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!

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.

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....

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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'.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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?"

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.