Why the Meg-astorm about a commentator?

Hi, Australia. I love you, I really do. I was born in Australia, grew up here and happily live here. There are so many wonderful things to admire, but I have a question.

The answer might disappoint and make me love you a little less, but here it is.

Are you a backwards, mean-spirited, narrow-minded country, stuck somewhere in the 1950s and populated by real-life Les Pattersons?

Or are you a generous, open-minded nation of people who believe merit deserves reward and everyone who works hard deserves at least the notion of a fair go?

I’d love to say you’re the latter. I want to believe you’re the latter. And I’m sure you believe you’re the latter. But the initial outpouring of vitriol on social media directed at Channel Nine for daring to add a female to the commentary team for its coverage of the domestic one-day competition makes me wonder.

Not just any female, mind you. Meg Lanning happens to be the current captain of the Australian women’s team, the Southern Stars. She’s one of the world’s best batsmen (yes, I still use that term and believe it’s generally interchangeable with ‘batter’), has broken many records, and has been a trailblazer in the sport for many years.

Last year, along with her teammates, Lanning became fully professional when Cricket Australia elected to pay the country’s best female players a reasonable full-time wage. Earlier this year she became the youngest person, man or woman, to captain an Australian cricket team. She then went on to lead the Southern Stars to victory in the ICC Women’s World T20.

She’s lived and breathed the game since she was old enough to hold a bat and her determination, application and natural talent have earned her a career that most fans could only dream about. But none of that appears to matter to those who have taken to Facebook and Twitter to express their horror and even threaten to turn away from Nine’s coverage if they hear a female voice.

All before she’s spoken a single word. Fair go, huh?

Meg has actually had a stint in the commentary box before, during the 2013 series between the Southern Stars and New Zealand. I know, because she was commentating alongside me.

Yes, believe it or not, someone (Cricket Australia, to be specific) let me near a microphone, as well.

In fact, I’ve been at it again, this time in England. And this is where my fear about us, and by us I mean Australians, has come into sharp focus.

The BBC knew I was coming here to cover England Women’s summer for a number of websites and newspapers and asked me to join their commentary team as a ball-by-ball caller for the stand alone Test match against India and a couple of the One-Day Internationals. To join the BBC team on Test Match Special will go down as one of the greatest thrills of my career.

It was a huge challenge and one I enjoyed immensely, learning every step of the way. I was overwhelmed by how supportive and helpful everyone at the BBC was. People like fellow callers Charles Dagnall and Dan Norcross, former internationals Ebony Rainford-Brent, Isa Guha and Iain O’Brien and current England Women bowler Katherine Brunt.

There was encouragement and constructive feedback from producer Henry Moeran and executive producer Adam Mountford and I couldn’t have asked for a nicer or more professional team to work with. No-one even mentioned the fact I was female, something that’s perhaps not so surprising when you consider how often Guha and the excellent broadcaster Alison Mitchell are used on coverage of the men’s game as well as the women’s.

It just doesn’t seem to be a big deal, nor is it a matter of political correctness – people are judged by the broadcaster and the audience on merit, which is exactly how it should be.

Hopefully this is what lies in store for Lanning at Channel Nine, who should be congratulated for at least being prepared to take this initial step.

Bear in mind, the network was heavily criticised last summer for an ill-judged segment with Lanning and Ellyse Perry on The Cricket Show, featuring footage of the pair ‘modelling’ and including shots of Perry in her underwear. It was awkward television and Michael Slater was accused of being patronising, a criticism that would probably have been better directed at whoever chose to run it.

Commentating is bloody hard at first. It may seem easy when you tune in from your lounge room or your car, but it’s not. There’s the pressure of being live and so much goes on behind the scenes that the viewer or listener will never know because good broadcasters keep the show running smoothly, even when all hell is breaking loose.

While a few may be naturals, many outstanding sportspeople have been awful at the start of their commentary careers. Some don’t improve, while others become terrific broadcasters. It takes application, determination and a degree of natural talent, much like the sport itself.

It’s hard not to find a nearby brick wall to bang your head against when you see critics still bringing up the ill-fated Kate Fitzpatrick experiment of the 1980s, when Channel Nine, as a gimmick, put an actress in an understandably resistant commentary box.

The problem is, a guy can be terrible as a commentator and critics will say he’s terrible as an individual. If a woman is rubbish, well, it’s because she’s a woman and therefore all women must be rubbish, before they’re even given a chance.

Open-minded, right?

So over to you, Australia. Please prove to me that the flood of comments that greeted the announcement doesn’t reflect the majority view. Please show me that we’ve progressed beyond the small-mindedness of the past and we’re grown up enough to judge people on individual merit.

I know you can do it.

If Lanning isn’t nervous when she picks up the microphone for the first time at Channel Nine, she’ll be one of a rare breed. She might nail it first time.

Alternatively, she might not be brilliant at the start. She might not be relaxed or have the right timing. She might take time to develop as a broadcaster and learn the tricks of a tough trade. As have many players who have trodden the same road.

But, just as she has all the tools she needs to blaze a century off 45 balls, something she did against New Zealand at North Sydney Oval to become the fastest Australian – man or woman – to reach 100 in an ODI, she has all the knowledge of tactics, techniques and professional cricket to draw on in the box.

She doesn’t need anything else.

After all, during the time I’ve worked in broadcasting, most commentators I’ve met will cheerfully admit they have, on occasion, talked out of their arses.

I’ve yet to meet one who talks out of a penis.