Sky is missing Warne – in more ways than one
An Australian presence, and an Australian absence, defined the television coverage of the England v New Zealand Test match. Sky Sports rightly allowed plenty of time to pay tribute to its much-missed commentator Shane Warne, in the broadcaster’s first home Test since the legendary leg-spinner’s death. Fittingly, one of his former team-mates and captains, Mark Taylor, covered the match at Lord’s as a guest pundit and shared memories of the great man.
Taylor was a perfect addition to the telecast: yet another entry in that long list of Aussie cricketers who was a cruel, gum-chewing, gimlet-eyed brute as an Ashes destroyer, but seemingly a lovely bloke off the field. It was pleasingly incongruous to hear the affable New South Welshman commentating on a match not involving Australia: he was able to put across the inventiveness and positivity that characterised his captaincy and, as with many other Aussie ex-players, is much the better when away from the “aw-look-mate” banter of the Australian television commentary boxes. Taylor has been a welcome visitor to these shores since his 1988 days as the pro at Greenmount Cricket Club of the Bolton League, and long may he run.
That Warne is gone still seems
bitterly sad and hard to grasp, as will happen when a larger-than-life figure exits the stage too soon. The hole he leaves in cricketing TV terms is made all the wider because, for various reasons, Sky can no longer call on the services of David Lloyd, Rob Key and Michael Holding (as well as bidding farewell to Lords Botham and Gower in the past couple of years).
The coverage is in need of an injection of something. Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain are superb analysts but the booking of Simon Doull and Mel Jones, solid citizens though they may be, does not inject the pizazz or levity that,
say, Bumble provided as a counterpoint to the technical talk.
Jones played 66 times for the Australia women’s team, mainly in ODIS, in which she averaged 21. You would put her broadcasting at around that sort of mark: decent but inessential, although her penchant for enormous trousers undeniably adds a certain visual je ne sais quoi. Doull, again, is an honest all-rounder; his Wikipedia page describes him as “a New Zealand radio personality” – it is a small country.
One fellow with plenty of personality, indeed probably a bit too much personality for some palates, is Kevin Pietersen, booked here for Warnie eulogies and batting insights. He has a curious way of speaking, does Kevin. “This wicket: she’s white, she’s pure, there’s no demons there.” Fortunately not banging on about the plight of the rhino on this occasion, he remains a very good describer of the mental side of batting. As well as having an appetite for lobbing the odd hand grenade. “It makes you proud to be British,” he said, deadpan, of the Jubilee celebrations. But the towering cathedral of KP’S own self-regard makes him tolerable as a broadcast presence – and commentary box colleague, perhaps? – only in limited doses.
Sky’s tributes from Taylor, Key, Atherton et al came frequently, and rightly so. Both prerecorded and speaking extemporaneously, all of the contributors noted Warne’s intelligence, his love of life and, perhaps not necessarily known by those who were not in his orbit, how generous and kind he was as a friend. The accolades were nicely collated into a two-part feature called Bowled, Shane, shown during the lunch intervals and available on Sky Sports Cricket.
Well worth a look and a reminder of what an irrepressible force he was. And irreplaceable too, although Sky producers now have to try to find someone to fill his shoes.