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Sports Commentators (non-football) (Part 2)
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AR1983
17-07-2013
Originally Posted by stevebluejay:
“
I didn't know that Slats was doing the Footy Show now, i used to watch it in the Setanta days, quite a good laugh sometimes, he has become quite versatile now. How long has he been doing that for?
”

He started last year. It's him, Fatty and Daryl Brohman mainly now.
pakokelso93
17-07-2013
Originally Posted by AR1983:
“Channel 9 used to many years ago, but the last two ashes series over there have been on SBS which is quite a cheap channel (?). They took Channel 4 and then Sky coverage themselves. This is the first time its been back with Channel 9 and they aren't even showing it on the main network. Its on a Channel called GEM which is kind of an equivalent of ITV putting it on ITV 4 I suppose.

It's also on FOX Sports in Australia, who are also taking Sky commentary.”

Hmm ok, thanks. I thought maybe it was just Aussies this time around binning their coverage down the pecking order due to low expectations or something.
AZ fan
17-07-2013
Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“What are people's thoughts on Andrew Strauss in the Sky Comm box ?

Personally I think he is on too much. There seems a lot less Nasser and Michael Atherton and to be honest I would sooner hear from them. Strauss offers insight but he doesn't have the personality to carry off the commentary role. I much prefer Michael Vaughan.”

It does seem that Sky are trying to give Strauss every opportunity to impress, maybe in a bid to get him to stay beyond the next Ashes series in Australia. For what it's worth, I like listening to Strauss as he gives good insight into what thought processes he went through when he was captain and being recently retired, he injects a freshness into the box. That said, Sky have too many now and I hope they do not go down the road of Channel Nine in having three in the box at one time.

Originally Posted by stevebluejay:
“I think it is a needless gimmick and i think has been brought in mainly because of the overload of commentators we have now.

Sky are innovative but this seems pointless to me, maybe it has been brought in to explain to the casual fan what is going on, but aren't we all cricket fans if we are tuning in?”

In theory, the idea of superimposing Hawkeye over a pitch sounds good but the problem in practice is that whenever they try to do a practical demonstration of one of the batsmen facing a virtual Hawkeye delivery, they cannot see the tracking so they're just taking a stab in the dark. A better option might be to get one of those Merlin machines, which can replicate any bowler.

Originally Posted by The Difference:
“Saturday 13th July - Sky Sports 1

Live Super Rugby
Anyone find themselves watching any of these games at the weekend? I don't normally watch the Super 15 but found myself tuned in to a bit of the Waratahs v Reds game on Saturday morning. I'm putting it down to post-British & Irish Lions withdrawal symptoms.”

I watched a bit of the Crusaders game, which was quite entertaining but I don't get the same buzz that I would from NRL for instance. I am surprised (but pleasantly so) to see such legends of the game like Lynagh and Fitzpatrick analysing what in the grand scheme of things (Sky Sports) are low profile games. I take it they are based in the UK for other reasons.

Originally Posted by Jason C:
“Shame Sky didn't take a leaf out of 5's book and get an Australian in their commentary box for the whole series.”

Agree but they have enough in the box as it is. This point (and the recent film on BBC4 about Packer, which was outstanding) brings a tinge of sadness as it reminds me of my favourite Australian commentator - David Hookes.

Originally Posted by stevebluejay:
“Thought it was quite a poor show, surprised they didn't wheel out Mike Brearley and Ray Illingworth to add to the collection of Sky England captains in the booth, poor Mikey Holding who is excellent must have felt right out of place.

Oh for the days of Richie Benaud, that is one reason why it is a pity there is no live cricket on terrestrial TV, when Richie hung up his UK microphone.

I know that Shane Warne was unavailable to poker commitments, but why not have Michael Slater or someone like that to fill in. I know that the booth was full by adding Strauss but why not an Aussie for balance instead.

Channel 9 have Mark Nicholas and he is excellent and balanced whoever he is commentating on, no wonder they extended his contract.

The cricket was brilliant but i thought that some of the commentary was lacklustre.”

When all is said and done, I think Sky's commentary is outstanding. A lot of Australians said they preferred the more understated approach to Nine's bluster and advertising of other (non-sport) shows on the Nine Network. Sky do love their ex-England captains, even promoting Bob Willis as one of them, which while technically true, is stretching things to the limit. Who next? Mark Butcher?!

Mark Nicholas divides a lot of people and even me. He has a wonderful knowledge of the game and is very versatile in seamlessly shifting between a commentator and an anchor so while I can appreciate it, I do find him annoying sometimes because he's cricket's equivalent of Peter "Wordsmith" Drury. If I want that, I'll tune in to Countdown and Susie Dent.
Darren Lethem
19-07-2013
I have noticed today that the Sky Cricket commentary pairings are doing shifts of between 20-25 mins rather than 30. To get everybody in i guess
Ian Cleverly
19-07-2013
Rob Hatch and Chris Dennis covered the Summer Universiade closing cermeony for British Eurosport, with Tim Caple and Martin Gillingham doing an athletics event from Lucerne.

Martin and Chris Dennis are currently covering the European Junior Athletics Championships in Rieta, Italy.
coventrywooo
19-07-2013
Tennis ESPNHD
Copa Claro Colombia
Nick Lester and Arvind Parmar
kentkiwi
19-07-2013
[quote=AZ fan;67166532] Sky do love their ex-England captains, even promoting Bob Willis as one of them, which while technically true, is stretching things to the limit. Who next? Mark Butcher?!
QUOTE]

Why is it "stretching things to the limit" to describe Willis as an ex-England captain? He was captain for the 1982 and 1983 English seasons and for the winter tours of 82/83 to Australia and 83/84 to Pakistan and NZ, handing over to David Gower when he was injured in Pakistan. He was England captain for 18 Tests.
Darren Lethem
20-07-2013
[quote=kentkiwi;67231336]
Originally Posted by AZ fan:
“ Sky do love their ex-England captains, even promoting Bob Willis as one of them, which while technically true, is stretching things to the limit. Who next? Mark Butcher?!
QUOTE]

Why is it "stretching things to the limit" to describe Willis as an ex-England captain? He was captain for the 1982 and 1983 English seasons and for the winter tours of 82/83 to Australia and 83/84 to Pakistan and NZ, handing over to David Gower when he was injured in Pakistan. He was England captain for 18 Tests.”

And in a Cricket World Cup too
Gazza1982
20-07-2013
If/when they start referring to James Tredwell as an England captain is when they will be stretching things to the limit.
coventrywooo
21-07-2013
Sky Sports Darts Matchplay
Dave Clarke with Eric and Wayne, thats all i know but one thing
Sky are using John Part as a commentator bout time!!!!!!!!
Darren Lethem
21-07-2013
Originally Posted by coventrywooo:
“Sky Sports Darts Matchplay
Dave Clarke with Eric and Wayne, thats all i know but one thing
Sky are using John Part as a commentator bout time!!!!!!!!”

Might only be for the weekend as both Nigel Pearson and Rod Harrington are missing for now
The Difference
21-07-2013
Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“Might only be for the weekend as both Nigel Pearson and Rod Harrington are missing for now”

I don't know about Rod Harrington, but Nigel Pearson has been in Prague over the past few days commentating on the FIM Speedway World Cup Final for British Eurosport along with Kelvin Tatum. Nigel has posted on Twitter that he is heading to Blackpool tomorrow and will be commentating on Sky Sports' coverage of the World Matchplay between Monday and Friday.
The Difference
21-07-2013
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st July - Sky Sports 1

Live Super Rugby Qualifying Finals

James Gemmell presented alongside Michael Lynagh (both days), Sean Fitzpatrick (Saturday) and Thinus Delport (Sunday)

Crusaders v Queensland Reds (Saturday) - Tony Johnson and Justin Marshall, with Jeff Wilson providing "sideline comments" and Scotty Stevenson conducting interviews (as Sky Sport New Zealand)

ACT Brumbies v Central Cheetahs (Sunday) - Greg Clark, Phil Kearns and Rod Kafer (as Fox Sports Australia)

I enjoyed Justin Marshall's punditry contributions to Scrum V during his time as a player at the Ospreys and it seems that this broadcasting apprenticeship has served him well going forward into a full-time media career. I thought his co-commentary stint on Saturday was excellent.
Gordie10
22-07-2013
Originally Posted by stevebluejay:
“I think it is a needless gimmick and i think has been brought in mainly because of the overload of commentators we have now.

Sky are innovative but this seems pointless to me, maybe it has been brought in to explain to the casual fan what is going on, but aren't we all cricket fans if we are tuning in?”

I think it (the Ashes Zone) is more to do with Sky trying to get a "Sky Pad" into every sport they produce live coverage of, after seeing how popular it was on Monday Night Football a few years ago.

Originally Posted by The Difference:
“Anyone find themselves watching any of these games at the weekend? I don't normally watch the Super 15 but found myself tuned in to a bit of the Waratahs v Reds game on Saturday morning. I'm putting it down to post-British & Irish Lions withdrawal symptoms.”

I occasionally drop into these if the Crusaders are playing, coz my sister-in-law is from Canterbury and my brother (now her husband) lives with her there. (I provided a nice little service for them when they were on holiday here back in May, by having them round to my flat to watch a Crusaders game on my telly. )

Originally Posted by stevebluejay:
“Oh for the days of Richie Benaud, that is one reason why it is a pity there is no live cricket on terrestrial TV, when Richie hung up his UK microphone.”

The Aussies practically hide Benaud in the background these days. He can barely get a word in edgeways during the Channel 9 coverage, and always seems to be the "third commentator" of the 3 when he's on the air.

Originally Posted by AZ fan:
“I am surprised (but pleasantly so) to see such legends of the game like Lynagh and Fitzpatrick analysing what in the grand scheme of things (Sky Sports) are low profile games. I take it they are based in the UK for other reasons.”

Yeah - they're regular pundits, so they must be based here.

Originally Posted by AZ fan:
“Mark Nicholas divides a lot of people and even me. He has a wonderful knowledge of the game and is very versatile in seamlessly shifting between a commentator and an anchor so while I can appreciate it, I do find him annoying sometimes because he's cricket's equivalent of Peter "Wordsmith" Drury. If I want that, I'll tune in to Countdown and Susie Dent.”

Yeah - I find myself dividing my own opinion on him too. He almost comes across as a bit TOO neutral sometimes!

Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“I have noticed today that the Sky Cricket commentary pairings are doing shifts of between 20-25 mins rather than 30. To get everybody in i guess”

I think it's more about having 5 commentary stints per session, instead of 4 (or 6 instead of 5 post-tea with the inevitable extension of the session due to a slow over rate). With 8 commentators, 4 stints per session would be enough, but I think they just want to shuffle it up a bit more.
Tony Yeboah
22-07-2013
Sunday 28 July on RTE Two

Cork v Kilkenny and Galway v Clare- Michael Lyster is joined by Cyril Farrell, Liam Sheedy and Tomas Mulcahy to present. Commentary by Ger Canning and Donal O'Grady
pakokelso93
22-07-2013
Mark Nicholas is outstanding for me, top class. Million miles better than Gower.
coventrywooo
22-07-2013
Originally Posted by pakokelso93:
“Mark Nicholas is outstanding for me, top class. Million miles better than Gower.”

i find Gower very boring..
jazzydrury3
22-07-2013
Originally Posted by coventrywooo:
“i find Gower very boring..”

I wouldnt miss Gower if he wasnt there, i associate Ian Ward more with cricket, than i do Gower.

To me Ward is the face viewers see most of, if youre into Sky Domestic Cricket anyway.

I assume Ian is being lined up to the main guy once Gower goes.

I got into cricket mid late nineties, so havent even really seen what gower played like
Ian Cleverly
22-07-2013
Robert Hatch and Brian Smith are doing the Tour of Wallonie for British Eurosport, whilst Rob has tweeted to say that Carlton (Kirby) will be on Eurosport's La Vuelta coverage as commentator.

...and Simon Golding and Chris Snode are on the Diving section of the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona for British Eurosport. (and yes Simon, I can remember watching the Diving from Athens in 2004 with you and Mike Brown as well!)
The Wanderer
23-07-2013
Originally Posted by jazzydrury3:
“I wouldnt miss Gower if he wasnt there, i associate Ian Ward more with cricket, than i do Gower.

To me Ward is the face viewers see most of, if youre into Sky Domestic Cricket anyway.

I assume Ian is being lined up to the main guy once Gower goes.

I got into cricket mid late nineties, so havent even really seen what gower played like”

I have to say I prefer Ward too, even though I've nothing particularly objectionable against Gower, who still has quite a few years in him anyroad.
pakokelso93
23-07-2013
Originally Posted by coventrywooo:
“i find Gower very boring..”

He is a bit dull, but slavers away too much also. Not keen on any of the presenters really. Ward bit dull for me too. Allot is ok. Colville I didn't mind but he and Bob Willis' club is grating now.
Ian Cleverly
24-07-2013
Here's a new one for this thread:-

Spain v Russia (Women's Water Polo, Barcelona) (Tuesday)

Mark Tompkins and Alan Anderson for British Eurosport (HD)
Bhaveshgor
27-07-2013
is Ian Smith working on the Chiefs vs the Crusaders match.
coventrywooo
28-07-2013
Originally Posted by Darren Lethem:
“Might only be for the weekend as both Nigel Pearson and Rod Harrington are missing for now”

boom and we have Mr Part again for the final.... they need to use him more
Alex2606
28-07-2013
Originally Posted by coventrywooo:
“boom and we have Mr Part again for the final.... they need to use him more ”

Probably worth re-pointing out that tonight will be John Gwynne's final appearance on the darts, so well worth tuning in for a period later
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