The Ashes Commentary Thread

[zaremba]

Great post, Midwinter. I agree with you on almost all fronts.

One person who's surprised me though has been Matthew Hayden. Couldn't stand him as a player, but as a commentator he has come across really well. Sure, he lacks a sense of humour and gets far too carried away with his cod psychology bollocks but he's an interesting and interested contributor.

 

[four_or_six]

One person who's surprised me though has been Matthew Hayden. Couldn't stand him as a player, but as a commentator he has come across really well. Sure, he lacks a sense of humour and gets far too carried away with his cod psychology bollocks but he's an interesting and interested contributor.

Absolutely. Forget any of the players, Matthew Hayden has been my 'shock performer of the series'.

 

[Uppercut]

Don't agree about Shane Warne. I find him absolutely fascinating to listen to, simply because he's not shy of talking about stuff. When he's asked about dressing room drama in 2005, or whether Ravi Bopara is any good, he gives straight answers. It works particularly well in England because commentators over here are notoriously shy of expressing actual opinions at times.

The Sherminator jokes need cut though.

 

[zaremba]

Anyone else see the Shane Warne legspin masterclass with Will Beer and Max Waller during the lunch break yesterday? Absolutely oustanding.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Anyone else see the Shane Warne legspin masterclass with Will Beer and Max Waller during the lunch break yesterday? Absolutely oustanding.

Haha yeah it was brilliant. Comes off as a really nice guy, would be easy for him to be a bit of a knob, but he seemed really encouraging and helpful to the young lads. Not sure whether that reflects his off-field persona though. Loved it how he could still bowl better than them as well

 

[zaremba]

Haha yeah it was brilliant. Comes off as a really nice guy, would be easy for him to be a bit of a knob, but he seemed really encouraging and helpful to the young lads. Not sure whether that reflects his off-field persona though. Loved it how he could still bowl better than them as well

Yeah he was miles, miles better than them. The only one Will Beer managed to turn was his straight one.

 

[Pothas]

Thought the commentary was on the whole pretty good this series, having not had sky for the last couple of years I was not sure what to expect but enjoyed most of the commentators, none of them are awful although Beefy and Bumble do test the patience a little. Was never going to be better than TMS but it was pretty solid, did commit the obvious sin of commentary and general media coverage which was to state the obvious a fair bit and more anoyingly hype up some of the the important aspects of a game.

 

[cpnend]

I thought Russell Crowe made a good fist of it when he stood in as 3rd man.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

I got a bit sick of the Sky team constantly suggesting (demanding?) changes to the field towards the end of the series TBH. It seemed to be every few overs towards the end, mainly led by Warne and Hussain, but followed even by the likes of Atherton, who otherwise was simply superb throughout. Most of what they were saying made sense but their detached view ends up becoming thinly-veiled and over-indulgent criticism of Strauss.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Just thanking Christ that we didn't have to listen to Mark Nicholas, would have compared everything back to 2005, would have claimed it to be as good a series as four years ago, and pretty much ruined the whole series.

 

[Uppercut]

Just thanking Christ that we didn't have to listen to Mark Nicholas, would have compared everything back to 2005, would have claimed it to be as good a series as four years ago, and pretty much ruined the whole series.

He was on the Channel 5 highlights package here. Life must be wonderful when you orgasm every time someone hits a four.

 

[zaremba]

He was on the Channel 5 highlights package here. Life must be wonderful when you orgasm every time someone hits a four.

Fortunately Nicholas' trousers will need changing less frequently now that the strapping Matthew Hayden has left the scene.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Always thought that he was a bigger "fan" of Ponting and KP to be honest.

 

[Jono]

Nah, with no Lee in the series Nicholas would have been shattered.

 

[honestbharani]

There was Watson though..