Top four worst commentators

And now my five four worst...


Jeff Dujon
Having kept wicket during the the golden era of West Indies cricket, Dujon could be excused for having a slightly warped view of his home nation's current standing in world cricket. That being said Jeff has made a unfortunate habit of stepping over the line on a few too many occasions.

In one disgraceful outburst during a domestic Twenty20 game between Leeward Islands and Guyana in January 2012, Dujon, turned away from the mic but clearly still audible, suggested with no apparent jest that Leeward Islands' wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton should be shot if his team went on to lose the game after the young gloveman made a hash of a run out opportunity. You can hear Jeff's encouraging words in the clip below.





Besides advocating the reintroduction of capital punishment, Dujon often spends his time reminiscing about the many beautiful women he's encountered over the years. While commentating alongside Nick Knight at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Dujon spotted a local canine running onto the field of play, prompting him to announce to the world that that he himself had been with a few dogs in his time.


Ian Botham
Ian Botham was a fantastic cricketer. An allrounder of immense instinct and flair. But whilst his instinctual prowess on the field was adored by all, his off-the-cuff approach to punditry is far less entertaining.

Never a genuine student of the game, his reluctance to do his homework often means he speaks before he thinks. Take a look at the video below. Skip to a minute in and you'll see what I mean.

Don't get me wrong I admire Beefy's conviction, but it seams to me that all those years in the limelight have made him into a lazy commentator. Coasting along on the back of his largely outdated opinions, Botham's inability to offer any fresh insights on the game mean he is fast becoming the epitome of the comfortable has-been pundit.


Ravi Shastri
If ever there was a prize for the most robotic cricket commentator of all time then Shastri would win hands down.

A popular critic, especially in his native India, Shastri is a likeable personality, and, for those listening to him for the first time, an insightful and engaging companion. However, after having listened to Ravi for a few years a strange pattern begins to emerge in his analysis. Amazingly it seems that the former India all-rounder has built a 15 year career in commentary based on just a handful of stock phrases.

Now, this may do for the Indian public, especially if those stock phrases involve either the words "Sachin" or "Tendulkar", but for me I crave a more multifarious, dare I day human, response to the game I love.

It seems I'm not alone in my appraisal of RS too. Check out this hilarious Shastri commentary generator which claims to adequately replace Ravi with a simple computer program.

http://blog.rohandsa.com/2010/04/ravi-shastri-commentary-generator.html?m=1


Nick Knight
Last year Kevin Pietersen took to Twitter to make what was a long overdue assessment of Nick Knight's aptitude as a cricket commentator. He wrote:

"Can somebody please tell me how Knight has worked his way into the commentary box for Tests? Ridiculous."

Now KP was rightly fined for his behaviour, but that does not diminish the simple fact that Pietersen was bang on in his analysis.

In fact, I have yet to meet a single human being who can persuade me that a 30-minute stint with the former England opener behind the mic is anything more than a complete waste of life.

Listening to him for the first time you may think that he is quite a studious man. You can just imagine him in the commentary box stroking his bum-fluff whilst weighing up the relative pros and cons of Jonathan Trott's defensive technique. But this is all a charade!

In fact a 30-minute session with Knight can be a dizzying experience. His constant barrage of hollow rhetoric and vacuous inquiries rarely result in any concrete conclusions. Instead we're thrown a boomerang of bullshit whereby we are left where we started and no more the wiser.

Here's a funny example of Nick's often confusing delivery:

Top five cricket commentators

Another top five for your reading pleasure. This month I take a look at my five favourite cricket commentators, and they are not all English!



Michael Holding

Few West Indians have made the transition into commentary as affectively as Michael Holding.

Quiet yet deadly with the ball in hand, behind the mic Holding delivers candid analysis with a gentle, fruity baritone. A principled commentator and one who firmly believes in the value of hard cricket, he has also been openly critical of the rapid modernisation and monetisation of the game.

Moreover, his continued involvement with cricket's political structures, especially those in the West Indies, mean that his views are often some of the most enlightening in the Sky Sports commentary box.

Far from being a blubbering old Boycott though, the towering Jamaican combines his uncompromising views with a typically Caribbean sense of humour, an irresistible combination that has seen him become a fan's favourite for over 20 years now.




Henry Blofeld

Arguably the voice of English cricket, Blowers has become synonymous with cricket commentary since he began on Test Match Special in 1973.


Despite his own playing career being cruelly cut short by injury, Blofeld's enthusiasm for the game has never waned. Famed for his flowery adjectives and Old Etonian lilt, no other cricket commentator can transport you to the scene of a Test match as majestically as Blofeld.

Perhaps the 73-year-old's most lovable characteristic however is his penchant for life beyond the boundary. His regular asides on everything from buses to planes and even pigeons prove him to be a man who not only harbours a deeply entrenched love for the game of cricket, but one who also maintains a strong affiliation with the nuances of English society.




Bob Willis

I have always had a thing for Bob Willis. Honest, frank and often forthright, Willis can divide opinion, but I've always found his less glossy appraisals more thought-provoking than those banded around by Sky Sports' "chosen ones".

Despite having spent his career playing alongside fellow Sky pundits Ian Botham and David Gower, Willis possesses none of the laddish leanings of his silver-haired contemporaries. Instead he comes across as a refreshingly pragmatic critic who, like all the best critics, says what others are often thinking but too afraid to say.

Nasser Hussain

Just as his role in the resurrection of English cricket in the early 2000s can often be underestimated, so too can Hussain's incisive brand of commentary. A true student of the game, his in depth knowledge, particularly of England's current set-up, makes him an invaluable companion to England's year-round cricketing ventures.

Crucially too, Hussain's thirst for cricketing knowledge means that his commentary maintains a freshness and relevance not found among some his older, more work-shy co-commentators.


What is most infectious about Hussain though is his unbridled love for the England cricket team. Retiring in 2004, he had to watch from the commentary box as the team he helped inspire went on to become a major force in world cricket. Yet despite never enjoying the success he deserved as a player, he still remains one of the teams biggest cheerleaders in the commentary box.



Richie Benaud

Benaud has played in and commentated on more than 500 Test matches in his over 60 -year relationship with the game. Astonishingly, now into his 80s, it is only in the last couple of years that Richie has finally begun to cut back on his commentary commitments.

More than just a commentator though, Benaud is perhaps most famed for his broadcasting roles with the BBC and later with Channel 4 and Australia's Nine Network. His mellow yet authoritative style in front of camera very much still the yardstick by which all other broadcasters measure themselves.