Ten had the advantage of having Gilchrist, Ponting, Waugh and Fleming all dedicated to BBL which gave the coverage some gravitas . Now they are all now calling tests leaves the ‘secondary’ commentators as the main BBL callers.
I’d like to see 7 have 2 people as the face of their BBL coverage. Someone like Brendan Julian (I know he’s at Fox) and Abbey Gelmi. Then have the likes of Brian Lara, Brendan McCullum, Kevin Peterson and Brad Hodge
A strong core group that you know some of which will be there every night that you can mix in with the test commentators.
I think 7’s test coverage is actually good and way better than 9, however their BBL coverage is average if not below average. Even the graphics and score bug for BBL looks low quality
Not even close to how good 9s production was. 9s commentary suffered in the later years but I’d still take that in comparison to the heap of shit seven dishes up.
Channel Nine’s Test coverage was complete garbage near the end of Brad McNamara’s tenure as EP. Brayshaw, Slater, Warne and Healy were terrible to listen to when together. It did improve slightly after McNamara departed.
Nine’s coverage was undoubtedly more polished. However, their commentary was worse than anything Seven have done so far. I prefer decent commentary rather than fancy technological innovations anyway.
Agreed. While the technical aspects of Nine’s cricket coverage (graphics, intros, camerawork, etc.) were still great right up to the end, the quality of their commentary had been average for years.
It’s a similar story with Nine’s NRL coverage except of course, they unfortunately still have FTA rights to that sport (hopefully this will change in the future though).
Live and free coverage of the Test series decider from the Gabba
As Brisbane prepares to host the thrilling final battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Queensland-born batsman and the “boy from Kingaroy”, Matthew Hayden, joins the Seven Network’s all-star commentary team for the decider in the Australia-India Test series.
One of the most dominant and decorated opening batsmen in the game’s history, Hayden amassed more than 8000 runs including 30 centuries in his illustrious career and held the world record for the highest individual score in Test cricket (380).
Fans are in for a treat with Hayden’s astute cricket insight and experience from tomorrow when he joins cricket’s #1 commentary team led by former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting alongside Indian cricketing legend and one of the game’s all-time greats Sunil Gavaskar for the winner-takes-all series finale. Australian International player and Melbourne Stars bowler Holly Ferling will also join Hayden at the ground in Brisbane.
Hayden said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Seven commentary team and a few former teammates for what promises to be a gripping series finale between the two best teams in the world.
“The pressure is on for Australia after India’s inspired performance on a tense final day of the Pink Test. Controversies aside, Australia remains the favourite in my book, but will need to bring their best, most aggressive cricket to the Gabba. I’m expecting big things from the new pairing of Marcus Harris and David Warner at the top of the order, and if Warner can find his form early, I think he’s a real chance of a Test century.”
Similar to the SCG test, Seven’s coverage of the Brisbane test in WA will start on 7mate at 7am before moving to main channel at 9am, on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday. On Sunday and Monday, the cricket will be on 7TWO from 7am to 9am due to 7mate’s telecast of NFL Playoffs.
This seems to suggest that the broadcast team, other than Hayden and Holly Ferling, would be based off-tube. Not seen any confirmation whether they have travelled up to Brisbane from Melbourne.
Correct. According to today’s Herald Sun, Seven’s commentators will call the game from studios in Sydney and Melbourne due to border closures. The Gabba is the first match where neither Seven or Fox Cricket will have a significant at-ground presence.
Allan Border is the only one representing Fox at The Gabba. He will be there to present the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the winning team captain at the end of the test match.