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    Talking heads: Ex-players don’t know it all

    Synopsis

    Like Harsha Bhogle, the West Indian expert Tony Cozier did not play top-level cricket. And he says that it doesn’t matter.

    ET Bureau
    Dear Dwayne Bravo,

    CLR James is a champion too. The Caribbean writer's Beyond a Boundary is part of the literary canon. And one line from the book is perhaps the most famous sentence in cricket lore. "What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?"

    One of the interpretations of the line is that those who see cricket as just a game miss the point. Tony Cozier, the 75-year-old West Indian commentator and writer, represents James's sentiment as he defends Harsha Bhogle. The Indian commentator is currently off air for various reasons, and one whose lack of top-level playing experience has been held against him by cricketers.

    But cricket is not just cricket.

    Asked if it mattered that a proven commentator like Bhogle was not an international player, Cozier, speaking on phone from his Barbados home, says, "I don't think it matters. I think it's a very invidious way of getting someone off television. Everyone knows the quality of his work."

    Like Bhogle, Cozier played club-varsity level cricket, but not international. But retired pros are taking over the commentary box. According to Cozier, this is not an ideal situation.

    "It is probably diminishing the quality of the commentary," he says. "In American sport, there's a professional broadcaster, and with him is a former player. Same with the Premier League in England.

    Image article boday


    Harsha Bhogle (Image: BCCL)


    That's the idea, really."

    But what if the broadcaster exceeds his brief and strays into the technical dimension, by definition the ex-player's territory, and something Bhogle does often? Is it a serious offence?

    "It's most certainly not an offence," says Cozier, off commentary duty, but busy with preparations for Sir Gary Sobers's 80th birthday on July 28. "You look at the great radio commentators. John Arlott, Brian Johnston…they commented on the technical aspect of the game. They had the confidence to interpret what's happening on the field. It's not necessary that former players know it all. Sometimes they don't, especially the history of the game. There are some who are very good, and they do their homework. But I find a majority of them don't do their homework and just turn up (at the studio)."

    Besides, viewers do not want an overdose of the technical. They want the right balance of different attributes, of which technique is only one part, albeit an important one.

    "You don't want to be burdened (by technical explanations)," Cozier says. He also points out players' tendency to make obvious statements. He says, "I hear a lot of commentators say, ‘He's hit that through the covers'. It's television, you can see he's hit that through the covers. I also hear the phrase ‘as you can see'. Many years ago, Keith Stackpole and I were commentating in Australia when our producer David Hill, who didn't know cricket but knew television, told us never to use the expression ‘as you can see'."

    Cozier has covered the game nearly six decades, and says no player ever raised the matter of his playing credentials with him. Reportedly, two current Indian players, one of them a contemporary star, did that with Bhogle during a tense exchange on a flight. Cozier enjoys close friendships with many West Indian players, like Sobers. This is rare in India's ifyou-want-a-friend-get-a-dog cricket circle. But, Cozier says, "Where I did have problems was with the West Indies cricket board, who decide who's on and who's off, and that's why I'm not doing commentary these days."

    All cricket boards should read CLR James.



    Also read: Amitabh Bachchan's tweet, Harsha Bhogle’s agneepath
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