Limited media careers

 

 I suppose it's because I used to drink with the secretary of The Institute of Journalists that I'm very aware of the occasionally acrimonious debate about the relative merits of ex-sportsmen and trained journalists as reporters and commentators ( some of course - Benaud, Agnew for example - are both) and there now seems to be a new debate.

 

This is about the criticism that newly retired players make of their recent colleagues. Clearly Swann has upset his old mate Jimmy Anderson and Vaughan's pop at Trott was just crass (and I expect he now regrets it).

Whilst I accept that to report on anything properly you need to be able to give criticism, my own view (limited  by being neither a trained writer or an ex-pro) is that Swann has a limited career in the media - once he's another year or so away from being able to give us insight from the players viewpoint he'll be struggling. And as for Vaughan, I'm hugely disappointed ; he seems to veer from the bleeding obvious to the " nothing is as good as Yorkshire" line. Perhaps he's after Boycott's title.

The answer is simple - Charlie Dagnall, no one could ever fault his enthusiasm.

Mankading not ok for Swann and Agnew

I wrote before how it was Jos Buttler's fault that he was run out backing up by Sri Lanka in the ODI series.   Most club cricketers I spoke to thought the same - why wasn't Buttler a bit more careful having been warned?   

So it's interesting to hear from Agnew that the general response from club cricketers was that it was ok and his speculation as to the reason for that.   He suggested the reason could be that club cricketers don't see their opponents again where as pro cricketers see each other regularly on the circuit.   That's not the case at all - as a club cricketer I've built up a large number of opponents who I play against home and away each year and have a beer or two with after each game.   So the fact that I thought Buttler's dismissal was ok wasn't to do with the fact I wouldn't see people again if I did the same - it was to do the fact that he was in the wrong and Sri Lanka were in the right!

Swann talked of his mankading of Mark Snell of Middlesex when he was Under 11 and said his father told him he wished he was adopted after he did it.   That's left him with a feeling that it's not an acceptable dismissal, but surely it is when the batsman is regularly backing up too far?

I don't expect to agree with the commentators all the time, but I'm surprised with their views on mankading, not because I disagree (which happens fairly regularly)....but more because it's not just me that disagrees....the overwhelming majority of club cricketers seem to disagree despite key influencers in the media making as strong a case as they can for mankading to be wrong.   It hasn't changed the views of any club cricketers I speak to.

Another Aggers double entrendre

I was listening live to this double entendre from Jonathan Agnew and must admit I was sniggering along with Michael Vaughan....

Humourous quotes...

A couple of things I was listening to lately made me chuckle....

The TV advert for Fire In Babylon, the tale of West Indies cricket's rise to the top of world cricket, makes big play of the fact that it is "One of the most acclaimed cricket films of all time". Exactly how many cricket films have their been exactly?

Also, listening to TMS yesterday, Jonathan Agnew commented on Stuart Broad pulling away as the bowler ran in, swishing an insect away with his hand, "That's the last thing you want as a batsman, a wasp stuck in your helmet". Agnew appeared oblivious to the alternative meaning for "helmet" but there was a snigger from the back of the TMS box....as Tuffers was on air shortly afterwards, I suspect it was him....

Happy cricket reading....

Apologies for the low levels of Burbling lately - been pretty busy but I'll try to Burbletastic next week! In the mean time, have you seen that The Cricketer has a new look site now that the Wisden Cricketer magazine is overseen by the likes of Jonathan Agnew and CMJ? Alternatively you can read about Adil Rashid getting worse and Ben Stokes getting better at King Cricket. Or Reverse Sweep's piece about how we should look out for 17-year old Reece Topley following his wicket-taking antics for Essex. Happy cricket reading....

The Wisden Cricketer magazine changes hands again

As a subscriber to Wisden Cricket Monthly I'm a big advocate of it - of course websites now offer up to the minute cricket information, but there's still definitely a valuable place for non time sensitive pieces about cricket and TWC does that nicely.

It's nice to know that the magazine is in the hands of real cricket lovers like Jonathan Agnew and CMJ though - it will be interesting to see how the new ownership impacts on the magazine and how content is incorporated (if it is at all) into their Test Match Special website.

Aggers opportunity for any car brand listening....

Jonathan Agnew has been complaining about his latest rental car while commentating in South Africa. Could there be a more obvious PR opportunity for any car brand that wants to get a free mention and get some favourable coverage with cricket lovers?