2012/13 Nine Commentary team bagging thread

[Caesar]

I think they have to drop this notion that you must be an ex player to be a commentator.

Then you end up with Fast Eddie and whoever the C9 equivalent of Hammer McLachlan is.

 

[Parquet Court]

Then you end up with Fast Eddie and whoever the C9 equivalent of Hammer McLachlan is.

is he that much worse than a BT or duane ??

what would you rather AIDS or cancer??

seems to come down to this a lot, clinton grybas was a great caller and non player.

i think you need to have played the game at a decent level but not the elite level

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Harsha Bhogle says no.

 

[Caesar]

Occasionally you get a good commentator who isn't an ex-player (e.g. Bhogle, Haigh) but we wouldn't end up with them. We would end up with the same generalist 'professional commentators' who are reeled out for every sport where they are short on experts.

Non-expert commentators struggle to add any insight into what you're watching. Look at Sandy and Bruce at the Australian Open every year - reduced to just narrating what we're watching, repeating the score, and reeling off endless statistics. You would literally rather listen to silence than their drivel.

They're tolerable for footy where you need a play-by-play caller to identify players, explain umpire decisions etc. That job can be done by someone without any deep knowledge of the way the game is played. But for cricket and tennis it's superfluous.

 

[Tassieboy]

Haigh would be interesting to listen to considering his cricket writing prowess.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

What we need is a team full of BigFooty posters calling the game. Now that really WOULD be crap

 

[Parquet Court]

ian healy's favourite word, "coz"

mitchell johnson has taken wickets today coz he pitched it up.

love listening to him try and speak, he hates asian people as well

 

[Underarm]

Did I just hear Taylor call kumar sangakarra a 'novice' keeper?!

 

[Caesar]

If he did, he was making a joke.

 

[Father Jack]

Maybe he heard Chappelli say it.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

i think all in all, the new wave of commentators are just too casual.

i mean calling people by their nicknames, talking about their glory days too much etc:

you would never hear bill lawry or richie benaud call each other "billy" or "dick" or something. its getting too matey, mark nicholas keeps the formality in the presentation but is let down by everyone else bar chappell

You might hear Bill and Tony call each other "dick" on occasion.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Did I just hear Taylor call kumar sangakarra a 'novice' keeper?!

"Noice". He said Sangakarrais a "noice" keeper.

 

[peternorth]

why do commentators feel the need to commentate as the bowlers running in, and as the ball's released/ batsman plays?

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Heals Fail with that wicket

 

[Wallaby]

Did anyone notice the bit just after the start of the Australian innings? Ian Chappell went with the 'David Warner is the kind of guy who could give Australia the lead tonight, if he gets going'. He went on for about 2 minutes in this vein. Well, derr Chappelli, but I guess you have to fill in time.

Then he handed over to his co-commentator, Taylor (who had been on air the whole time), who started off with 'The big wicket for Sri lanka would be Dave Warner, because if he gets going, Australia could have the lead by tonight'. Anothwer minute.

I just looked at the cat, and the cat looked at me, and we both thought 'We have no idea what's going on in the box there'.

But I do know that David Warner is the kind of guy who, if he gets going,.................................

 

[Simple Jack]

Did anyone notice the bit just after the start of the Australian innings? Ian Chappell went with the 'David Warner is the kind of guy who could give Australia the lead tonight, if he gets going'. He went on for about 2 minutes in this vein. Well, derr Chappelli, but I guess you have to fill in time.

Then he handed over to his co-commentator, Taylor (who had been on air the whole time), who started off with 'The big wicket for Sri lanka would be Dave Warner, because if he gets going, Australia could have the lead by tonight'. Anothwer minute.

I just looked at the cat, and the cat looked at me, and we both thought 'We have no idea what's going on in the box there'.

But I do know that David Warner is the kind of guy who, if he gets going,.................................

Connoisseur of the game, your cat?

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Warner got out, and Australia don't lead tonight. Therefore, they were all correct.

 

[Scotland]

Non-expert commentators struggle to add any insight into what you're watching. Look at Sandy and Bruce at the Australian Open every year - reduced to just narrating what we're watching, repeating the score, and reeling off endless statistics. You would literally rather listen to silence than their drivel.

The problem is that the correlation between ex-player and expert commentator is very low.

In cricket and footy we have ex-players who are now paid to analyse the game and pass comment that struggle with both facets.

The Channel 9 commentary team is basically held together by the personalities of the old guard and the behind-the-scenes statistician. Taylor, Slater, Healy etc. are interchangeable and largely disposable. To most they are ex-players who we remember from the last 10-20 years that do some commentary each Summer because they are ex-players. Everyone loves Richie. Everyone loves the Bill and Tony show. Everyone Ian Chappell loves Ian Chappell. 'Looking forward to the cricket this Summer. Good series against the Saffers, a few beers on the couch, listening to Slats and Heals' said no cricket fan ever.

What we need are more paid professionals in the media who are good at what they do. I personally couldn't give a shit whether I'm listening to a 100 test veteran or someone who made a 50 once in grade cricket, I just want them to (a) know what they're talking about, and (b) be able to communicate.

 

[Caesar]

I agree that a lot of ex-players are pretty rubbish, but I'll take them over the likes of professional non-experts like Hamish/Bruce/Sandy any day.

Honestly I think the biggest problem with cricket commentary is that there is so much time to be filled and only a limited amount of stuff you can really say. Even the popular ones like Greig and Lawry repeat themselves ad nauseum.

 

[Ducky Tie]

I agree that a lot of ex-players are pretty rubbish, but I'll take them over the likes of professional non-experts like Hamish/Bruce/Sandy any day.

Honestly I think the biggest problem with cricket commentary is that there is so much time to be filled and only a limited amount of stuff you can really say. Even the popular ones like Greig and Lawry repeat themselves ad nauseum.

Good points, I agree on both counts. It would be a lot easier for them if they just didn't talk as much. There is no need to fill the whole time. I'd be more than happy for them to be silent whilst the bowler is running in and through the delivery.

 

[Caesar]

Yeah, silence is really underrated.

When I was a kid we used to go to Port Macquarie for summer holidays, and often they didn't go to commercial at the end of every over. So while all the rest of the country was getting ads and the commentators were having a rest, we'd just get the sounds of the ground and footage of the fielders changing their positions.

It sounds boring but it was actually really good... gave you the feel of being at the match.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Yeah, silence is really underrated.

When I was a kid we used to go to Port Macquarie for summer holidays, and often they didn't go to commercial at the end of every over. So while all the rest of the country was getting ads and the commentators were having a rest, we'd just get the sounds of the ground and footage of the fielders changing their positions.

It sounds boring but it was actually really good... gave you the feel of being at the match.

It's sometimes like that with the Cricket Australia live streaming app. Can sometimes hear Clarke,Wade and co just talking to each other through the stump mics. Gives you a sense of the atmosphere.

 

[JUBJUB]

Did I just hear Ian Healy say "We assume [the tweet] it is from Kylie Clarke.....who lives with Michael Clarke" ?

 

[imadodgyumpire]

What we need are more paid professionals in the media who are good at what they do. I personally couldn't give a shit whether I'm listening to a 100 test veteran or someone who made a 50 once in grade cricket, I just want them to (a) know what they're talking about, and (b) be able to communicate.

I wonder if the ICC would ever set up a cricket media. Providing a universal coverage of all cricket which would include neutral commentators not necessarily only from competing countries?

Did I just hear Ian Healy say "We assume [the tweet] it is from Kylie Clarke.....who lives with Michael Clarke" ?

Would he ever say "James Courtney's ex"?

 

[Father Jack]

Healy and Tubby going on about how good Wade's net form is, sure enough Wade inevitably gets out for bugger all from a hook shot, Tubby says that's inevitably what happens when you are in such good form and try and hit everything. I say it's proof that 'net form' doesn't exist in any form relevant to test match batting and shouldn't ever be considered as worth mentioning.