Category Archives: television commentary

April 11, 2015 · 1:50 pm

Richie Benaud TODAY, today and Yesterday

  benaud Statue TODAYRichie Benaud TODAY, 11 April 2015 — Pic  from article.wn.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  Richie Benaud at the SCG on the 26th March 2015 — Pic by Michael Roberts Continue reading →

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April 11, 2015 · 1:38 pm

The Voice of Our Endless Summers falls Silent

Peter Lalor, in The Weekend Australian, 11/12 April 2015

Flags flew half-mast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and at cricket grounds around the world, pilgrims attended his beckoning SCG statue, and in all corners of the globe players and fans — young and old — realised that the sound of summer had been ­extinguished. Everywhere the game of cricket is played, people yesterday stopped to remember Richie Benaud and contemplate what has been lost and is left by his passing. It is immense.

The former Australian captain, brilliant all-rounder and godfather of the commentary box died, aged 84, after a battle with skin cancer. Benaud had been the voice of cricket at the Nine Network since World Series Cricket days in the late 1970s. BENAUD 21 Continue reading →

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April 9, 2015 · 5:59 am

Transparency at the Toss: Reforming the Protocols at Televised Cricket

Michael Roberts

TOSS AT SCG Pic from www.ft.lk

At the World Cup Match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the SCG on the 8th March 2015 the designated home team captain, in this case Michael Clarke, tossed the coin by stepping away from the cluster so that the florin landed some distance away. The Match Referee, Jeff Crowe, walked over and indicated that Angelo Mathews had called wrong. So Clarke and Australia were able to bat first on what turned out to be “a gem of a batting pitch”[i] (undermining the pitch-readings of the several ‘experts’ as well as the hopes of the Sri Lankan team).

Once the match was done and dusted, however, one Sri Lankan chain-mail ‘blogger’ raised questions about the tossing result: claiming that Clarke’s move was a deliberate ploy designed to win a crucial call. Though not asserted explicitly, this outrageous allegation implied that Jeff Crowe was part of a conspiracy. Such accusations cannot be sustained. As Michael de Zoysa told me (on Skype, 7 April 2015), Jeff Crowe is a gentleman through and through, his rectitude impeccable. Continue reading →

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Filed under patriotic excess, performance, Sangakkara, Sri Lanka Cricket, technology and cricket, television commentary, World Cup 2015

April 2, 2015 · 1:52 pm

Astute Commentators on Cricket: Past, Present and Future

bENAUD IN BOX--PAphotos Ritchie Benaud, whose worldwide reputation was  severely mauled in Sri Lankan eyes by manifest partialities during the finals of the ODI series between the two countries in early 1996

tony cozierTony Cozier Continue reading →

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Filed under Australian cricket, cricketing icons, richie benaud, sportsmanship, Sri Lanka Cricket, television commentary, tower of strength, welfare through sport, work ethic

April 2, 2015 · 7:00 am

Cricket Commentary: WHAT makes a Good Commentator?

Rob Steen, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/857839.html

For decades this column wished it had been born ten years earlier, in 1947 rather than 1957, and thus been old enough to put flowers in its hair and claim it only didn’t go to Woodstock because of the airfare. On occasion it fantasises about being born a millennium hence, by when governments, guns, cars and disease will be extinct, sweatshops won’t be sweatshops because robots don’t sweat, and the only non-creative or non-culinary professions will be undertaking, hotel management and window-cleaning. tony cozier Tony Cozier

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket tamashas, performance, sportsmanship, television commentary, tower of strength, unusual people, welfare through sport, World Cup 2015

December 30, 2014 · 12:36 am

The Kohli-Johnson Confrontation enters the Press Event at MCG

 

K vs J 22 K vs J 33 Johnson out of line in spat with ‘hated’ Kohli | The New Daily …. thenewdaily.com.au360   “but Kohli wants to go on with it”

Sai Mohapatra’s Report

Their on-field banter spilled over to the press conference room as Virat Kohli didn’t care for the call ‘what happens on the field remains on the field’. The trigger point being when Mitchell Johnson threw a ball back at the striker end after Kohli played one in the follow through, it hit Kohli and that got two of them going throughout the day at the MCG.

“I was really annoyed with him hitting me with the ball, and I told him that’s not on,” Kohli said. ” ‘Try and hit the stumps next time, not my body.’ You have got to send the right message across. I am not there to take to some unnecessary words or chats from someone. I am going there to play cricket, [and to] back myself. There’s no good reason that I should respect unnecessarily some people when they are not respecting me.” Continue reading →

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Filed under Australian cricket, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricket governance, cricket in India, television commentary

December 15, 2014 · 8:25 am

Without DRS Technology the Test Lottery spins away from India

Chloe Saltau, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 13 December 2014, where the title is “Absence of review allows umpiring shockers in first Test” … http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/absence-of-review-allows-umpiring-shockers-in-first-test-20141213-126j1s.html

Spinner Nathan Lyon produced a man-of-the-match performance in Australia’s first Test win at Adelaide Oval. India’s refusal to accept the decision review system in its current form meant four umpiring howlers of the kind the system was designed to eliminate went unchallenged on the tense final day of the Adelaide Test.

Johnson- Getty

But the absence of the contentious DRS from this series cut both ways. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was given out, caught behind, off his shoulder. And Nathan Lyon was denied the wicket of Dhawan’s opening partner Murali Vijay, despite the Eagle Eye ball-tracker showing the ball crashing into his stumps. Continue reading →

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Filed under Australian cricket, close finsihes, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricket governance, DRS, Indian cricket, technology and cricket, television commentary, tower of strength, unusual people

June 17, 2014 · 11:06 am

Pistol-Packing Paul Reiffel

Mahinda Wijesinghe, whose favours this  title for his article “The Umpire who said ‘HURRAH! We won’,”

PAULREIFFEL 11Those famous (or infamous?) words have been attributed to a prejudiced village umpire as he incorrectly ruled the last man out to give his favoured side a win! This memory was rekindled when Australian umpire (who was incidentally a member of the losing member of the 1996 World Cup team under Mark Taylor) ruled out last man Nuwan Pradeep lbw when there was an obvious snick, that was even spotted by the commentators. However, DRS saved Sri Lanka unlike the unfortunate village team of yore. Continue reading →

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, confrontations on field, cricket and life, DRS, fair play, Lords cricket ground, Sri Lanka Cricket, technology and cricket, television commentary

April 19, 2014 · 1:45 pm

Sri Lanka Cricket Team Future Tour Programs

Courtesy of Harry De Sayrah


May2014
Sri Lanka tour of Ireland 2014
Matches: 2 ODI
Venue: Ireland

May-Jun 2014
Sri Lanka tour of England 2014
Matches: 2 Test, 5 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: EnglandJuly 2014
South Africa tour of Sri Lanka 2014
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI
Venue: Sri LankaAugust 2014
Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka 2014
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI
Venue: Sri LankaSeptember 2014
Champions League T20 2014
Matches: 29 T20
Venue: IndiaNov-Dec 2014
England tour of Sri Lanka 2014
Matches: 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaDec 2014-Jan 2015
Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2014-15
Matches: 2 Test, 5 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: New ZealandJan-Feb 2015
Australia Tri Series 2015
Matches: 5 ODI
Venue: AustraliaFeb-Mar 2015
Cricket World Cup 2015
Matches: 49 ODI
Venue: Australia/New ZealandApr-May 2015
Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka 2015
Matches: 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaJul-Aug 2015
New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2015
Matches: 2 Test, 5 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: Sri LankaSeptember 2015
Champions League T20 2015
Matches: 23 T20
Venue: N/AOct-Nov 2015
West Indies tour of Sri Lanka 2015
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaDec 2015-Jan 2016
Sri Lanka tour of India 2015-16
Matches: 3 Test
Venue: IndiaFeb-Mar 2016
Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka 2016
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaMar-Apr 2016
T20 World Cup 2016
Matches: 27 T20
Venue: IndiaMay-Jun 2016
Sri Lanka tour of England 2016
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: EnglandMay 2016
West Indies Tri Series 2016
Matches: 7 ODI
Venue: West IndiesJul-Aug 2016
Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2016
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaSeptember 2016
Champions League T20 2016
Matches: 23 T20
Venue: N/AOct-Nov 2016
Sri Lanka tour of Zimbabwe 2016
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: ZimbabweNov 2016-Jan 2017
Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2016-17
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 3 T20
Venue: South AfricaJune 2017
World Test Championship 2017
Matches: 3 Test
Venue: EnglandJul-Sep 2017
India tour of Sri Lanka 2017
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaSeptember 2017
Champions League T20 2017
Matches: 23 T20
Venue: N/AOct-Dec 2017
Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan 2017
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Pakistan/UAEJanuary 2018
Sri Lanka tour of Bangladesh 2018
Matches: 3 ODI
Venue: BangladeshMar-Apr 2018
Sri Lanka tour of India 2018
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: IndiaJun-Jul 2018
Sri Lanka tour of West Indies 2018
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: West IndiesSeptember 2018
Champions League T20 2018
Matches: 23 T20
Venue: N/AOct-Nov 2018
England tour of Sri Lanka 2018
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: Sri LankaDecember 2018
Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2018
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: New ZealandJan-Feb 2019
Sri Lanka tour of Australia 2019
Matches: 2 Test, 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: AustraliaFeb-Apr 2019
Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2019
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 3 T20
Venue: South AfricaMay-Sep 2019
South Africa tour of Sri Lanka 2019
Matches: 3 Test, 5 ODI and 3 T20
Venue: Sri LankaJun-Jul 2019
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019
Matches: 48 ODI
Venue: EnglandSep-Oct 2019
Champions League T20 2019
Matches: 23 T20
Venue: N/AOctober 2019
Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka 2019
Matches: 5 ODI and 2 T20
Venue: Sri LankaFebruary 2020
Sri Lanka tour of Bangladesh 2020
Matches: 2 Test, 3 ODI and 1 T20
Venue: Bangladesh

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April 3, 2014 · 6:19 pm

Run-Out Transformations in Cricket: Adrenaline Boost for fielding side, Deflation for batsmen

Michael Roberts

During my long and erratic cricketing career I recall when a brilliant catch or a striking run out boosted the fielding side and generated another clatter of wickets. It is as if some currents coursed through the bowlers and fielders and rendered them ‘sort-of’ superhuman. Good batting sides, of course, weathered such storms and rebuilt.

guptil's dsimissal

BUT it is that moment of transformation, the incendiary spark generated by a great catch or piece of fielding that effects a run-out that I wish to mark. A similar impact can also be produced by a monumental act of folly by the batsmen which leaves one stranded run-out. The deflation on one side is matched by the joy and energy among the fielders which transforms into wicket-making penetration. Continue reading →

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