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.