8 Comments

I agree that there's a lot of dross in cricket coverage, but there are the occasional gems too. You should check out my newsletter, it rounds up the best news and stories from cricket everyday.

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Cricket as a Sport probably lacks a bit of personality. That said, I do agree there are some real gems in the sport.

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What about The Cricketer?? And The Times and Telegraph.

Think you've been harsh on the likes of Atherton, Nasser, Dobell particularly

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You're Right. The Cricketer is Very Good. But I suspect because it's behind a paywall, their readership is probably small. Of course, not as small as this Newsletter.

Do you think there's a growing tolerance for losing?

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What a load of garbage. We are objective and honest, and glass half full.

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While Sky still has the best cricket coverage, I suspect most people would agree with me that the Current Set of Cricket Commentators rarely if ever rarely criticize the decisions made by Rob Key or Brendon McCullum. Now, criticism for criticism's sake is unwarranted. But as a keen observer of Sky's Coverage, there is almost always a justification for even poor decisions. For example, for almost two years now England have struggled in the Shorter Formats. One of the reasons for that is their decision to Play 4 Primary Bowlers and a host of Bits and Pieces Cricketers. When Squads Come Out or a Discussion is had, there is almost no Critical Analysis of this approach. It's a lot of "I'm Sure THEY have their Reasons."

Now, I don't think anyone wants to see the WWE Style Content that pervades on ESPN. Where two talking heads are pitted against each other to share dumb take after dumb take to generate views on TikTok and X.

It wasn't long ago that the likes of Nasser and Michael would dive deeper not only during Live Coverage but on their Podcast about these tactical issues and broader issues related to the game. There's a clear shift away from that for those who observe the coverage regularly.

Finally, I do appreciate the "load of garbage" quote. I don't have a large audience, but I would be interested to learn how many people agree with your sentiment over mine.

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Yes, my newsletter is calling out the ECB on their running of English cricket. I have been writing it for almost 4 years and am writing my 139th edition right now. Researching it was how I found your Substack

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Thanks. I look forward to reading your newsletter.

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