“He lifted the game from a state of conventional excitement to one of unbelievable suspense and drama, and finally, into the realms of romantic fiction.”
So wrote Dan Waddell in his book Test match special book of cricket, referencing the revered and recently retired BBC radio cricket commentator Henry Blofeld.
The best commentators elevate cricket beyond being a simple spectacle to a compelling story.
Throughout the decades, legendary commentators such as Blofeld have captured audiences by skilfully educating and entertaining them with intimate knowledge of the game, articulated with measured enthusiasm.
The sad truth is that there too few in the current climate who can claim to be a commentator like Blofeld.
Maybe well-versed ex-English captains Nasser Hussain or Mike Atherton. Perhaps the delightfully eloquent Alison Mitchell and her smooth, velvety voiced colleague Jonathan Agnew. To break the English contingent, the ever-reliable Jim Maxwell is in this category.
Gone are the golden days of Blofeld, Richie Benaud, John Arlott, Bill Lawry, Tony Greig and the like. Admit it. The previously populated cupboard of enjoyable cricket commentators is almost bare.
These days, I hear less about cricket and more about what one had for dinner last night. Minimal chat about tactics and continuous drivel about individuals who did not make the team.
The commentary has resorted to one of ‘mates-man-ship’, whereby you are forced to listen to past anecdotes of the panel’s non-cricketing exploits together.
Oh, what I would do to hear Shane Warne speak about leg-spin or Mark Taylor preach about captaincy! From the childish sniggers to the continuous back-slapping, you would be forgiven for thinking you were watching a sub-par Adam Sandler movie.
Then there are instances where a commentator forgets that there is a difference between television and radio dialogue. With television broadcasting, one can afford to allow the golden virtue of silence to plug between analysis. Arguably the greatest TV commentator, Benaud was the finest example. For a commentator, silence is their greatest weapon. Benaud would say, “Don’t speak unless you can add to the picture.”
Due to commercial pressures and also personal preferences, however, cricket commentary has dived to the depths of loquaciousness.
Commentary was supposed to be a practice in impartiality, where your personal agenda should not be aired. One can deconstruct a batsman’s technique, a bowler’s action or a captain’s tactics, but using the vehicle of sports media to denigrate someone’s character is unprofessional – it should be reserved for the biography, not the media box.
Certain boards of cricketing nations have also placed restrictions on their commentators and their coverage of touring teams. This, therefore, has provided an avenue for biased analysis and a limited range of opinions.
Cricket commentary is no longer the same, and will not return – unless we talk cricket with dignity, panache, timing and humour.
Shaun
Guest
How the hell did Brayshaw get a run???
Eelboy
Guest
Since Richie, I'd say the sessions where Nicholas & Warne were calling the play have been unrivalled for description, insight & an ability to get to the heart of the matter.
Ozibatla
Guest
It seems that majority of people enjoy the old school commentators more so much akin to the idea behind his last album: make Billy Birmingham the sole commentator and he can just renact all the members and save the broadcaster a whole lot of coin.
Simoc
Guest
You're comparing tv commentators with radio commentators. The radio commentator has to do a lot more eg create the scene, temperature, crowd and keep repeating the score as well as identifying the players. Jim Maxwell is good at it as was the West Australian Mitchell. There are a couple of excellent South African commentators and the Indian Harsha Bhogle. No-one really compares to Blofield which may be just as well ! Many of the TV guys talk to much and commentary isn't really required. So they try to think of ways to justify their presence which doesn't work to well. The best line I've heard was the late Wally Foreman talking about the Australian hockeyroos stated they had had "great sex over the past decade". That left the others hysterical and Forman wondering what he'de said.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
It was Ch.9s disregard for the contest that got me in the end. If it was the usual aussie home thrashing then the aussies were awesome and the opponents were hopeless. For rare Australian losses like the SA home series loss, then the opponents were awesome and the aussies were hopeless. Precious little in between. It seemed the ch.9 commentary team had a culture of win at all costs for the aussies. If the aussie lost they put the boot in. Star were instantly anointed. Then dropped by the commentators like a hot tatie as soon as they came back to the field. A single bad innings with bat or ball unfairly highlighted No turn went unstoned. I find the advent of recently retired players refreshing. Ponting, Gilchrist, Clarke (yes, Michael Clarke), Mark Waugh, Hussey have great empathy for the players. None of the "in my day", "I would have done this or that" or slamming some poor sod who's stuffed something. Even when players stuff up they might have a joke but it's more wincing in at some poor bloke's misfortune because they know the feeling. They mostly convey the difficulty of the contest, even if it looks easy from the lounge. Older players like the old Tub seem devoid of insight. Perhaps it's the distance from the game or the height of the pedestal? Hopefully the new breed can continue to improve the standard of commentary, which until the BBL, had long been stale.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
What about Mark Nicholas? I often found him a good commentator and quite insightful. He was schooled by Benaud early on in his 9 career and I think has been good at leaving out personal opinion/anecdotes. He was a very good anchor for 9 and I will miss him
Spanner
Roar Rookie
Glad you mentioned John Arlott, Shakti but please dont forget the greatest of them all - Alan McGilvray - vale the great man !
Big Daddy
Guest
Every one has left out David " bumble " Lloyd. Good sense of humour. Get rid of brayshaw and mark Howard.
MJ
Guest
Excellent article, it's been a source of bewilderment to me that while Richie Benaud's advice is so often repeated by commentators, hardly anyone follows that advice. Hopefully some quality overseas commentators break up the back shed style banter that often overtakes the play on the field. Michael Holding a favourite of mine.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Let's not romanticise the old guard too much, eh? Most of the modern crop are terrible but Greig, Lawry and Agnew (as examples) are/were *not* good commentators. Their successors just make them look good by comparison. You're right, though, about needing commentators who focus more on cricket. Whether it's analysing the current match situation or recounting interesting cricketing tales when there is a lull in play, people tune in to hear about cricket, not a bunch of blokes joking around and pulling out the odd superlative or criticism when there is a boundary or a wicket. For this reason I'm glad that the likes of Ponting, Gillespie, Mitchell and Lane will be part of the test commentary team, yet annoyed that Seven thought Fleming, McAvaney and Slater would add any value to the summer. Some real hits and misses in the extended crew.
Paul
Roar Guru
You're right, a good commentator is increasingly difficult to find. I have to say, I enjoy listening to Ian Smith and some of the NZ guys when the Kiwis are playing and Michael Holding is terrific. That said, there are plenty of issues that are in play here. The first is obviously the volume of cricket played. The second is the great unknown - what have the broadcasters told the commentators they want from them? Third is the type of cricket being played - Test cricket is going to produce a lot more conversational commentary than ODI and from my few viewings of T20 this is all about screaming into the microphone like a child when a six is hit, which is pretty often. The fourth is the ridiculous numbers of people who have to swap ever 5 minutes to supposedly keep us entertained. Commentary is much like a batting partnership, it takes a while to get established but once it is, it needs to keep going at the pace of the game. If someone breaks a partnership, the new partners need to start again. It would be far better for the number of commentators to reduce so each pair did an hour rather than the 20 or 30 minutes they do now. The really good commentators were those that could balance providing words that enhanced what was happening on the field. If that meant referring to incidents in the past, they'd do so, but not at the expense of living a dream. I still believe Kerry O'Keefe is one of the best going around. He can adjust his style to the game but has that wicked sense of humour available if needed. A few more like him, would help the game mightily
peeeko
Roar Guru
i am going to miss Michael Clark this summer