WTF is the point of a female Test Match commentator on Sky

Alison Mitchell was a resounding success for BT in Australia.  Better than Holding or Girly Knight anyway!

agree with lmfao, she shouldn't even be here as she's commenting on something she's never done

Is it possible the govt has separate cash to payout for anyone employing females in male-dominated occupations? I know it is the case when companies hire female engineers for instance. They get funds if they hire a female, they get nothing if they don't. Apart from PC, Sky could well be dipping their fingers in something like that.

could well be det

I just cant see why any woman should get a role commenting on men's test cricket

for example they've never faced 85-90mph bowling
also the ball is hardly hit off the square in women's cricket

its a completely different game and playing in it has no comparison to men's cricket

it has nothing to do with gender discrimination, equality issues etc

I would apply the same comments to men commenting on women's cricket

I have zero interest in women's cricket but I wouldn't dream of passing comment on the intricacies of their game, certainly not in a professional capacity and on a broadcasting platform

i generally dislike female commentary, but that has nothing to do with their lack of relevant experience and more to do with shrillness which doesn't apply to mitchell.

sometimes outsiders who don't talk shop are more interesting. in football, the (sometimes implicit) opinions of the better educated non-professional footballing commentators are generally more interesting than the hugely predictable opinions of the summarisers (alan green and his litany of moans excepted). and then there were arlott (before my time), johnners (alas not) cmj and blowers....

I don’t think not having played top level cricket is a bar to commenting on it. You’d want one former pro in any comms team but not necessarily more (and sometimes listening to Botham or any number of the Aussies, you’d want none).

Women commentators are employed to talk not face 90 mph balls. I assume most of the posters on here also haven't faced really fast bowling so should they be allowed to comment?

In general there's nothing wrong with female commentators and there are a lot of male ones I could well do without.

Like you Charlie, I have a problem with dismissing female comms on the basis of their sex. Some of them may well be rubbish at the job but then so are several of the blokes too, again as you say.

Don't mind girls in the box as long as they dont shriek in moments of excitement.  Get Izzy Westbury in the box

May 25, 2018 -- 1:23AM, Cardinal Scott wrote:

Don't mind girls in the box as long as they dont shriek in moments of excitement.

jucel69 • May 25, 2018 4:23 AM BST
There is NO valid reason why women should be commentating on men's cricket apart from this rammed down the throat PC women's lib bollox.

100% agree juce

it is people with a leftist agenda promoting women & minorities into roles that they should not be in based on merit

as I have previously stated, anybody who has not played men's test cricket should not be commenting on the game in a professional capacity on a broadcasting platform

how can anybody expect to be taken seriously when they are broadcasting to a large audience about something they have no prior experience of taking part in?

I can guarantee you that if isa was male & white she wouldn't even be on sky's radar as a pundit
FACT

Is SKY short of white male commentators?


as I have previously stated, anybody who has not played men's test cricket should not be commenting on the game in a professional capacity on a broadcasting platform


Right, so no John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Henry Blofeld, or Peter West then? So of we look at the golden era of cricket commentary in this country, only Richie Benaud played test cricket.

In that case all male commentators should be removed from coverage of women's cricket? Anyone with the necessary knowledge and communications skills should be eligible and in my view women commentators are likely to prepare much more thoroughly to counter the sort of comments on here. I also agree that playing test cricket (preferably as captain in the case of Sky and BBC radio) should not be an essential qualification either.

Ebony Rainford Brent on The Debate this evening. She ticks all the PR boxes.  Guess you lads won't be watching!

Sorry, PC boxes.

When, during the Hampshire v Surrey match the other day, the female in the box observed,  'that was very Sarah Tayloresque ', it told you all we need to know about the agenda behind this tampering with the commentary teams.

What did it tell you exactly Mr. Clarkson?

It's putting what someone does in the ladies game on the same level of merit as a male cricketer. Soon they'll be commenting on ladies players saying stuff like, ' she has a style like Barry Richards'. It's not like horse racing where the girls compete with the men. Same problem with the footy, the lads who make it have proven themselves to be the best from a massive pool. How many girls wanna be footy players ? The ones who make it have only to be the best from a very small group, yet they are on Sky all the time and womans footy is given the level of importance on Sky Sports News as many real sports.Ladies Tennis is an exception as it's long been established as a sport with a massive following. However, you never hear a female commentator in the box for a mens match sayiny stuff like ' Federer's back hand is very Billy Jean-Kingish'.

yes good point about the women's sport on TV agenda

women's tennis is a meritorious game although is not on a par with the men's game imo
for example women would get eaten alive in the men's game with their comparatively weak serve & lack of power

I dont mind a woman commentator on Sky, infact I quite like it as I listen to TMS and watch the pictures from Sky

v good WD

I agree with Charlatan.  It is the shrillness of womens' voices, cannot abide female commentators in any sport.  Nothing to do with any variation on why aren't they at home doing the ironing, just cannot stand the sound of womens' voices as commentators.

Isa Guha is nothing like that - you can hardly hear her through the mumbling.

Champions league final not a female to be heard from the comm box..

As a male watching men play sport, hearing a female voice destroys the serenity.

sa Guha is nothing like that - you can hardly hear her through the mumbling.

True,she is more aware but gets out of control when a wicket or catch event occurs and shrieks

like a woman,which makes me think,this wont help her park the car,so she is hardly best placed

to comment on international sport.

I think they'll drop her. I get a feeling the men don't like working with her.  Alison Mitchell was a lot better in Australia.  Perhaps she'll improve.

it doesn't work when covering live sport to have people talking about a game they have no prior experience to call upon

mens cricket and womens cricket are not interchangeable like sky and other organisations with leftist agendas would like you to believe

we can all watch on TV & have our opinions that is fine

but if you haven't played the game at the highest level you can never truly know the intricacies of the game

the champions league final is a great example...who were the pundits that BT picked? gerrard, lampard & ferdinand
all 3 with fairly recent experience of playing at that level

not some woman who has played in the women's FA cup or some guy who has played for a championship club or some journalist who has played sunday league football or 5 a side with his mates

Ebony Rainford Brent was completely out of her jurisdiction on The Debate the other evening.  It was pitiful to watch her squirming and Bob quietly sneering!

and btw I am not advocating that former top players always make top pundits, far from it

the skills in 1 are not directly transferable to the other

yes jmdc car crash decision making by sky

you can tell by bob's body language who should and shouldn't be there

"sky and other organisations with leftist agendas".....clearly you rarely tune into Sky News

May 27, 2018 -- 8:44PM, PJMASTER wrote:

"sky and other organisations with leftist agendas".....clearly you rarely tune into Sky News

Made me laugh. It’s not quite Fox News but Sky is only leftist from the perspective of Ghengis Khan or Jacob Rees-Mogg.

if you read what I said you will see that I haven't suggested that sky have a leftist agenda

here it is again...

mens cricket and womens cricket are not interchangeable like sky and other organisations with leftist agendas would like you to believe

my point being that sky appear to be following in the footsteps of what other leftist organisations (like the BBC for example) are doing ie promoting women's cricket and women cricketers, journalists etc

I am not suggesting sky are leftist

It is a bit of a shame the focus seems to be on women here when really we should be talking about the lack of kwality in Commentary Boxes in general.

I started listening to TMS on the BBC in the 1970's. I distinctly remember one of the commentator's comparing Michael Holding to a 400 meter runner at the Montreal Olympics. I may have rose tinted glasses but everything seemed better then.

Glad to see bigotry is alive and kicking. I felt assured by the tones of a Home Counties plummy accent, which, is sadly lacking from TMS these days and only Agnew seems to be carrying the banner, not for plummy accents but the genuine love of cricket. Class privilege trumped racial prejudice in those days, well probably still does!

To be honest I don't particularly care whether the commentator is a man or a woman I would just prefer someone who knew about and could commentate on cricket. Jon Arlott was my favourite. If some of you young guns have never heard of him please google him. Cricket is not just about a game of cricket. It is about so much more.

"What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?"

I like Isa. She has the voice for cricket commentary and of course very easy on the eye..

The problem arises from WHY these women get the jobs. It IS a PC agenda and Sky News is shockingly leftish imv. They despise Trump, Brexit and their smiles over Ireland's decision says it all.

Promoting people based on race and gender is too glaringly obvious and that upsets folk. But as I say, I think Isa is very good and better than several of the men. Fast tracking her to the holy grail of Test Matches is hardly going to endear her to many within the Sky team though.

Those promoting the view that only male pros need apply presumably feel that Botham, Gower and the like are worth listening to. I would disagree and go so far as to say that, with a few exceptions, the better the player, the duller they are as commentators (Viv Richards is excrutiating, Jim Laker made Willis look excited, Trueman was a caricature).

It bothers me not at all the gender of the commentator, only whether they make you want to listen to what they have to say.

Those decrying the PC element were, presumably, silent when Blofeld was appointed and spent decades trying to fashion himself as a "character", wasting so much of our listening lives in the process. If ever someone was chosen to fit a stereotype, not because of what they had to say, Blofeld was that man.

Yes, the ideal commentator would have played the game at the highest level and be able to communicate insights that those lacking in that experience can't provide. But how many of those are there? (that want to do the job). In their absence, more articulate people, male or female, who can actually speak entertainingly are fine by me. Whether the current female commentators are the best that can be found is another matter.

Won't disagree with that cyclops.

In fact, damn well said.

I thought Mitchell was poor & that shrill voice when a wicket falls… I find it unbearable. It's also like she is trying to be 'one of the guys' with all the 'Warne-y, Vaughan-y, Broad-y' matey stuff, & trying to apply the language of the game. Doesn't work for me. It's much like the women footballers who adopt the cliches of their male counterparts. 'We left it all out there on the pitch', 'we gave it 110%'…
The only one who I think is top quality is Gabby Logan - does a tremenous job covering the athletics and her presenting talents deserve wider sports coverage.

Yeah I like her too.

Olympic gymnast, great presenter, intelligent, beautiful and best of all her dad is Terry Yorath!

Jun 2, 2018 -- 10:06AM, Whisperingdeath wrote:

Yeah I like her too.Olympic gymnast, great presenter, intelligent, beautiful and best of all her dad is Terry Yorath!

Would have thought you were more a Clare Balding sort of man.
Gabby Logan has always been quality but she presents, not commentates and it's a big difference.

I see a lot of potential in Bess the batsman!

What are Sky playing at shes awful! and they rested Athers to make room for her??!!

I noticed Bumble getting at her a bit today

As I said earlier in the thread, if you don't think women should commentate on men's sport, you should also object to men commentating on women's sport but that has been the norm for years (or at least since women's team sport has been televised at all) and mostly still is for women's cricket.

Giggle fecking giggle in the backround on sky,i am sick of it.

I dont go to the hairdresser and chat about the price of a pint.

Thank god for bbc sport radio...

All this matey banter boll ox is also killing my enjoyment..

Is it that the confession box will soon be the only safe place...

Oh Yeah, right.......

sky's coverage of cricket has really gone down the sh1tter

peckerdunne 06 Jun 18 19:50 J
Giggle fecking giggle in the backround on sky,i am sick of it.

I dont go to the hairdresser and chat about the price of a pint.

Grumpy old man syndrome!

jucel69 02 Jun 18 15:02

0:06AM,Whisperingdeath wrote:_33,073 _ Blog
Yeah I like her too.Olympic gymnast, great presenter, intelligent, beautiful and best of all her dad is Terry Yorath!


Would have thought you were more a Clare Balding sort of man.
Gabby Logan has always been quality but she presents, not commentates and it's a big difference.

erm I wouldn't question her on her knowledge of horses but at the same time I wouldn't trying and convert her! But yes I do like her, interesting person.

i mute the sound simples

Yeh it would be good if the remote had a frequency analyser and you could choose a range on comms. Say anything over 180hz is automatically cut off.
In fact I'm going to devise such a machine & sell thousands to disgruntled men who have had women's voices shoved down their throats in recent times.....and had to pay for the privilege!

Can you do one for predictable, poorly thought through analysis, that would filter Botham?

Yeh I'm sure it could filter specific words, sentences, even 'bingo' phrases. He does tend to repeat himself on a yearly basis.
He's got a job for life so it's going to be a long time at the helm. Unless he has a massive Sean Connery

From your comments I can see that you're all in favour of women comms. What we need next is women umpires.

I'd like to see that.

Its well known they can assess time and space very well.

Supported by the amount of women i see trying to park cars

Though the space is huge they still drive off in embarrassment

That's when they actually come to a decision.

I'm sure this is in sky's future more women umps refs
because if you watch sky or the beeb news channels about
9 out of every ten experts that appear are women these days.

so,effectively one in ten is male
that's bang out of order
a gross over representation

This is such bull.

#metoo

#timesup

Have a lot to answer for.  Gotta to be honest, so tired of listening to that silly t@rt Ali Mitchell.

I think Bumble asked her if she had gone to the pub the previous evening …. a film of Bumble singing in the pub had been shown … she answered very defensively something like I went for a meal.

I dislike her commentary as well.

I love this and am repeating it because of the humour.
Sign on toilets in pub.

men to the left and women to the right.  Why ?   - because they are always right