Left-field look at what’s on the field

Named after one of the worst deliveries in cricket, sports show Short and Wide has bowled on to the small screen this past week, bringing viewers sports entertainment like no other.

Hosts and self-styled ‘‘failed sportsmen’’ Anthony ‘Ants’ Niterl, Andrew ‘AJ’ James and George ‘George’ Harper Jnr deliver the show in front of a live studio audience each week.

Short and Wide, which aired it’s first 12-minute episode on Tuesday, is crammed full of cheeky banter, topical sporting news, interviews with sports stars, and the odd self-deprecating gag. So naturally, we decided to see if the lads really new their hole-inones from their hat-tricks with an impromptu sports quiz.

Between the three of them, they scored a stunning 17 out of 21 – a remarkable feat since a few of the questions were curve balls, straight out of left-field.

They all knew the answer to who made a debut for the All Blacks at the weekend (Anton Lienert-Brown), but none could name Steve Hansen’s wife’s name (Tash). They got the origin of the quote ‘‘It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am’’, with only a little prompting, (Muhammed Ali). But no one seemed to know who was the only test cricketer to take out a hat-trick on their test debut (Peter Petherick).

Luckily, they all came to a consensus on who’s the best looking of their group (Harper). Quiz aside – it is clear the lads have stepped up to the plate to give Short and Wide a sporting chance.

It only takes a sift through the various clips on their Facebook page to tell the show’s going to be a success. James said viewers will enjoy getting to know a different side of their sporting stars’ personalities - almost as much as they did.

‘‘We thrive in and around - but not necessarily on - the sports field, so we’re looking forward to chewing the fat with some of New Zealand’s sporting best and giving Kiwis something off the beaten track.’’

You can catch Short and Wide on Tuesdays at 9:20pm on DUKE and TVNZ OnDemand.