Cricket, Channel 9,
Summer
I HAD great hopes for this cricket season based on the Twenty20 matches – not that I got to watch that much of them but the little I saw gave me hope.
I’ve not been a fan of the Channel 9 commentary team for a long, long time. As a cricket fan and a female one at that, I find myself cringing within an hour of turning on the cricket and heading to the mute button while the other hand is turning up the ABC radio coverage.
Sure I’m dazzled by the camera angles and the new technology and it was great to hear the third umpire actually deliberating but when it comes to the commentary it seems the more things change the more things stay the same.
Watching the Twenty-20s it felt like a true generational change – though of course Richie is always Richie and his voice will be missed in the commentary box this year. It’s just not cricket without him (like cycling without Phil Liggett and motor racing without Murray Walker).
But the addition of several recent retirees has really given the team a lift and none more so than current Australian women’s captain Meg Lanning who lined up alongside a host of former male stars including Shane Warne and Mike Hussey.
Despite being in her early twenties, Lanning offered great insight into what would be going through a captain’s head and some of the strategy that she suggested was just what Clarke ended up employing. It was an impressive debut and was heartening for a cricket fan male or female to see.
Next door in the ABC commentary box there were two recently retired women also commentating and it seemed like a major glass ceiling had been breached.
As a former grade cricket manager, scorer and cricket writer it was nice to see women being taken seriously – unlike the Kate Fitzpatrick fiasco of the ’80s where Channel Nine brought in the actress and she spent her time interviewing the crowd. Here was insightful, balanced commentating and not just from Lanning. There seemed, for once, to be good balance.
I’m a big fan of Michael Slater as a commentator – he is fun yet informative – just what you need – and balances out the droning of Mark Taylor and the annoying smugness of Mark Nicholas (once described by Kerry Packer as the “thinking woman’s crumpet” – which has always summed up Nine’s attitude to female viewers to me).
However after a promising start Lanning is on Australian duty and rather than finding another retired player to add into the mix we were back to the boys’ club. Which is fine when there is good rapport and insightful commentary (as is evident with the Big Bash commentary on Fox/Ten).
But on Sunday afternoon during the second one-day match it seemed we were back to the bad old days with the “boys” spending quite some time commenting on a cake cooked by one of their wives and suggesting which wife should step up and provide the next cake.
Mind you by the evening it seemed they were back on an even keel and actually offering insights on the game – so maybe there is hope yet? Baby steps I suppose, but at least we still have the ABC commentary if it doesn’t improve.
– Tania Phillips
