Originally Posted by shelsey93:
“I don't think Gilchrist was at Brisbane - he is doing Perth as it is his home ground. Taylor, Nicholas, Healy, Slater and Greig will have done every game but I'm not sure about the others either (I've been watching sky's coverage). However, in previous years to allow younger commentators like Warne and Gilchrist to do 1 or 2 matches in a season Lawry, Benaud and Chappell have missed at least one test. Having said that Warne may be working for Channel 9 full time this year. It is also possible Brett Lee and Michael Vaughan were doing only a single stint as guests (Channel Nine use guests for a single stint more frequently than other broadcasters), however I cannot confirm this as I only watched the ITV4 show for the first couple of days to see what they were doing with the highlights. Might be worth me watching again tonight to see what is going on..”
We get Channel 9's coverage here in New Zealand, so I can clarify a few of the issues raised about the commentary line-up.
The team for the first two tests was as follows: Nicholas (presenter and commentary), Greig, Taylor, Healy, Slater, Warne, Benaud, Lawry, Chappell. A two-tier system seemed to operating, with Benaud, Lawry and Chappell usually getting one spell in each session of play, while the others usually had two. If Gilchrist and Lee were heard in Brisbane and Adelaide, it would have been in a one-off slot. Lee is here in NZ at the moment, playing T20 for Wellington.
At Perth, Benaud and Lawry are "rested" with Gilchrist a full member of the team and Chappell getting an equal share of turns on the air. Interestingly, Lawry is frequently mentioned, with a Bill-impersonation contest between Taylor and Slater at one point on Saturday, but Benaud has not been mentioned. Vaughan has done a single 30-minute guest spell. He said that he'd been waiting since Brisbane but was only allowed on-air when England started to do badly.
I don't agree with an earlier comment of shelsey93 that Chappell is a cheerleader for the Aussies. Over the years he has been much more prepared to criticise the Aussies than most of his colleagues.
I don't like the three-man system that Channel 9 has been using for five years now. Two plus an analyst/third man is better. Sky New Zealand uses three commentators for domestic T20, but the team operates for the whole game, so they all get heard.