talkSPORT at the Test Review: South Africa v England
The England cricket teams successful cricket tour of South Africa, was the
fifth overseas tour which talkSPORT has now had live and exclusive radio
rights for beating the BBC's Test Match Special on each occassion.
With Five Test matches and Seven One Day Internationals, the commentary
team of Jack Bannister and Chris Cowdrey were joined by former England
Captain & Channel 4 commentator Michael Atherton and 1981 Wisden cricketer
of the Year, former South African international, Robin Jackman. With a relatively
small commentary team and such a busy schedule, there were additional slots in the commentary box given to South African and former BBC commentator Neil Manthorpe, producer Andrew McKenna and extended chats with South African legend and well-renowned cricket God, Barry Richards. Despite the continued negative attitude which some Test Match Special listeners seem to have toward talkSPORT at the Test, in my opinion, the commercial station delivered a more than competent rival to its BBC equivalent.
Whilst the debate rages on as to whether, cricket should be available on radio commercial free or not, what cannot be argued against is the constant improvement and standard of talkSPORT’s cricket commentary and coverage. Indeed in a recent on-air chat with Hawksbee and Jacobs, Jack Bannister admitted that the tour to South Africa had been “the best in every sense” from a radio broadcaster point of view.
Personally, at the start of the tour I worried that the station would lose its youth appeal. Tony Greig and Mark Nicholas, has both been so instrumental in giving talkSPORT a different dimension to any of its rivals, but both were unavailable to work for talkSPORT this Winter due to television commitments in Australia. However, the silver lining to the cloud that quickly dispersed was Mike Atherton. As an England captain he was seen as negative, silent and even dour, something that could not be levelled at former talkSPORT cricket commentators such as Geoff Boycott. Yet in the commentary box, he has been somewhat of a revelation. Since retiring from the professional game, Atherton has gained a great deal of credibility and experience working for Channel 4 as an instrumental commentator during their coverage of home test matches and he has also been used on the same station as an expert on their Cricket Roadshow programmes. In the company of other illustrious seasoned experts and experienced commentators like Richie Benaud, Barry Richards and Mark Nicholas, Atherton sometimes has struggled to distinguish himself particularly on television, yet he seems to stand out with eminence on the radiowaves. A graduate from Cambridge University, Atherton was one of the last of a dying breed of intellectual cricketers heralding from more of a middle class background. Yet it is his clear intelligence, vast vocabulary and apparent ease behind the microphone which makes him so seamless and enjoyable to listen to.
An area where talkSPORT has rightly been criticised in the past, has been in relation to its description of the externalities of cricket (such as flying cormorants, fluctuation of nearby gas stations and the gradually drunken behaviour of the crowd which is such a feature of TMS), this is something that Atherton brings into his commentary somewhat and heaven forbid may even go some way to appeasing the cucumber sandwich TMS brigade.
Whilst there is no news as yet, as to who has secured the rights for England's next tour to Pakistan and then India in the Winter of 2005/06, it will be very interesting and perhaps a great opportunity for talkSPORT to continue to enhance its reputation as a serious and quality broadcaster of cricket.
With full commentary of domestic cricket in the form of the ever-popular Twenty20 Cup competition planned to be starting in the Summer of 2006 on talkSPORT, cricket could perhaps find itself with a new traditional home for cricket on the airwaves.
talkSPORT at the Test Review: South Africa v England
By Aaron Porter
February 2005 |
