Latest / The Front / High-tech – and hilarious – cricket commentary

Transcript

High-tech – and hilarious – cricket commentary · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the Front.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: I'm Kristin Amiot. It's Monday, December twenty nine, twenty twenty five.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: The voices that defined summer for generations of Australians Richie Benno,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Tony Greg, Bill Lourie and others. Now a new generation
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: of cricket commentators is heralding the game into a new,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: high tech and sometimes hilarious era. Today, The Australians Media
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: editor and big time cricket fan James Madden reflects on
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: cricket's storied.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Broadcast history and the path forward.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: For one of the nation's favorite games. So, James, most
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: listeners to the Front will know you as The Australian's
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: media editor. But last time we talked about cricket broadcasting
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: on the Front, it was also revealed you have a
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: pretty solid Richie Beno impression.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Yes, it was a It was an overcast in Melbourne
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: and the Victorians were sent into bat after losing the toss.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: They're in early trouble at about two to thirty.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: I believe you can tell a lot about a person
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: by who they think is the voice of the summer.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Who is that for you? When it comes to the cricket.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Great question and you know, if you'd asked any Australian
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: twenty years ago, it would have been Richie alongside his comrades,
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Tony Bill all the rest of the gang.
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: It's two for two through two right shut off, a
• 1:32
  Speaker 5: big right over the top the little mans.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: It's a big gulla for six.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Gone again. Oh there she goes. That's a twelve and.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: Live roller would have about as much of an effect
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: as a couple of Koala bears doing the part of
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: the come more football.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: He's put his foot straight down the line, the ball
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: swung down the line.
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: There it is great moment history of Australian Test cricket.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: It's been a marvel's game here.
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: But these days, in the last decade cricket commentary has
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: really evolved and some of the technology used in some
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: of these cricket broadcasts is phenomenal. And it's not just
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: you know nicks on the bat or ball tracking technology.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: It's whether or not the batsman his body is in
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: the right position to actually be playing a certain shot.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: It's crazy.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: So the technology has added a lot and it's come
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: a long way since Tony Gregg used to stick the
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: key in the pitch to determine if there were cracks
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: or if there was moisture in the wicket. These days
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: you've got the lights of Adam Gilchrist Mark Wore, both
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: those guys on Foxtel alongside others. Seven's got Ricky Ponting,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer. ABC Radio has got Darren Lehman,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: who not only a former Test player but also former coach.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: So a lot of these former players of the later generation,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: after the Benot's and the Chapels and the Greggs and
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: the Lorries, it's almost as if the next generation of
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: former players and now at the forefront of commentary. And
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: that's a pretty great thing because they have of unparalleled
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: insight into the game. To take nothing away from the
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: commentators such as Jim Maxwell, who is on ABC Radio
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: and has been fantastic for decades.
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: Paddy Hoardy, everybody here, we are having a bit of fun,
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: aren't we. That's you love wickets falling in games of cricket.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: But people might recall Shane Warn.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: A lot of people probably have forgotten since his death
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: how great a commentator he was. He could see the
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: game two steps ahead, more so than probably anyone I've
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: ever heard. So not only was he our greatest Test bowler,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: he's also probably one of our great commentators, but that's forgotten.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: So I think, given that the game has changed a
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: lot since the sixties and seventies, it's great to have
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: more modern commentators in a way calling the game.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: We've also seen as great of the women's game have
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: retired and moved into commentary.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: We've had Lisas Delaka, Isha Gua.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: We've even got between games the current Women's Test captain
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Alyssa Heay jumping into the country box.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: How do you think that's in acted the way people
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: watch cricket.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: The women's game itself has just gone from strength to strength.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: It's amazing, and it's on all the time. Like the
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Big Bash. The women's Big Bashes too, seems to be
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: always on, which is fantastic.
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Who doesn't love cricket every day of.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: The year and they I believe it was a couple
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of years ago the men's Big Bash season was shortened
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: because just the amount of cricket that they are playing
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: at the moment, but the women elected to keep that
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: longer season.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: They are playing dozens of games every.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Summer and it's rating ats socks off too, which is interesting.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: So there's a real appetite to watch the women's game.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: The fact that there's so many female commentators is also
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: brilliant for the game, both the men's and the women's.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: And I can remember it was a long time ago,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: back in the eighties there was a lady called Kate
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Fitzpatrick who briefly had a role on the Channel nine
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: commentary team and all hell broke loose. It was a
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: different time, but of course there was all this predictable
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: criticism that what would a woman know.
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: About cricket all the rest of it.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: That narrative is so far gone thankfully now and we've
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: got men and women commentating across men and women's games
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: and it's fantastic and it's good for the listener and
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the watcher too.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: What do you think it is about the cricket commentary
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: that is unique?
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Obviously you need people who can both entertain and bring
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: those really deep insights that you mentioned, sometimes up to
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: five days, unless it's England in the first Ashes test.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: What is it about the cricket commentary that makes it
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: different from other sports?
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: The key difference is you've got to fill in the gaps.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: I suppose, like any sport, you've got to be able
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: to call the action, and people do it differently. Richie
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: had that beautiful, understated manner, and then there's someone like
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: James Brayshaw on Channel seven and Triple M who's great,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: but he becomes hysterical at times, which is entertaining. But
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: it's very far removed from cricket commentary of the past.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: But I think the one factor across all the commentators
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: is that you need to be able to talk and talk,
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: because I think there's a statistic once that about eighty
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: percent of the game of a day's test cricket, nothing
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: is happening. There is no live action, so that's eighty
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: percent of seven hours where you have to talk. And
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: obviously everyone's been in the car and they've listened to
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: ABC and Triple AM and even back in the Channel
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: nine Bill Laurie used to talk about the pigeons and
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: that sort of thing, and on ABC Radio there's a
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: lot of talk about birthday cakes and where the commentators
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: had dinner the previous night, and it's actually very entertaining
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: of itself, nothing to do with cricket a lot of
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: the time, So it's entertainment. You have to entertain for
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: seven hours. And all these guys and girls that I've
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: mentioned in the commentary positions, they know cricket inside out.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Can they add that entertainment factor? Not all of them can,
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: but the very good ones have to.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Sometimes.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: I think it's what is not said as well that
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: is equally powerful. We all saw Stuart Broad's face in
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: the broadcast of the first Ashes Test in November. It
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: was just that look of pure I would say humiliation.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: He might not say that, maybe regret for some of it,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: despair some of the comments.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: That he'd made.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: The former player most recently added to some of the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: commentary teams has been David Warner. He only retired last summer.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: How's he faring and what do you think he brings
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: to the mix?
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: The interesting thing I suppose about Dave Warner is, as
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: you say, he's not even twelve months out of the game,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: so he is expected, obviously to offer at times fairly
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: harsh appraisals of players with whom twelve months ago he
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: was sharing a dressing room. There was a moment in
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: the Pertest I think where there was controversy surrounding was
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: been Kwaja and whether or not he should retain his
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: place in the team. And Warner was who was a
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: great mate of Cowaja's, indeed a childhood friend of Cowaja's.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: I thought handled it quite well, was fairly diplomatic, but
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: pointing out the challenges that Kwaja faces. So that's something
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: that somebody like Warner and even some of the other
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: commentators who haven't been out of the game so long
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: have to traverse. It's only natural they don't want to
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: dump on their mates publicly, but at the same time
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: they're paid and paid well to offer pretty strident analysis
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: of what's going on.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: That's a tricky thing for some commentators.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I thought it was interesting when Osmond Kwaja was off
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: the field and therefore not able to open the batting
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: for Australia in the Perth Test, that he actually told
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: a story where he said, this has happened to.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: Me, and in a way that goes to what we
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: were saying before in terms of filling the space of
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: a broadcast. Some of these ex cricket players, and they've
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: all got so many stories, even if it's so keep
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: talking about how he drank twelve beers with Rod Marshall
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: on the eve of a test or Daby want to
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: talking about some technicality is a game. It fills the
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: space because there are so many stories that accompany this
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: game and these ex players. It's Taylor made for a
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: few back in my day stories.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Someone. We cannot have this conversation in this day and
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: age without talking about someone who's become a bit of
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: a cult hero online, and that's Kerry Okey, also known
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: as Skull. What do you make of the particular brand
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: of chaos the Skull brings to the commentary.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Well, probably he was launched off the back of his
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: unique laugh.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: And nobody laughs at Skull's jokes.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: He as much a skull, That's true. That's true, and
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: there's a certain skill to that as well.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: If I could talk technically, Jim, this pitch is drier
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: than a Teetotler's Christmas.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Is brilliant addition to any commentary team he's on. Obviously,
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: he cut his teeth as a commentator with ABC going
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: back quite some time, and now he's a real staple
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: of Fox Tell, a very important team member. I suppose
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: he plays in a way the court jester role. But
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: again he's a former test player of some note and
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: has brilliant insights into the game. I think the brilliance
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: of him is that when he's doing a piece to
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: camera or even offering commentary, you're never quite sure it's
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: there's going to be a real, really inappropriate gag or
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: just a real zinger at the end of a sense,
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: or if it's just going to peter out into a
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: fairly normal observation.
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: It's a special day because people come for it. It's
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: a reunion day, and there's a buzz in the crowd
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: prior to the first ball, and everybody watches the first
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: session and then they go drinking out the bag. So
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: keep the crowd shots tight for the second and third session.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Coming up.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Why broadcasters still want the cricket.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Last time we talked about the cricket broadcasting in general, well,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: there was a big question mark over who would get
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: the broadcast rights that, as I understand it is now
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: locked in for the next few years. We've got Channel
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: seven has the free to air rights, Fox Sports is
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: on streaming, and then ABC Grandstand has the radio broadcast rights.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Is the cricket and particularly the longer formats, which some
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: people might argue are falling out of favor with viewers.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: For something faster, more entertaining like T twenty.
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: Is it still.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Attractive to broadcast has given just the sheer volume of
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: it and the sheer length of it.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, Test cricket is valuable to broadcasters. Last season when
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: Australia played India in five Tests out here, that did
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: amazing numbers for TV and radio, and then certainly in
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: the first Test in Perth, even though it only lasted
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: two days, I think it was up sixty percent on
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: the India Test the same time twelve months back, so
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: those numbers are astonishing. It was unfortunate for the broadcasters
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Seven and Foxtel that was only two day tests in
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Perth because they would have lost advertising revenue and eyeballs
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: and momentum and all of that.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: But cricket is very valuable.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: The three big sports rights in Australia are AFL, NRL
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: and cricket. Crickets unique insofar as when India or England
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: are in Australia it's an absolute bonanza. They are the
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: two biggest Test playing nations apart from Australia and obviously
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: they attract a lot of support given for a start,
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: the number of Indian supporters out here and same with England,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: and it's always competitive. So when those teams are out
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: here in our summer, it's a gold mine for the broadcasters.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: When you've got teams that don't have as much support,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: let's say Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand, those
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: summers by the broadcasters are considered down summers because they're
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: just not in the same ballpark as in India England series.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: So I suppose with the broadcast rights it's never going
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: to be gangbusters every single season, but increasingly Australia is
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: playing India more often, so that helps the coffers of
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: the broadcasters and of Cricket Australia.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: Mm hmmm.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: James Madden is The Australian's Media editor. You can read
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: all the latest in the cricket right now at the
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Australian dot com dot au