Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The consistent Viewer

Nothing peculiar about this one, about the last test played India V Sri Lanka, Team India outplayed in the test for a large amount of time ie: days / sessions whichever way you look at it .....no issues ,agreed & accepted.
Moving on as an Indian its important that atleast I do and look ahead, what I got from this match as a spectator
a) We won the toss batted ,
b)Almost lost the game in the first hour /saved it when we shouldn't have
c)Extremely good defensive batting while staging a comeback in the game by Dravid ,Yuvraj and Dhoni
d)Played out five sessions to draw the game (we certainly would have lost it 10 years ago)
e) At the end of the game Sangakara was annoyed and we had the usual cheerful captain,
These observation might not sound like the usual positive & optimistic Indian spectator, but that's just me.
Regards to all

Monday, November 2, 2009

The purpose of commentary


I don't seem to understand it at all. Isn't it supposed to inform, entertain, provide expertise, and show insider knowledge?

Well, if Shastri keeps using the same stock phrases, and Mr. Gavaskar seems bored most of the time, Bhogle speaks first and regrets later, Yardley keeps talking of "bowling in the right areas", and Nicholas only fawns up- I could go on here- but I just think they should all shut up. And rethink how commentary should be in today's viewing age.

Cricket viewers have, I believe, become most sophisticated in recent years- and I don't think having experts mouthing well -parotted phrases helps anymore. I know Benaud has his critics, but one thing that he did say was to add value to the screen or shut up.

We may perhaps need a complete rehaul- I have a few suggestions but I'd like to hear from you guys first on how commentary can be improved. Any takers?