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Worst Commentators

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Let me get the ball rolling with these:

1. Mark Nicholas - laminated in a veneer of self-regard
2. Ian Botham - self-important, blokeish, ignorant, pompous
3. David Gower - unspeakably dull'; oddly, says "garn" instead of "gone"
4. Bob Willis - wrist-slashingly miserable.
5. David 'Bumble' Lloyd - professional Northerner. Imbecile.

Dreadful though numbers 2-5 are, there is clear blue water between Nicholas and the rest. Words can hardly describe how bad Nicholas is. His love for muscly Australians is legendary. He and they are welcome to each other.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Uh, gawd not again.

By-and-large, I like most cricket commentators - I don't feel cricket commentary is as exact a science as some do. Yeah, most stuff commentators say isn't particularly revelatory, but I honestly don't really like silence, which would be the case if commentators only spoke when they could add something.

Certain commentary teams just wouldn't feel right without certain people (C9 Lawry, Greig, Benaud and even Chappell who I can't stand; the old C4 UK Nicholas, Reeve, Benaud again; Sky Gower, Botham, Willis and Allott) IMO, simple as that.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Aye, this is a fairly regular topic I'm afraid. Usually about once every 3 or 4 months.

I would find the most recent example, but I CBA TBH. :p
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
OK.

BTW I think the reason for the popularity of this kind of subject is that commentators have a massive impact on viewers / listeners. They intrude into or enhance our cricket viewing so much. We resent those who are poor (although you seem to be pretty sanguine about them Richard!) and we love those who are good. And when the likes of Mark Bloody Nicholas are under your skin, you need to vent.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Mark Nicholas is possibly the most truly extraordinary case I've ever come accross in cricket commentary in how he divides opinion. Plenty think he's really good, plenty think he's woeful. With the likes of Ian Healy, Waqar Younis, Javagal Srinath etc. everyone just universally thinks they're awful, and some (Benaud, Laker) are almost universally loved. But MCJN divides it completely.

By-and-large, radio commentary > TV commentary for mine though. Part of that's because it has the chance to be. Nonetheless, HB, CMJ and Aggers > any TV team.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Mark Nicholas is possibly the most truly extraordinary case I've ever come accross in cricket commentary in how he divides opinion. Plenty think he's really good, plenty think he's woeful.

By-and-large, radio commentary > TV commentary, but part of that's because it has the chance to be. Nonetheless, HB, CMJ and Aggers > any TV team.
I salute you. Despite clearly having had this debate a thousand times, you're prepared to take the bait once again. A true cricket lover!

I agree about radio v TV. It's not just a question of opportunity though - the quality of the current crops of TV / radio commentators is very different too.

Aggers and CMJ are excellent. Vic Marks an under-rated gem.

When he did a guest stint on TMS a couple of years ago Stephen Fry was superb. However he's not been back since, and I guess he has other fish to, er, fry.
 

duffer

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I love these threads, but Ian Healy has to take this one out. Most blinkered wanker of all commentators I've ever heard. Sanjay Manjrekar is the smuggest, annoyingly self congratulatory Asian commentator out there, rivalling anything England can throw at us.

As Richard mentioned Waqar Younis too, the bloke knows his cricket but just can't articulate what he wants to say in English properly and it is painful trying to listen to it.
 

duffer

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Oh and special mention goes to the entire team in South Africa. Watching any series there you wouldn't know who the other team playing is if you went by the commentary alone, ridiculously homer.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
The worst all time commentator no matter what the platform is Graham Gooch. Every single sentence starts with or contains at least one "An uh". Even when Agnew says "Good morning Graham" Gooch says "Morning Jonathan and uh"
 

ret

International Debutant
Eng vs SA series .... would be the battle ground for some of the worst commentators
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Yeah, Healy, clearly. It's not so much that he's biased towards Australia, Lawry's as one-eyed as a trouser snake too, it's that he's also such a chippy, supercilious prick with it. Whatever Lawry's faults he very palpably loves the sport, but Healy gives off the vibe of a bloke who thinks he's doing the world a massive favour just by giving voice to his ill-considered opinions.
 

simmy

International Regular
How can you not like David Lloyd?!

Harmless, funny and surely its a good thing to hear from an ex-England coach???

I find the OP views very harsh and unjust.



DAVID GOWER does say "mighty" too much and even Nasser Hussain has started saying it now.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Healy's worst moment was in this match:

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/cbs/engine/match/291365.html

When Australia were around 4 or 5 down for **** all, he said something along the lines of "this is good for Australia, they need this loss, and let India go on top. Then they can regroup, win every game from here and win the finals and things will be back as they should be"

I was actually disgusted by it, it was just ridiculous. Not even trying to cover it up at all.

Other than Healy I severely dislike Sanjay Manjrekar, and I've made myself clear that i'm not a big fan of Nicholas, but he's not as bad as Healy or Sanjay.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
DAVID GOWER does say "mighty" too much and even Nasser Hussain has started saying it now.
Just like Laxman Sivaramakrishnan says the word 'very' waaaaaaaaay too much. Ridiculous.

Bumble rules btw. Light hearted, enjoys the game, and embraces the culture when he goes to Pakistan and India.
 

pasag

RTDAS
Healy's worst moment was in this match:

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/cbs/engine/match/291365.html

When Australia were around 4 or 5 down for **** all, he said something along the lines of "this is good for Australia, they need this loss, and let India go on top. Then they can regroup, win every game from here and win the finals and things will be back as they should be"

I was actually disgusted by it, it was just ridiculous. Not even trying to cover it up at all.

Other than Healy I severely dislike Sanjay Manjrekar, and I've made myself clear that i'm not a big fan of Nicholas, but he's not as bad as Healy or Sanjay.
Surely Healy's worst moment was when he mocked Nine's promotion of a Breast Cancer charity.
 

Flem274*

123/5
The worst I can think of right now:

Ian Healy
Simon Doull
Nasser Hussain
Michael Atherton (Richard to hunt me down and murder me)
Martin Crowe when he's in crybaby mode (other than that he's fine)

Yeah, can't really recall any bad ones I've heard from non-Aus, NZ or English networks. NZ need to go on a tour to the other places me thinks.
 

steds

Hall of Fame Member
Reckon Hussain and Atherton are two of the better English commentators, actually.


Can remember a short but disastrous spell from Alec Stewart at Channel 4 after it came out that Dermot Reeve enjoyed the odd bit of cocaine.
 

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