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Rank your country's commentary team

quincywagstaff

Well-known member
Blewett has to be the blandest Oz commentator going around. Has been doing domestic cricket comms for years but I don't think I can ever recall anything noteworthy he's ever said.

Agree that Lee has been better than expected on Fox. Match has been pretty good from what I've heard on 7.
 

Lillian Thomson

Well-known member
Robert Key is the worst commentator ever on Sky. His horrible voice isn’t necessarily his fault but he’s boring, dull and has no insight into anything.
 

Line and Length

Well-known member
Richie Benaud - 9 - The master. Knew when to let the images tell the story. Commentary should add to what is seen, not tell us what we have seen. Richie knew when to say nothing.

Michael Slater - 7.5 - Has grown into the role.

Tony Greig - 7 - Good but allowed personal biases to intrude.

Bill Lawry - 7 - Over-excitable but entertaining.

Ian Healy - 7 - Greatly improved.

Mark Taylor - 6 - Can be too analytical. Needs to let the images do the talking.

Mark Nicholas - 5 - Middle of the road.

Ian Chappell - 4 - Painfully opinionated and guilty of living in the past.

James Brayshaw - 3 - Too many flaws.

Shane Warne - 1 - ... and that's being kind.
 

Adders

Well-known member
Slater?? Serious? The rest I can pretty much get on board with but Slater?

I think the complete opposite, he was great for CH 5 in 2005 but ever since 9 got hold of him he's turned into their second worst (only topped by Warne)
 

Flem274*

123/5
mark nicholas is the worst. i can get behind having people who are wrong to be angry at for their terrible opinions (chappell, warne), but i haaaaate nicholas's mix of bias and patronising, greasy head pats to the opposition.

of the new box mark waugh and shane warne stand out, in a bad way.

to review our lot

ian smith - a national treasure, hopelessly emotional and often incoherent but his passion for the game oozes from every roll. he also manages to commentate with genuine empathy for all players on the field. the only thing he needs to do better is fight back better when surrounded by chumps like warne and co.

simon doull- a traitor to his nation during the wc semi, cheerleading india with the rest of the bent comms desperately guzzling *** for an ipl gig. puts on a stupid accent when he wants to sound sophisticated. is known to be a very interesting human in his home town. occassionally makes a decent point, and is a very interesting bowling analyst.

mark richardson - his tory ravings and wannabe mike hosking personality are leaking into his cricket commentary which is a shame because the appeal of his commentary in the early days was how happy and enthusiastic he was despite often being a sarcastic bastard. he needs to quit his newshub gig so he can go back to saying words that make sense rather than shilling for boomers.

scott styris - chill, insightful and steady. has made a good start to his commentary career.

craig cumming - probably the most often correct commentator of the nz box and he mixes it with a chill demeanor and empathy for the players, but his strong accent will prevent him from obtaining overseas gigs and im not sure he even wants them. is a subtle troll, and still refers to the nz trio as 'wagner, boult and southee'. he also engages with the female comms the most and has the most 'equal' conversations, which is a nice change from the likes of doull pretending they don't exist.

kyle mills - he's reasonable but he's hampered by having a boring voice that is also hard to distinguish from the voice of james franklin.

debbie hockley and the other female comms - honestly they need to settle on a couple of comms rather than rotating them through. hockley has been there for several years now and tbh she is fine, if lacking in both confidence and piercing insight. it's good sky are trying to diversify but i think they should bring in pro female talent with broadcasting gigs rather than ex-players. the male ex-players are usually bad enough, and the women can't be expected to be any better plus have the added pressure of being 'the woman' in the booth.

grant nisbett - a voice of new zealand sport, a national treasure who is an absolute professional and a good caller of the play by play despite rugby being his specialty. not a big analyser due to being a pro broadcaster but what he does he does really well.
 

honestbharani

Well-known member
I am not sure about Simon Doull shilling etc. but his analysis on IPL in the cricbuzz live are some of the best cricket analyses I have seen. He has good reads and views on the game when he could be arsed, I think.

And yeah, more power to the female commentators, they take away the whole blokey "hey remember when we were team mates" stuff from most comm boxes. Ebony seems good but yesterday is the first time I have heard her commentate, Isa Guha is ok too when she is not side tracked into tangential non cricketing discussions, Anjum Chopra is bland but has good views and reads on the game, Mel Jones is somewhat captain obvious but still better than most other comms and same with Lisa Sthalekar(sp?).
 

morgieb

Well-known member
I am not sure about Simon Doull shilling etc. but his analysis on IPL in the cricbuzz live are some of the best cricket analyses I have seen. He has good reads and views on the game when he could be arsed, I think.

And yeah, more power to the female commentators, they take away the whole blokey "hey remember when we were team mates" stuff from most comm boxes. Ebony seems good but yesterday is the first time I have heard her commentate, Isa Guha is ok too when she is not side tracked into tangential non cricketing discussions, Anjum Chopra is bland but has good views and reads on the game, Mel Jones is somewhat captain obvious but still better than most other comms and same with Lisa Sthalekar(sp?).
Jones is good, but I really don't rate Sthalekar. Don't really get what she adds, though in fairness Mel Jones is probably the only Aussie female commentator who's voice doesn't annoy me.
 

honestbharani

Well-known member
The most refreshing thing they bring to the table is that it breaks up the whole team-mates banter stuff that a lot of these commentary boxes devolve into. Maybe there will be a day when so many of the female comms were team mates and it descends to a locker room talk from their side. But right now, 2 of them with 3 of these blokeys and a couple from the visiting team sounds like an ideal comm box to me, irrespective of where the game is played. Maybe add in a neutral ex-player if possible.
 

TheJediBrah

Well-known member
The most refreshing thing they bring to the table is that it breaks up the whole team-mates banter stuff that a lot of these commentary boxes devolve into. Maybe there will be a day when so many of the female comms were team mates and it descends to a locker room talk from their side. But right now, 2 of them with 3 of these blokeys and a couple from the visiting team sounds like an ideal comm box to me, irrespective of where the game is played. Maybe add in a neutral ex-player if possible.
Would love to hear the female locker room talk.


Actually maybe not
 

SteveNZ

Well-known member
he can go back to saying words that make sense rather than shilling for boomers.

scott styris - chill, insightful and steady. has made a good start to his commentary career.
This first sentence seems ironic to me...what the hell is shilling for boomers?

But the second point works. Scott Styris is the best commentator we have. Insightful, measured, doesn't favour players too much, more than happy to be critical but can also praise in equal doses, does excitable very well without going overboard, he's just outstanding. Interesting because he was a **** on the field, but comes across as a fine bloke in the box.

Debbie Hockley is horri-bad, incidentally. The most obvious, cliched, add nothing to pictures commentary. Lesley Murdoch isn't bad, spose nor is she that great. The worst of all time was when they decided to give Francis Payne air time. Never again.
 

SillyCowCorner1

Well-known member
I have to say, I love how the game ended with Holding and Bishop In the commentary box today.

Bishop is a consummate professional,
Holding is a technical assessor of the game, but can sometimes deliver peaches like the ?balance out? of Campbell today lol
 

morgieb

Well-known member
Has he? If we're talking about the Ian Healy who kept for Australia, he was a 1 the last I heard him. And I'm pretty sure that was last summer.
I barely remember him commentating on Fox. When I have heard him on there he's been a little bit better than what he was on 9, but that's a very low bar TSTL.
 

Arachnodouche

Well-known member
Holding trips over his words far more now that he's older. Also get the feeling he's more at home with Jamaican patois (naturally) than the polished front he has to put up during commentary; he slipped into that rhythm for a couple of secs during his BLM address and I had to rewind to get his drift. Still, that little analysis of how Archer generates his speed makes everything worthwhile. If I was a kid still with stars in my eyes, I'd be bracing that front leg every time I let a ball go.
 
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SteveNZ

Well-known member
I barely remember him commentating on Fox. When I have heard him on there he's been a little bit better than what he was on 9, but that's a very low bar TSTL.
Haha yeah...in terms of a high jump analogy, that would be placing the bar below the mat in terms of setting a benchmark.
 
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