that there’s a generation of fans who will never hear “Morning everyone”. In fact, “Thanks Tony [Lewis]; morning everyone” was officially the start of my summer when I was growing up: the cricket was on, and Richie was going to guide us through it. He was unbiased, neutral, knowledgeable and wise – the cricketing grandfather, and the commentators’ too.
He shone on the BBC. It’s worth remembering that only 15 years ago, the style of commentary was nothing like today’s non-stop, all-action method of forcing people to listen. Silence wasn’t so much encouraged, but neither was verbal diarrhea. Only if they had something useful to say would they say it (with the exception of Fred Trueman…) and on lots of occasions, you could sit there for a whole minute with nothing but the stump and effects mic for company, absorbing yourself in the game. The experience was far more engrossing than Sky and other broadcasters’ insistence on noise, graphics, constant conversation, cheesy music and treating the viewers like cretins. I don’t blame Sky – they are only reacting to trends, and the rapid evolution of the game in becoming increasingly marketable – but I can’t say I prefer it either.
Benaud was dry, reserved and thoughtful. I remember in 2000 when England were doing brilliantly against West Indies, Nasser Hussain took a sharp and low catch to his right at mid-off. “Well,” he began, pausing for a good three or four seconds. “If England aren’t yet on fire”
Your favourite memories? And also – a call to the more talented: how about creating a short three-minute video on his best bits/moments. Go on, there must be someone up for that.
14 Comments »Say it again, Bob
By Will last year, mid-February, 1 Comment »
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As England slumped yesterday, Sky’s commentary team sprung into fervent action. Its coverage of events in Jamaica was excellent, led by Ian Ward (Wardy) in the studio, whose questions to Nick Knight (Knighty), Bob Willis (Bob) and Nasser Hussain (Nass) were akin to floaty half-volleys, the like of which England’s batsmen could only dream of as Jerome Taylor continued to york them for fun. Hussain and co responded magnificently.
But first, it was Willis who provided the entertainment when he launched another dreamy attack on Daryl Harper, the third umpire who upheld another controversial decision which was referred by the players. “He’s got to be given his pension book and [taken] out of there,” Willis spat, his lip curled in disgust. “He is hopeless.” Hussain and Mikey Holding were no less disparaging, both lauding the use of technology while questioning the credentials of the person sitting behind the monitor.
By now, Ward was revelling in his role as the anchorman with licence to laugh. Barely able to suppress his giggling at Willis’s growing animosity towards everyone, with perfect timing England began to collapse, providing him with further ammunition to wind up his easily-angered colleagues. Not even the usually polite and cheery Knight could hide his confusion and anger at the dominoes tumbling in Kingston. “These are Test cricketers!” he pleaded to the camera with justifiably perplexed anguish. His excellent analysis of Alastair Cook’s near-total lack of feet movement provided substance to his grumbles, but it wasn’t long before Ian Botham (Sir Ian, or Sreean) turned the tables on him.
Knight knows Ian Bell better, perhaps, than Ian Bell knows himself. And after a brief impression of Tony Blair – palms open, and a call for unity: “hey, guys. Come on. Let’s be sensible” – Knight admitted that Bell’s issues, unlike Cook, are upstairs in the head. Bell’s detractors might not have learned much by that facile analysis, but in one fell swoop, England’s No.3 had lost the backing of his No.1 fan.
Hussain, though, stood out. Rarely is Botham demoted to being a sideshow yet, as Kingston began to reverberate, Hussain didn’t let him get a word in. A torrent of analysis, anger, mild abuse and pent-up frustration frothed from Hussain’s mouth, as a gleeful Ward fed him with questions straight out of the Devil’s Advocate handbook.
Sky – who are not a free-to-air channel – aren’t often applauded, but their coverage of a wonderfully dramatic day in Jamaica was both entertaining and slick.
1 Comment »A celebration of Mark Nicholas
By Will last year, mid-January, 13 Comments »
If – oh, if – there was more than one Mark Nicholas in the world, their collective noun might well be a celebration of Mark Nicholas. Or Mark Nicholi as the plural. The Corridor has long been a fan of Mark – known, to a man, more fondly as Nicho – for years and years. His staggering use of vocabulary at even the most inane moment in a match has brought tears of incredulity and joy to our ears.
He is very much the marmite commentator: you either love or loath him. But to those who dislike the drama he brings, I say wowzers and jee whizz and hello! and he is a strong boy – phrases that no Richie Benaud (pah), Ian Chappell (scoff) or Tony Greig (err, actually…) could ever dream of uttering.
One Nicho highlight came shortly before Matthew Hayden retired, when he pulled A.Bowler for runs through midwicket. I’m paraphrasing here, just so you can get an idea of how beautiful the commentary was, but it was along the following lines: “Math-ew-Hay-Den……one of the greatest pull-shots in cricket history. Given the man; given the match; given the situation…” Hayden, in the middle of a career-ending trough, fell soon after.
History – or more accurately, my memory – doesn’t record the exact wordage, but it has prompted me to invite the loyal Corridor readers to offer your own favourite Nicho moments. (note, this is not an epitaph. Ed.)
There was one today which really stood out. Ricky Ponting had boshed four through midwicket. “Ricky PONting! You are so strong!.” Commentary bronze from Nicho. One of his landmark phrases – indeed, there were thousands – came during the 2005 Ashes. Andrew Flintoff was going bonkers at Edgbaston, with the bat, lifting everyone for sixes. “Hello … hello hello? Mmmassive. Massive!”
Another of my favourites came either during the Ashes, or the preceding couple of years, when he almost lost his sheen of professionalism – again watching Flintoff. “This is…this is amazing. This is brilliant. This is sporting drama of the highest calibre; it’s theatre…theatre that everyone can connect with.” I hasten to add that for all his excitement and occasional OTTisms, he is mostly spot on. And as a presenter, he’s peerless.
So, fellow Nicho lovers – nominate your favourite Nicho Moments and you could win the respect of literally a dozen people (13, including Mark).
13 Comments »The new daddy of the commentary box
By Jonathan Liew 2 years ago, mid-August, 2 Comments »
1) I never saw Ian Botham play.
2) My impression of him has thus been shaped entirely by his commentary career.
3) As such, I think Ian Botham’s a bit of a moron.
Shaun Pollock might not have scored as many Test runs as Botham, but as this exchange showed, there’s no substitute for research:
Botham: Two Morkels in the one-day squad. Are they related?
Pollock: Yes, they’re brothers.
In just a few weeks, Pollock has given Botham and the rest of the Sky statues an object lesson in commentary. He’s a natural, both on TV and radio. He’s got interesting things to say; things you might not already know, things you might not be able to work out simply from looking at the screen. He’s leans on his experience without allowing it to dictate his analysis. Best of all, he knows when to be quiet. If he can lose his unfortunate predilection for inadvertently namechecking sponsors, he could be a star in the making.
2 Comments »We have no right to complain
By Will 2 years ago, mid-June, 4 Comments »
I’ve just returned from the beach, where I have mostly been lounging for the past few days, and thought I’d watch Queen’s. Summer and tennis go hand-in-hand, never more so than when you’re not working, but I’ve only managed to last eight minutes. The match hasn’t even begun, even – but if I have to listen to these mindless imbeciles commentate, I might just put my foot through the TV.
We have absolutely no right to complain about our cricket commentators. I’m sure you all have your favourites, and you certainly will have the odd one or two who make your ears bleed, but on the whole we’re extremely lucky. They’re knowledgeable, interesting, sometimes witty and decent. None of that can be said of tennis commentators, all of whom seem to have fake mid-Atlantic accents which make Lloyd Grossman’s dulcet tones palatable.
“He’s not only a great player – he’s a great guy.” Oh do climb out of their arses, for the love of god.
4 Comments »A Natwest Home Insurance yorker from Brett Lee
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of June, 5 Comments »
The future of the cliché lies with cricket’s sponsors, Rahul Bhattacharya says in his analysis of the Indian Premier League:
The best games had a kind of compressed intensity where each delivery held the weight of an entire match… A six in the IPL, every 622 of them, was no longer a six, it was a ‘DLF Maximum.’ A sharp catch came branded as a ‘Citi Moment Of Success’. Commentators tripped over each other to make these plugs. A future where a batsman executes a Toyota Front-Foot Drive against an Intel Faster One may not be the stuff of satire.
What other brand names could infiltrate into cricket jargon? “Super Jeep Cherokee arm-ball from Panesar, there.” “And he’s bowled him! Stumps flying! No, it’s a Samsung Pure Genius no-ball.”
5 Comments »TWC commentator’s poll
By Jonathan Liew 3 years ago, at the end of September, 16 Comments »
The latest issue of the Wisden Cricketer features the now regular poll on readers’ favourite commentators. Geoff Boycott takes top spot, followed by Jonathan Agnew, David Lloyd, Michael Atherton and Michael Holding.
What does everyone think about that?
And why was Mark Nicholas
Life after Benaud
By Ian 3 years ago, mid-June, 29 Comments »
On Desert Island Discs, you are allowed one luxury. Given mine would be a magical television that showed all available live cricket (as well as choice re-runs), I’d be able to pick my favourite pundits to describe the action. Who are my top commentators? In theory, I would only need two to cover the matches, but that would be unfair on them (I’m not a tyrant), so I’d hire five to mix it up and give the others a rest.
Therefore, below are my five favourite commentators. Benaud would have been there, of course, as would Brian Johnston, but we must all move on. There are honourable mentions for Lloyd, Gower, Holding, Dujon, Nasser, Knight, Ward, Smith, Lawry and Greig, but these five pick themselves.My Top Five: Michael Atherton, Jimmy Adams, Michael Slater, Geoff Boycott and Simon Hughes.
I can’t imagine anyone will disagree, but then it’s your island. Pick who you like!
29 Comments »Celebrity commentators: Tony Benn
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of June, 1 Comment »
A fruity voice, outspoken, opinionated – and best of all, easily impersonated. Imagine how entertaining the rain intervals would become.
Previously, Jools Holland
1 Comment »Celebrity commentators: Jools Holland
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of May, 4 Comments »
As predicted, the rain is tumbling down. Not quite as bad in Leeds as it is here in London, which is encouraging, but I doubt there’ll be any play at Headingley until mid-afternoon. Hey ho (Flint), stick some music on, make a cuppa cha. I’m watching Jools Holland’s Later from last week with a frightening looking Joan Armatrading bitching it on a Fender. Rawk. Incidentally, Jools would be a shoo-in for my Celebrity Cricket Commentators list – welcoming everyone in the comm box. “And here, today, we have the brilliant, the extraordinary, the multi talented…AGGERS! Thank you!†etc.
So Jools would be one, Alan Partridge another. Who else?
4 Comments »Broadcast Views
By Scott 4 years ago, at the start of December, 11 Comments »
Reverse Swinging Mark has his say on Sky’s broadcast roster.
The classic sports arrangement consists of a commentator who actually describes what’s going on out in the middle, alongside a ‘colour’ man who, well, adds the colour to the picture the commentator has described – effectively providing deeper analysis of what’s going on.
Every other sport seems to recognise this – football commentary is left to the professional commentators (Motson, Davies, Tyler) with ex-pros like the exemplary Andy Gray, just providing the ‘colour’ – the same with Rugby Union where Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes have developed a level of understanding that rugby hasn’t witnessed since Gareth Edwards and Phil Bennett were strutting their stuff.
Sky Cricket’s problem is that they have too many ‘colour’ guys and not enough commentators – in fact, they haven’t actually got any at all. You need balance to ensure that the commentary flows with the game – but instead, with Sky, we get a series of ex players who feel that they have to continually justify their presence with elaborate analysis of every thought, word and deed of the players in the middle – plus a whole lot more beyond that, without realising that all we actually need is some sort of insight into what is actually happening, and why. No one is doing orthodox commentary, because no one has been asked/told to – so the Sky product is fundamentally flawed.
As it happens, I tuned in my television to watch the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Test match, and to my surprise the first voice I heard was that of the veteran West Indies commentator, Tony Cozier. Whether or not he’s emigrated to New Zealand, or doing some freelancing, I have no idea, but it was a delight to hear him.
Cricket in New Zealand is broadcast by Sky NZ, and it suffers from almost the opposite problem to that described by Mark- too much commentary, and not enough colour. I’m not sure where Jeremy Coney has got to, but the rest of the local commentators are too descriptive and.. boring.
Unfortunately, there’s not a great market for Test cricket in New Zealand. Shane Bond is giving the Sri Lankans a royal grilling before a nearly empty stadium, and so when broadcasting in this sort of environment, it is important to ‘pep it up’ a bit. You do not need the ‘Barmy Army’ to create atmosphere but you do need to have more then 15% of the seats sold.
This isn’t meant to be an attack on Sky NZ, who are doing a great job- the camera work is as good as anything Nine in Australia can come up with. The graphics are smart and professional. They just need to think ‘outside the square’ somewhat to liven things up. If they hired Tony Cosier to this end, then they have made a good start.
11 Comments »Tufnell and Gooch at Adelaide
By Will 4 years ago, at the start of December, 3 Comments »
Good shot of Phil Tufnell and Graham Gooch commentating for the BBC in Adelaide
The importance of being earnest
By Scott 4 years ago, mid-April, No Comments; be the first!
Tim de Lisle opened up in Cricinfo with an interesting post relating to independence in the media.
Trescothick is much liked, and even after his story changed, most commentators were gentle with him. But one pundit was conspicuously tough: Mike Atherton, cricket columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, who said Trescothick’s virus line was “so utterly implausible” that “ridicule is the only proper response”.
Atherton used to open the batting for England with Trescothick. He was a team-mate for years at Lancashire of Trescothick’s agent, Neil Fairbrother, who also came in for criticism in Atherton’s piece, albeit unnamed. The condemnation possibly went a touch too far, but it came from the right place: a belief in honesty. Atherton can’t stand spin – of the PR variety – and he is right to highlight the way it is spreading through the sports world.
Atherton is one of the best ex-player pundits for three reasons. He wants to get better; after a tentative start, his writing has steadily acquired more scope and flair. He is curious: he asks questions, while some ex-players still wait for the questions to come to them. And he has a clear grasp of the importance of being independent. He knows he is now batting not for England, but for his readers.
In a free press, that distinction is straightforward. In televised sport, it is becoming a grey area. The ultimate producer of cricket in India is now the Indian board. Atherton, who commentated for Sky on the India-England series, says local commentators were “asked not to mention sensitive subjects”. This provoked denials, but it will continue to be an issue. And some ex-players just don’t seem to see that it matters.
I posit that it is not quite so simple as this though. As a general rule of thumb, in whatever field you work in, you do not crap in your own nest. Cricket authorities are different in various places but all of them expect their broadcast partners to be supportive. And the management of the broadcasters themselves would be most displeased if the commentators were to disparage the game, lest they invite viewers to change the channel.
After all Michael Atherton would hardly expect the Sunday Telegraph to be very friendly to him if he bagged the paper in his column.
That is why there will always be a role for newspapers and blogs in cricket and indeed, in many other areas. We can ask the questions that broadcast media can not ask.
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