Commentators top 10
Rob Malpass
I am fed up with most of the commentators thesedays, particularly the BBC
Test Match Special team so I've decided to compile the best 10 commentators
in the world (that I've heard). Please feel free to respond :
1) Tony Greig - Hillarious, always exciting and a good knowledge of the game.
2) Richie Benaud - Always positive
3) David Gower - At least he's a recent player
4) Tony Cozier - Knowledgeable and not boring
5) Ian Chappell - Utterly fair (whenever I've heard him).
6) Bill Lawry - "Border, in the air, big hit, 6, massive hit on the MCG,
that is a BIG hit". Need I say more!
7) Geoff Boycott - Not afraid to speak his mind.
8) Ravi Shastri - New voice, but very positive.
9) Chris Martin-Jenkins - At least he's accurate.
10) Brian Johnston - Not my particular fave, but he knew EVERYTHING.
998) Henry Blofeld - Too many favourites, e.g. Tendulkar and Lara and no
time for any other players.
999) Jack Bannister - So BORING - thought medium pace trundlers were God's
gift to Cricket.
I've made no distinction between commentators and summarisers, but this
should give us a starting point.
BTW : Those of you who haven't heard Jack Bannister don't know how lucky you
are.
--
Ravi Aron
Three people that I would have in my list:
1. Trevor Bailey
2. John Arlot
3. Dicky Ratnagur
Ravi
John Hall
In article <835477...@getiton.demon.co.uk>, Rob Malpass
<R...@getiton.demon.co.uk> writes
My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
2. John Arlott
3. Richie Benaud
4. Brian Johnston
5. Geoff Boycott
6. Tony Cozier
7. Trevor Bailey
8. Jim Laker
9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
10. Robert Hudson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
I've omitted Pat Murphy, who's pretty good IMO, because for some reason
he's not allowed on TMS but has to make do with other BBC radio sports
programmes. I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
--
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick
themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
Natarajan Ramasubramanian
In article <4qij5t$4...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>,
People on my list
1. Ian Chappell
2. CMJ
3. The early Narottam Puri
4. Dicky Rutnagur
5. Keith Stackpole
--
---------------------------------------
Not now Marjorie, I am inspecting
---------------------------------------
Ramaswamy
On Sun, 23 Jun 1996 12:04:44 +0100 John Hall <jo...@jhall.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
>In article <835477...@getiton.demon.co.uk>, Rob Malpass
><R...@getiton.demon.co.uk> writes
>>I am fed up with most of the commentators thesedays, particularly the BBC
>>Test Match Special team so I've decided to compile the best 10 commentators
>>in the world (that I've heard). Please feel free to respond :
>>
>>1) Tony Greig - Hillarious, always exciting and a good knowledge of the game.
>>2) Richie Benaud - Always positive
>>3) David Gower - At least he's a recent player
>>4) Tony Cozier - Knowledgeable and not boring
>>5) Ian Chappell - Utterly fair (whenever I've heard him).
>>6) Bill Lawry - "Border, in the air, big hit, 6, massive hit on the MCG,
>> that is a BIG hit". Need I say more!
and he finishes in the single digits in the ranking??
>>7) Geoff Boycott - Not afraid to speak his mind.
>>8) Ravi Shastri - New voice, but very positive.
>>9) Chris Martin-Jenkins - At least he's accurate.
>>10) Brian Johnston - Not my particular fave, but he knew EVERYTHING.
>>
997) Vizzy -- He couldn't even finish last on this list!
>>998) Henry Blofeld - Too many favourites, e.g. Tendulkar and Lara and no
>> time for any other players.
>>999) Jack Bannister - So BORING - thought medium pace trundlers were God's
>> gift to Cricket.
>>
>>I've made no distinction between commentators and summarisers, but this
>>should give us a starting point.
>>
>>BTW : Those of you who haven't heard Jack Bannister don't know how lucky you
>>are.
>>--
>
>My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
>hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
>different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
>different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
>
>1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
>2. John Arlott
>3. Richie Benaud
>4. Brian Johnston
>5. Geoff Boycott
>6. Tony Cozier
>7. Trevor Bailey
>8. Jim Laker
>9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
>10. Robert Hudson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
I can't rate any of the recent comms because I rarely hear descriptions,
only chatter and even I can manage that. My list is quite short, and quite
obsolete:
1. John Arlott
2. Alan McGilvray
3. Brian Johnston
>I've omitted Pat Murphy, who's pretty good IMO, because for some reason
>he's not allowed on TMS but has to make do with other BBC radio sports
>programmes. I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
>and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
Didn't know Greig was Australian! :-) At least he's enthusiastic.
Cheers,
Ramaswamy
John Hall
In article <31cd6ce5...@news.ultranet.com>, Ramaswamy
<ra...@ultranet.com> writes
>I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
>>and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
>
>Didn't know Greig was Australian! :-) At least he's enthusiastic.
Well, yes. Hysterical would be the word I would use.
Sumit Majumder
John Hall (jo...@jhall.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
: hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
: different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
: different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
: 1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
: 2. John Arlott
: 3. Richie Benaud
: 4. Brian Johnston
: 5. Geoff Boycott
: 6. Tony Cozier
: 7. Trevor Bailey
: 8. Jim Laker
: 9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
Harsha Bhogle. I think he is very good too, the best Indian
commentator I have heard (apart from the summarisers). He
is also the author of Azharuddin's biography.
: 10. Robert Hudson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
: I've omitted Pat Murphy, who's pretty good IMO, because for some reason
: he's not allowed on TMS but has to make do with other BBC radio sports
: programmes. I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
: and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
: --
: Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
: "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick
: themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
--
Sumit
Raja Jasti
John Hall wrote:
>
> My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
> hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
> different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
> different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
>
> 1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
> 2. John Arlott
> 3. Richie Benaud
> 4. Brian Johnston
> 5. Geoff Boycott
> 6. Tony Cozier
> 7. Trevor Bailey
> 8. Jim Laker
> 9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
You probably are refering to Harsha Bogle, right? he is pretty decent.
> 10. Robert Hudson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
>
> I've omitted Pat Murphy, who's pretty good IMO, because for some reason
> he's not allowed on TMS but has to make do with other BBC radio sports
> programmes. I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
> and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
> --
> Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
> "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick
> themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."
Raja J.
Raja Jasti
John Hall wrote:
>
> My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
> hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
> different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
> different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
>
> 1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
> 2. John Arlott
> 3. Richie Benaud
> 4. Brian Johnston
> 5. Geoff Boycott
> 6. Tony Cozier
> 7. Trevor Bailey
> 8. Jim Laker
> 9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
You probably are refering to Harsha Bhogle, right? he is pretty decent.
FIRST LAST
You have got to be joking putting Tony Grieg on top, although the others
are not too bad. Grieg is a shocker and should be deported.
Ramaswamy
On 24 Jun 1996 03:09:23 GMT FIRST LAST <USER...@deakin.edu.au> wrote:
>You have got to be joking putting Tony Grieg on top, although the others
>are not too bad. Grieg is a shocker and should be deported.
Where to? New Zealand?? :-) You think Mt. Ruapehu needs a sacrifice?
Cheers,
Ramaswamy
John Hall
In article <31CE09...@earthlink.net>, Raja Jasti
<ra...@earthlink.net> writes
>John Hall wrote:
>> 9. Ashish Bogle (sp?)
>
Yep. I'd never seen his name in print, just heard him being introduced
as the next commentator on Test Match Special in this summer's
broadcasts..
--
George Bernard Shaw
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by
those who have not got it."
Mike Holmans
> John Hall wrote:
> >
>
> > My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
> > hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
> > different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
> > different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
> >
> > 1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
> > 2. John Arlott
> > 3. Richie Benaud
> > 4. Brian Johnston
> > 5. Geoff Boycott
> > 6. Tony Cozier
> > 7. Trevor Bailey
> > 8. Jim Laker
You're right, there is a generation gap. I never heard Alan Gibson as a
commentator, although there have been few newspaper reporters who have so
eloquently conveyed the atmosphere of a match from a spectator's point of
view (which is all I am).
I'd swap Johnston and Benaud in that list, myself, and I'd also put Don
Mosey in instead of Bailey. But if anyone were to try to mention the
abysmal Trueman, I wouldn't hold myself responsible for the consequences.
Mike "I don't know what's going on out there........ " Holmans
_________________________________________________________________
At various moments of the Test Match TV commentary, I swear I heard
Geoff Boycott complain that a batsman was boring and David Gower that
someone had got out to an irresponsible shot. The heat must have been
doing strange things to the imagination. - Matthew Engel, Wisden 1996
Rob Malpass
>You're right, there is a generation gap. I never heard Alan Gibson as a
>commentator, although there have been few newspaper reporters who have so
>eloquently conveyed the atmosphere of a match from a spectator's point of
>view (which is all I am).
>
>I'd swap Johnston and Benaud in that list, myself, and I'd also put Don
>Mosey in instead of Bailey. But if anyone were to try to mention the
>abysmal Trueman, I wouldn't hold myself responsible for the consequences.
>
>Mike "I don't know what's going on out there........ " Holmans
>
>
Don Mosey ? Wasn't he sacked for being racist ?
--
John Hall
In article <DtJnD...@cix.compulink.co.uk>, "\"Mike Holmans\""
<mike_h...@cix.compulink.co.uk> writes
>> John Hall wrote:
>> >
>>
>> > My list would be very different. Perhaps it's the generation gap. It's
>> > hard to compare radio and TV commentators, as the two jobs are very
>> > different. Also the commentating and expert summarising jobs are very
>> > different. Nevertheless, I've put them all in a single list.
>> >
>> > 1. Alan Gibson (radio, 1960s and 70s)
>> > 2. John Arlott
>> > 3. Richie Benaud
>> > 4. Brian Johnston
>> > 5. Geoff Boycott
>> > 6. Tony Cozier
>> > 7. Trevor Bailey
>> > 8. Jim Laker
>
>commentator, although there have been few newspaper reporters who have so
>eloquently conveyed the atmosphere of a match from a spectator's point of
>view (which is all I am).
>
>I'd swap Johnston and Benaud in that list, myself,
I think on reflection so would I.
> and I'd also put Don
>Mosey in instead of Bailey.
Mosey was always a bit too "chippy" for my liking. One always had the
feeling that he had an underlying contempt for most of his co-
commentators as effete southerners.
> But if anyone were to try to mention the
>abysmal Trueman, I wouldn't hold myself responsible for the consequences.
Agreed.
>
>Mike "I don't know what's going on out there........ " Holmans
I'd love the commentator one day to reply to him: "So what are we paying
you for, then?"
--
I don't know anything about music.
In my line you don't have to.
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Michael Cullen
ra...@ultranet.com (Ramaswamy), far, far away from here, appears to have
written:
>>I have to admit that I don't rate most of the Australians,
>>and think that Tony Greig is absolutely dreadful.
>
He's Not!!!! He's a South African Pom. :-) Actually, call him what you
want; just *don't* call him Australian.
cheers,
Mic. (http://www.iap.net.au/~tiger/)
Cross Purposes Studios (Web & Graphic Design)
Bob Dubery
<snip!>
>999) Jack Bannister - So BORING - thought medium pace trundlers were God's
> gift to Cricket.
>
>I've made no distinction between commentators and summarisers, but this
>should give us a starting point.
>BTW : Those of you who haven't heard Jack Bannister don't know how lucky you
>are.
Personally I hold Bannister in pretty high regard - as do most of us
here in South Africa. Yes he is fond of medium pacers, but most
players-turned-commentators seem to think that their modus operandi
was the best and still is. Witness Geoff Boycott who always has
something to say about batsmen taking "the aerial route".
I never - that I can recall - heard John Arlott "live". But I have
heard some recordings and the man was brilliant.
Bannister I enjoy: I think he's "understated" rather than "boring" - a
"Times" as opposed to Greigs "Sun".
I find Greig's constant hyperbole a bit too much, but he has a great
feel for and knowledge of the game and an eye for detail: He could
make a fortune by coaching batsmen in the arting of spotting Warne's
flipper. And I enjoy the way he takes the mickey out of Bill Lawry.
Boycott I like. He gained a lot of fans in South Africa last season
with his deadpan wit.
But my number 1 is .... anybody doing comms on IRC!
Bob Dubery
johannesburg
South Africa
Exepose
>
> I am fed up with most of the commentators thesedays, particularly the BBC
> Test Match Special team so I've decided to compile the best 10 commentators
> in the world (that I've heard). Please feel free to respond :
>
> 1) Tony Greig - Hillarious, always exciting and a good knowledge of the game.
pathetic weather wall they used to have on Aus. coverage...what the fuck
is a players comfort meter???????
> 2) Richie Benaud - Always positiveTHE BEST...remember him and Andy Hilditch in 1985...
> 3) David Gower - At least he's a recent playerNot as good as I would like
> 4) Tony Cozier - Knowledgeable and not boring
> 5) Ian Chappell - Utterly fair (whenever I've heard him).
> 6) Bill Lawry - "Border, in the air, big hit, 6, massive hit on the MCG,
> that is a BIG hit". Need I say more!
credit for players improvement grates too..otherwise good
> 8) Ravi Shastri - New voice, but very positive.Him and Boycott make a good team! Very articulate
> 9) Chris Martin-Jenkins - At least he's accurate.
> 10) Brian Johnston - Not my particular fave, but he knew EVERYTHING.
>
> time for any other players.
>
> I've made no distinction between commentators and summarisers, but this
> should give us a starting point.
>
> BTW : Those of you who haven't heard Jack Bannister don't know how lucky you
> are.
I always used to like hearing west indies summarisers like Michael
Holding and Roger Harper..so laid back you could smell the ganja!!!
REM Alan Knott in 1989...he had a fixation with helmets!!!!
Simon
Richard John Standing
Why do the BBC persist in paying for 2 commentary teams? Since a lot
of people who watch what little cricket is left on BBC TV turn the volume
down on the TV set and listen to TMS, why not just put the TMS
commentators on TV? With the current TV commentators, we seem to have
very long gaps in the commentary, with just a brief remark like "Good
ball!" every now and then. 2 or 3 balls can pass in complete silence. If
you watch any other sport, like football or motor racing, the
commentators are on the go all the time. BBC are paying Benaud ( one of
the less reluctant to speak ), Gower, Lewis and Boycott large amounts of
money not to say anything! Mind you, with Boykz that's no bad thing!
Surely the money could be better used to bid for more cricket. And
another thing. These 1 Day knockouts. It's possible to have 9 matches
going on at the same time. Sky show 1 ( 2 if we're lucky ). This leaves 7
matches not shown. Why can't the BBC show them. Not all that long ago,
BBC1 would show one semi-final and BBC2 the other. Surely there's enough
cricket for both Sky and BBC to show it.
jon ivar skullerud
> >In article <835477...@getiton.demon.co.uk>, Rob Malpass
> ><R...@getiton.demon.co.uk> writes
>
> >> time for any other players.
> >>999) Jack Bannister - So BORING - thought medium pace trundlers were God's
> >> gift to Cricket.
What about Trevor Quirk?
I haven't heard too much of him (thank God!), but perhaps some
of the South Africans here might care to comment?
--
______ ______________________________________
/ | |
| jon | jon ivar skullerud |
\______ | |
\ | jon...@th.ph.ed.ac.uk |
ivar | | http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~jonivar/ |
_______/ |______________________________________|
!!! What *IS* wrong with McDonalds? http://www.McSpotlight.org/
!!! Stop Australian nuclear dumping in Scotland
!! http://www.glen.co.uk/sand/austr.html
Mike Holmans
> BBC
> Test Match Special team so I've decided to compile the best 10
> commentators
> in the world (that I've heard). Please feel free to respond :
>
> 1) Tony Greig - Hillarious, always exciting and a good knowledge of the
> game.
"Hill-arious" in the sense of appealing to what used to be the worst
elements of the Hill at the SCG, presumably. How anyone could be ranked 1
in a preference list when they are regularly unable to give the most
basic detail, ie the current score, accurately is quite beyond me.
And "always exciting" just about sums it up. *Cricket* isn't always
exciting - there are frequently days when nothing much happens and there
is little to stimulate. But Cardus said that cricket, like a concerto,
isn't complete without the slow movement.
You show your age by not being able to mention at all the man who was the
greatest in my view, John Arlott, as I show mine in not being able to say
anything about Alan Gibson, rated by some as superior even to Arlott.
But Towny Grigg?? Give it a rest.
Mike "but 999 for Jack Bannister seems about right" Holmans
Mike Holmans
> Don Mosey ? Wasn't he sacked for being racist ?
No. He published some memoirs which were extremely scathing in their
criticism of the BBC, and Peter Baxter, producer of TMS, in particular.
As John Hall has hinted, there is an element of chip-on-shoulder
involved, especially against the southern English *public schools* and
how that network operates, but some of the mud seems fairly thrown.
But it was hardly surprising that his freelance contract for TMS was not
renewed thereafter. As for (at least apparent) racism, if that were a
criterion, we would be spared the abysmal Blofeld.
Mike "and Colin Croft, for that matter" Holmans
John Hall
100...@suma3.reading.ac.uk>, Richard John Standing
<spu9...@reading.ac.uk> writes
>
> Why do the BBC persist in paying for 2 commentary teams? Since a lot
>of people who watch what little cricket is left on BBC TV turn the volume
>down on the TV set and listen to TMS, why not just put the TMS
>commentators on TV?
Because TV and radio commentary are very different, or at least they
should be IMO. A radio commentator needs to be the eyes of the listener
and has to describe everything. A TV commentator who did that ("it's a
short ball on the off-stump") would drive you (or at least me) crazy. As
it is, many of the TV commentators (but not Richie Benaud) talk far too
much in my view.
> With the current TV commentators, we seem to have
>very long gaps in the commentary, with just a brief remark like "Good
>ball!" every now and then. 2 or 3 balls can pass in complete silence.
Not my impression, but as you can tell, were it the case I would approve
of this.
> If
>you watch any other sport, like football or motor racing, the
>commentators are on the go all the time.
Yes, and in many cases (Murray Walker, John Motson) they can become very
tedious. Football and motor racing are both much faster and "action
packed" than cricket, of course, so a different style of commentary may
be appropriate.
> BBC are paying Benaud ( one of
>the less reluctant to speak ), Gower, Lewis and Boycott large amounts of
>money not to say anything!
Quality of comment is what we want, not quality. Those who want more
talk can always, as you point out, listen to the radio whilst watching
the TV picture.
> Mind you, with Boykz that's no bad thing!
>Surely the money could be better used to bid for more cricket.
I suspect that the cost of the radio commentary is minimal. The biggest
cost is the money paid to the TCCB, with the cost of the TV cameras and
production team coming second. And even then TV sport is cheap to
produce in comparison to most other categories of programme.
> And
>another thing. These 1 Day knockouts. It's possible to have 9 matches
>going on at the same time. Sky show 1 ( 2 if we're lucky ). This leaves 7
>matches not shown. Why can't the BBC show them. Not all that long ago,
>BBC1 would show one semi-final and BBC2 the other. Surely there's enough
>cricket for both Sky and BBC to show it.
But there are a few people out there who don't like cricket, and
wouldn't be too happy to find it on multiple channels. Plus there are a
lot of other sporting events that also demand air time. And even using 2
channels how could the BBC show worthwhile amounts of 7 matches. I
wouldn't have thought that short snippets from each match in turn would
be very satisfying. Quite apart from the number of cameras and
experienced commentators you'd need to cover them all properly.
--
Few things are harder to put up with than a good example.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Rob Malpass
>
>You show your age by not being able to mention at all the man who was the
>greatest in my view, John Arlott, as I show mine in not being able to say
>anything about Alan Gibson, rated by some as superior even to Arlott.
>
>But Towny Grigg?? Give it a rest.
Indeed, I never heard "Arlo" live, but have heard some recodrings especially
on John Arlott's vintage cricket. I have no axe to grind with those that
think he's the best, but I simply disagree - given the choice of Greigy or
Arlott, I'd chose Greigy every time.
It's probably *because* I've never heard Arlott live. My introduction to
cricket came with Tony Greig commentating on *that* over in Brisband 1986-7
when Ian Botham hit 22 off Merv Hughes.
Of course Cricket is sometimes dull, particularly the last England India
test at Lord's, but for sheer excitement factor, Tony Greig gets my vote.
I will, however, admit that Arlott was the more accurate.
I missed Keith Stackpole out my original top 10. Did anyone see the
ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS Paul Hogan sketch called World Series War which
involved "Stacky". It had Sgt. Lillee bowling to the Khayatollah who was
hoisting his grenades over deep square leg with the butt of a rifle, and
the wooden Richie Benaud (played by Paul Hogan) said "Ooh, he's got that
one away." It's one of those things that crack me up every time I see it.
So, the majority applaud Arlott, but I prefer Greig - no accounting for
taste. ;-)
Rob
--