the aussie cricket commentary

[Ken Gargett]

a thread for cricket fans who will know the frustrations of listening to some of the idiots (and gems).

i must say that i have been both surprised and impressed at how good the women commentators have been (probably sounds sexist and i know that they are there for more diversity, but they do a good job - largely, because they pretty much stick to talking about the cricket and we don't get the nudge nudge, jolly time was had by all when we all got on the piss crap).

been very impressed with ponting. obviously an excellent knowledge but conveys it well and never comes across as patronising nor trying to relive the glory days. could listen to him all game (for me, the natural successor to ian chappell). which brings me to slater. if i am at home, i simply hit mute when he starts. appalling. has there ever been a commentary stint where he has not "shared" in-jokes (and by "shared", i mean referred to but made certain we all know that such matters are just for the select few)? where he has not ended up bringing the commentary around to something - on or off field - about him. where anything he says about the cricket is usually something utterly inane? worst commentator ever. 

today a challenger? well, she was simply the blonde du jour there for a bit of colour. no idea who but they cross to her because some local footy star is at the game. he's up for the in-depth interview. 

"so, do you enjoy the cricket?" always good to start with an incisive question. 

surprisingly, the answer was yes. then the bloke admitted it was his first time actually attending the cricket but he was indeed enjoying it.

the follow-up question (and i am not making this up) - "so, how often do you come to the cricket?". 

to the bloke's credit, his blank look suggesting that she was as dumb as soup was quickly replaced by some general chat about cricket.

who employs these morons (that she looked like she should have been on baywatch might have been a clue - probably missed out on that as the other grains of sand were far more intelligent)? 

[JohnS]

This business in regards to interviewing players during breaks in play really peeves me because you can tell that firstly, they are contracted to talk to Fox Sports and/or Channel 7 and secondly, nearly all of them don't want to. It's so easy to tell by their expressions. Ken, I agree totally in regards to Ricky Ponting. Excellent commentator due to his deep knowledge on the game. Similarly, I'd credit Shane Warne for his innovative thinking on the state of play that he is capable of expounding upon from time-to-time.

Ken, as you know, Channel 9 had cricket for 40 years in Australia on free-to-air television. Kerry Packer surely would be livid if he saw what was going on with commentary these days, that is, if it was on his channel. We only know how good we had it with Benaud, Chappelli, Lawry and Greig now that it's gone I suppose.

[Ken Gargett]

26 minutes ago, JohnS said:

This business in regards to interviewing players during breaks in play really peeves me because you can tell that firstly, they are contracted to talk to Fox Sports and/or Channel 7 and secondly, nearly all of them don't want to. It's so easy to tell by their expressions. Ken, I agree totally in regards to Ricky Ponting. Excellent commentator due to his deep knowledge on the game. Similarly, I'd credit Shane Warne for his innovative thinking on the state of play that he is capable of expounding upon from time-to-time.

Ken, as you know, Channel 9 had cricket for 40 years in Australia on free-to-air television. Kerry Packer surely would be livid if he saw what was going on with commentary these days, that is, if it was on his channel. We only know how good we had it with Benaud, Chappelli, Lawry and Greig now that it's gone I suppose.

agreed john. ah, the good old days.