Ashes commentary
On the eve of the third one day match between England and Australia, the mood seems to have decidedly turned. Common consensus appears to be that Australia have found their feet and will steamroller England in the remaining matches and eventually the entire summer. What seemed to be the prevailing wind of their waning powers, see Atherton, has turned around to include such ominous quotes as
Having seen a lot of Australia these past three years, I do not buy into the theory that their powers are waning. Personnel have changed but only in Jason Gillespie has there been any discernible ease off the throttle. If there is a difference, it is the way they play. The batsmen score quicker than ever, which brings the entertainer tag along with a hint of vulnerability, but the bowlers frequently resort to long spells of attrition.
by Mark Nicholas in the Telegraph. Though I am a bit wary about his opinion as this could just be an attempt to land another commentating job for the Australian cricket summer. I remember him commentating on the India-Australia series down under. Why?
However, such a turnaround does indicate a certain lack of belief among the media and the public about the possibility of actually defeating Australia. I am still of the opinion that England’s bowling attack is extremely potent and has the capability of doing serious damage in the tests. Remember Australia, especially this batting line-up, haven’t played a decent, sustained and potent pace attack for well over 10 years, since the West Indian pacers were roaming the planet.
On a slightly different note I want to rant on a little about sky sports’ cricket coverage. This is particularly pertinent as from next year all cricket coverage on UK screens will be only available on Sky. Though overall they do a good job in getting the balance of commentary right, there is still some room for improvement. I find Botham, Hussain and Gower are extremely comfortable in front of the camera and seem to have things to add that have some insight and relevance, though occasionally Botham seems to go on some random rant against the ’system’ that can, in equal parts, be confusing and aimless. But special mention must be given to Bob Willis. He has got to have the most boring voice on tv - a cross between a bus droning and an older bus droning. He seems to constantly negative, even seeking to turn good pieces of cricket into bad play by the opposition. When his face is on tv, he often appears as though a dead rat has just died in the room but not before it has had a million babies that have torn into his flesh and are slowly eating his inner organs. To a lesser extent David Lloyd’s commentary can be a bit bizarre, seemingly relying on phrases and statements that have no meaning and perhaps he just made up. As evidence I present the time when in the charity game, between asia and the rest of the world, with the score at something around the 130 mark at the 14th over with 4 wickets lost, he went on to proclaim that asia were in a bit of a ‘dish’ but would easily surpass the 200 mark because the pitch was flat and there was a full crowd in the stadium. But perhaps most bizarre are the times when on an interview panel, like a post match analysis, he often responds to the interviewers question by looking straight into the camera often to the point of turning his back to the interviewer asking the question. Though endearing for short spells this can get extremely annoying over long periods of time. I think Sky have to seriously consider shedding some of the less impressive commentators and poach some of the Channel 4 commentators that are going to be out of work. Atherton would be a useful addition.
