do you think he will present the french open for them?
if he does it will be good, he should be given more of a role at sw19!!!

Well with Andrew Castle not so busy as he was, i think he may do some presenting - sadly

ahh good point, but i would like to see John insted,
or knowing ITV they will just use Matt Smith.....

I haven't watched the 4-man event yet, but Eurosport are on site for this, in years gone past it was John Morgan who used to do the interviews, before this year taking over the directing role. Is this what your on about?

Andrew Castle is a top broadcaster!

I dont know to be totally honest Ian as I only switched it on at the end. I thought it was the commentator doing the interviews and translations as they usually do on Eurosport. The interviews looked like they were for the Bobsleigh association. I will be interested to know what you think when you see it

Snooker BBC Red Button/BBC2
Monday Matches
Mark Allen v Adrian Gunnell
John Virgo And Willie Thorne
Judd Trump v Dominic Dale
John Parrott And Dennis Taylor

Sunday Night
Shaun Murphy v Li Yan
John Virgo And John Parrott

Sunday 4th December - BBC Two Wales

Scrum V

Ross Harries presented alongside Jonathan Davies and Tom Shanklin

Wales v Australia - Eddie Butler and Brian Moore, with Sonja McLaughlan conducting post-match interviews
Leinster v Cardiff Blues - Nick Webb and Phillip Matthews
Ulster v Scarlets - Jim Neilly and Ryan Constable
Ospreys v Munster - Gareth Charles
Newport Gwent Dragons v Glasgow Warriors - Phil Steele
Shane Williams feature - Rick O'Shea

After watching it *finally* this morning, I thought it was a bit odd them asking questions in English, and the German and Russian competitors answering back in their native language, with their being no translators nearby. The only reasoning I can come to is that the questions are pre-prepared, or that Martin Haven had a translator speaking into an earpiece (which seems unlikely). I see from Martin Haven's twitter account that he is to be main commentator for the FIBT, with Eurosport UK taking the coverage from that.

Got to say, I much preferred John Morgan doing the 4-man bobsleigh over David Kurtz who did the 2 man bob and the skeleton events. Like Dean Macey before him his voice brings over so much enthusiasm to the sport, so, with every competitor you see you are wishing along with him to win.

As an aside, If you are watching Eurosport, and a live event starts late and they decide to show a bit of "Eurocrash", John Morgan is the voice you'll hear when the programme gets to the Wintersports section, and is usually the last clip you'll see - where *I think* a Latvian bobsleigh flips over before regaining itself, and you'll hear John Morgan saying 'I don't think there's anything wrong with him (when the camera points at the driver)(or words to that effect) apart from a slight concussion"

The Fight of Their Lives, Gabriel Clarke's documentary about the Nigel Benn v Gerald McClellan world title fight from 1995 shown on ITV1 last night, was compelling viewing - comfortably the best piece of sports television I've seen this year. Regardless of whether you're a boxing fan or not, it is well worth catching either on the ITV Player or ITV4's extended cut of the documentary a week on Wednesday if you missed it last night.

This is a rather insignificant observation and question given the aftermath of the fight, but it is the Sports Commentators thread so I'll ask. On the documentary last night they used clips and commentary from both ITV and Showtime's live coverage of the fight. On the night, Jim Rosenthal presented ITV's coverage from Wembley alongside Barry McGuigan, Reg Gutteridge and Jim Watt commentated with Gary Newbon reporting. Does anyone know who covered the fight for Showtime?

Bruce Beck and Bobby Czyz hosted. Steve Albert and Dr Ferdie Pacheco commentated.

Showtime showed the fight on tape delay, the broadcast went ahead as planned despite the fact McClellan had been rushed to hospital.

Thanks for the quick reply Tony. Was Steve Albert the Showtime interviewer we saw talking to Nigel Benn after the fight? I know it's often the case on North American networks that the commentators double up as their interviewers in the ring afterwards.

Dr Pacheco did the Showtime interview. He was adamant on the commentary that McClellan had 'quit,' despite Ferdie being a physician who was one of those most qualified to spot the danger signs in McClellan during the fight.

On the documentary I was a little surprised how they showed Barry McGuigan being very critical of those who had called McClellan a quitter and then editedit to suggest he was particularly talking about Jim Watt, which i don't think was McGuigan's intention.

Steve Albert is brother of legendary NBA and NFL commentator, Marv Albert.

Thanks again Tony for both the information and the further details. I came to the same conclusion as you about McGuigan's criticisms of the "quitter" comments, thinking back I can only recall hearing Watt talking about McClellan quitting but not Pacheco on the documentary last night.

I knew I recognised Steve Albert's name: he's the uncle of Kenny Albert, the son of Marv and an MLB on Fox commentator who has covered all four of the traditional North American team sports for national television in the States.

India v West Indies - 1st ODI (Tuesday 29th November)

Presenter: Ian Ward
Pundits: Robert Key and Jimmy Adams

Commentary from BCCI/Nimbus Sport team of Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Arun Lal, Ian Bishop and Jeff Dujon

Rob Key was stuck in traffic so only Jimmy Adams was in the studio with Ian Ward before the start of the match

Bangladesh v Pakistan - Twenty20 International (Tuesday 29th November)

Presenter: Paul Allott
Pundits: Vikram Solanki and Geraint Jones

Commentary from Nimbus Sport team of Athar Ali Khan, Shamim Chowdhury, Ramiz Raja, Ranil Abeynaike and VB Chandrasekhar

Australia v New Zealand - 1st Test (Thursday 1st December - Sunday 4th December)

Presenter: Matt Floyd
Pundits: Ian Harvey and Jeremy Coney

Commentary from Channel Nine team of Ian Chappell, Richie Benaud, Mark Taylor, Michael Slater, Ian Healy, Ian Smith, Tony Greig and Mark Nicholas

Bangladesh v Pakistan - 1st ODI (Thursday 1st December)

Presenter: Paul Allott
Pundits: Ed Joyce and Vikram Solanki

Commentary from Nimbus Sport team of Athar Ali Khan, Shamim Chowdhury, Ramiz Raja, Mohammad Akram, Ranil Abeynaike and VB Chandrasekhar

India v West Indies - 2nd ODI (Friday 2nd December)

As per 1st ODI

Bangladesh v Pakistan - 2nd ODI (Saturday 3rd December)

Presenter: Paul Allott
Pundits: Shaun Udal and Vikram Solanki

Commentary from Nimbus Sport team, as per 1st ODI

India v West Indies - 3rd ODI (Monday 5th December)

As per 1st and 2nd ODIs

Bangladesh v Pakistan - 3rd ODI (Tuesday 6th December)

As per 1st ODI

Thursday 8th December - Amlin Challenge Cup
Alex Payne presenting with Stuart Barnes, Ieuan Evans and Dewi Morris as the guests in the studio.

Newcastle vs Toulon (Sky Sports 1)
Commentators: Johnnie Hammond and Dean Ryan

Friday 9th December - Heineken Cup

Alex Payne presenting from the Twickenham Stoop with Ieuan Evans and Will Greenwood as the guests in the studio, Scott Quinnell also did some pitchside analysis before the game and then went onto 'The Front Line' for the match.

Harlequins vs Toulouse (Sky Sports 1)
Commentators: Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes

Cardiff vs Edinburgh (Red Button)
Commentators: Scott Hastings and Pat Sanderson

I don't know if this helps, but watching the re-run of the latest round of the Skeleton tonight, it was definitely Martin Haven doing the post-race interviews and handily the questions were answered in English!

I've just watched it on ITV Player and it was brilliant and moving television. An excellent documentary. And I came across the entire original ITV programme on YouTube - very interesting to see how Gary Newbon's interview with the victorious Benn developed as the situation in the ring unfolded, including Newbon completely drying as he tried to temper Benn's victory speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr24...8&feature=plcp

This thread is continued here: Sports Commentators (non-football) (Part 2)