• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Commentary

AaronK

Well-known member
yep.. commentating has been really poor...

i dont know why guys like Tony Graig, Robin Jackman, Ravi shastri, Ramiz Raja and Waqar younis aren't commentating they are soo good..
 

masterblaster

Well-known member
I pretty much disagree with the above. I've enjoyed the commentary a lot more in this tournament than in the IPL. The commentary there was just cringeworthy. The commentary here has been sensible, focused and generally talking about the cricket and not just waffling on about sponsors, bollywood and money.

I'd rather listen to Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Ian Bishop, Ian Chappell and Harsha Bhogle anyday as compared with the people mentioned above. Anil Kumble has been a very pleasant addition to the commentary box as well.

I've found his commentary fascinating to listen to so far and with the amount of experience he has and his cool, calm and common sense approach to cricket, I'm looking forward to hearing him commentate throughout this tournament.
 

Uppercut

Well-known member
I pretty much disagree with the above. I've enjoyed the commentary a lot more in this tournament than in the IPL. The commentary there was just cringeworthy. The commentary here has been sensible, focused and generally talking about the cricket and not just waffling on about sponsors, bollywood and money.

I'd rather listen to Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Ian Bishop, Ian Chappell and Harsha Bhogle anyday as compared with the people mentioned above. Anil Kumble has been a very pleasant addition to the commentary box as well.

I've found his commentary fascinating to listen to so far and with the amount of experience he has and his cool, calm and common sense approach to cricket, I'm looking forward to hearing him commentate throughout this tournament.
Being better than the abomination that was served up in the IPL is not the measure of good commentary.
 

PhoenixFire

Well-known member
I don't have anything against people that don't speak English well as a language that isn't their natural tongue, as I am pretty useless at speaking foreign languages, but why do SS continually pick people that don't speak English particularly well to commentate. Not only that, but they rarely have something inciteful or interesting to add. Sky Sports just assume that if someone has played international cricket, then they must be a good commentator. I could name about 15 people who are contributors to CW that I would rather listen to that have never played international cricket than some people who don't speak English as their first language and have played test cricket for 10 years.
 

Jungle Jumbo

Well-known member
I don't have anything against people that don't speak English well as a language that isn't their natural tongue, as I am pretty useless at speaking foreign languages, but why do SS continually pick people that don't speak English particularly well to commentate. Not only that, but they rarely have something inciteful or interesting to add. Sky Sports just assume that if someone has played international cricket, then they must be a good commentator. I could name about 15 people who are contributors to CW that I would rather listen to that have never played international cricket than some people who don't speak English as their first language and have played test cricket for 10 years.
I'm with you here and would have posted something similar if I could articulate the point as well as you. I sympathise with a lot of the Asian commentators who clearly struggle with their English - they can add very little and making mistakes with syntax/vocab doesn't look too good. They end up just stating the obvious.

Don't think Sky are to blame here though - it's ESPN and they seem to have gone with almost a 'one country, one commentator' strategy.
 

PhoenixFire

Well-known member
I'm sure that people like Anil Kumble could add some very interesting points if they could speak good enough English to articulate them. Sanjay Manjreakar is an exception TBF, he has excellent English and can pretty much speak it perfectly.
 

masterblaster

Well-known member
I'm sure that people like Anil Kumble could add some very interesting points if they could speak good enough English to articulate them. Sanjay Manjreakar is an exception TBF, he has excellent English and can pretty much speak it perfectly.
Overall I agree that commentators should be proficient enough in English. That just enhances the quality of your presentation. I disagree though on the Anil Kumble comment, his English is pretty good and he speaks it rather fluently. Wasim Akram's English on the other hand is quite poor and he can definitely improve.
 

Uppercut

Well-known member
Overall I agree that commentators should be proficient enough in English. That just enhances the quality of your presentation. I disagree though on the Anil Kumble comment, his English is pretty good and he speaks it rather fluently. Wasim Akram's English on the other hand is quite poor and he can definitely improve.
Funny, i've never had a problem with not being able to understand someone's commentary. I probably would have before I came to Manchester because none of my friends back in Ireland were Indian or Pakistani, but i wouldn't think it would be a problem for Indian people.

Wasim's generally crap commentary is a bit of an issue though.
 

duffer

Well-known member
I understand Wasim just fine, but him and Waqar really struggle to be coherent in English at times. Though they have improved a bit they shouldn't be near an English commentary box for a long time.

Really don't see the issue with Kumble though. He is fluent in the language and articulates himself just fine. Better than a lot of people I know who seem to get on just fine.
 

irfan

Well-known member
Bhogle is far too prone to hyperbole. The Indian Mark Nicholas, if you will.
AWTA, at times - distracts from his commentary skills a bit. Loving Bish at the moment - maybe it's the accent but his voice is very smooth on the ear and he articulates his point very well.
 

longtom

Well-known member
Generally I liked the commentary and found it knowledgable at a lot of times.
Having said that, I also found it a bit dusty (dry) at times - well - a lot of times tbh. Also I agree that a commentator should be knowledgable and should speak English well enough to be understood by all of the audience, he/she also is supposed to entertain just a tad and carry the vibe of the action on the field over to us poor fellows in front of the tv/radio.
I missed that a bit so far. I won't comment on commentators from other countries, but Keppler Wessels is case in point for me. He is probably right up there as far as knowledge of the game is concerned - but boy, he talks you into a deep slumber, even after a hattrick...

Also I don't like guys who fuel on hype only, a bit more of "excitement" (for want of a better word) would be nice.

I hope you all can read my accent....8-)
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Can't agree Kumble struggles with English. Of all the Asian comms who don't have English as their first language his command seems the most fluent to my English ears.

I quite enjoy his understated, calm style. He needs a cheer leader beside him or it would become a bit too sonambulant, but his English seems first rate.

Bhogle's is excellent as well, although he's obviously cut from a more excitable cloth than Anil. He does seem to have the same problem with English as a lot of Germans tho in that he can't pronounce the "v" sound; his "versus" & "very" become "wersus" and "wery".
 

Jamee999

Well-known member
Can't agree Kumble struggles with English. Of all the Asian comms who don't have English as their first language his command seems the most fluent to my English ears.

I quite enjoy his understated, calm style. He needs a cheer leader beside him or it would become a bit too sonambulant, but his English seems first rate.

Bhogle's is excellent as well, although he's obviously cut from a more excitable cloth than Anil. He does seem to have the same problem with English as a lot of Germans tho in that he can't pronounce the "v" sound; his "versus" & "very" become "wersus" and "wery".
I'm pretty sure it's the other way round for Germans - because "w" is pronounced as "v" in German, they pronounce "Wales" as "Vales".

You may be thinking of Russians.
 
Top