During the T20 leg of this ongoing Australian visit, I noticed comments across various blogs on the supposed one-eyed nature of Ian Smith's commentary, and a couple of friends told me they felt the same. I'd generally regarded 'Smuthy' and the rest of the Sky NZ crew as being reasonably good at what they were doing, if not quite in the Richie Benaud or David Lloyd class, so this took me by surprise.
Still, I decided to pay closer attention during the Chappell-Hadlee series and I was rather appalled by what I could hear. The After Grog Blog suggests Smith is even more biased than Ian Healy; while I don't necessarily agree, it's a damning indictment for any commentator to be compared with Healy, and probably even justified in this case. AGB also points out the use of "our boys", "us", and "we" as an indication of Smith's utter lack of objectivity. But it was really his tonal shifts which had me cringing - blatantly euphoric when things were going the Black Caps' way, and brooding when they weren't. Was it always this way, I wonder. Did Smith, Simon Doull and the rest decide to take the cheerleading route overnight?
Despite being a fan of the 'classic' Channel 9 crew - Benaud, Lawry, Chappell and Grieg - I couldn't get over how biased they seemed during that period of Aussie dominance, the Steve Waugh and early Ponting eras. Then came "Under the Southern Cross I Stand" Heals and the sycophantic Mark Nicholas, who seemed completely in awe of the Baggy Greeners. I found it puzzling as to how a lot of Australian columnists and fans commenting in forums appeared not to notice any of this.
Perhaps all those years of watching your team tends to eventually blind you to what others can plainly see? If I don't hear an orgasmic exclamation as McCullum pulls one to the boundary again, it'll be too soon.
Addendum: Of the current crop of kiwi commentators, Mark Richardson is probably the best of the lot despite coming across as somewhat caustic. Simon Doull seems to be participating in his own private IPL audition at the moment, though the excesses of Danny Morrison remain a long way off. Jeremy Coney was a vital member of the team before deciding to divide his time between the UK and the IPL. And, can anyone tell me what happened to Grant Nisbett? The box would do with a dispassionate voice.
Top Cricket From The Second Tier
13 years ago
2 comments:
Thanks for pointing out what needed to be said. I just cringe and hope touring sides don't work out what channel to tune to for commentary from 'our boys'.
Smith and Waddle are quite bad - Coney and Rigor are the best.
There is a definite problem with former players working the commentary box while their ex-teammates are still playing - they can't help but cheerlead for the team they were recently in... no excuse for Ian Smith though ;(
Surely someone in NZ Cricket could runa training session for the commentators on neutrality? But then, we've just got local umpires for intl's again. Sigh. Partisan must be good for profits...
There was a commentator on the radio called (something like) Swallow. He was extraordinarily biased, too. Plus, he commentates like he is introducing songs or calling the time on FM music radio.
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