20 Cricketers Who Became Commentators

Cricketers Who Became Commentators

Cricketers Who Became Commentators

Many famous cricketers moved to the media field after their retirement and chose commentary or sports journalism as their second career, and many Cricketers became commentators in recent days. There are many commentators on the cricket field also like Harsha Bhogle, who never played the game of cricket actively but still proved themselves as one of the most successful commentators.

Many recently retired cricketers like Adam Gilchrist, Waqar Younis, and Sourav Ganguly are also working as guest commentators and match summarizers for various channels as the field of commentary have proved itself as one of the best choices after the retirement of an international cricketer. And here is the list of cricketers who became commentators.

 

Who is a Commentator?

A sports commentator is the person who provides a running commentary of a game or event in real-time by live broadcast with media houses. They are the backbone of any sports event as they maintain the thrill in the minds of sports fans, with their voiceover, generally in the historical present tense.

We selected the cricketers who successfully turned their careers in the field of sports commentary or as successful media people. We chose the players who had worked with multiple media houses as a commentator which further boosts their versatility in the field of cricket commentary.

We only selected the cricketers who have multiple channels in their resumes throughout their commentator careers. There are few numbers of popular cricketers who are known as the most successful commentators but didn’t have enough media house profiles to be inducted into the list of cricketers who became commentators.

 

Cricketers Who Became Commentators

 

  1. Geoffrey Boycott

Retired English Cricketer Geoffrey Boycott established himself as one of the most successful opening batsmen of England. He made 8114 runs in 108 international test matches with a batting average of 47.72 and made 1082 runs in 36 ODI matches with a batting average of 36.06.

He also played for Yorkshire from 1962 till 1986. Besides his active playing career, he worked as a commentator for Sky Sports from 1990 to 1998 and BBC Television for England from 1993 to 1998. Boycott also started working with ESPN Star Sports in India from 1997 to 2005.

He also worked with English Channel TalkSPORT from 1998 to 2003. He worked as a commentator for Channel 4 of England from the 2004-05 season and then moved to Channel Five in 2006 which he is continuing to date. Boycott also appeared as a guest of BBC Test Match Special from 2005.

 

  1. Ian Bishop

Former West Indian cricketer Ian Bishop played for the national side of the West Indies as a powerful fast bowler from 1989 to 1998. He took 161 wickets in 43 international test matches with a bowling average of 24.27 and took 118 wickets in 84 ODI matches with a bowling average of 26.50.

Besides his international appearance, he also played for Trinidad and Tobago from 1986 till 2000. Besides his cricket career, Bishop appeared as a commentator on Channel 4 aired in England from 2000 to 2004, and then moved to Sky Sports in 2005 which he has been continuing till now.

He worked as a commentator for Channel 5 of England from 2007 to 2009. Besides the channels of England, Bishop also appeared as the commentator of South African SABC Television from 2005 to 2008.

 

  1. Rahul Dravid

One of the budding Indian great cricketers turned commentators, Rahul so far is one of the commentators who can grab the attention of the viewers away from the game. His sense of humor is extreme. He looks at the game from a different angle and tells something different, which others are not watching, for which a listener awaits keenly. He is not afraid of sledding any co-commentator as he did to Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain during the cricket World Cup 2015 which was entertaining to every viewer back home.

 

  1. Sourav Ganguly

 

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The former India captain is one of the few good commentators in India right now. Before him, only one commentator who earned appreciation for informative and insightful commentary was Harsha Bhogle. But, Harsha is not a cricketer, he is a fan of this game and has become an expert. Ganguly gave the Indian audience a chance to listen to get rid of those rotten meaningless high-pitched voices like Ravi Shastri and Arun Lal.

 

  1. Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain is one of the best cricketers who became commentators of all time in cricket history. He has featured in the list as he becomes one of the cricketers who adopted the new profession just after retirement from cricket in 2003. He is the best in England, and we can listen to his in-depth discussion about the game during the ongoing Ashes.

But, prejudice is something that destroys a reputation that happens to Hussain in 2011 when he calls visiting Indian player Parthiv Patel. His dig on BCCI for not accepting the decision review system was one of his negative points. Besides these, he can keep viewers glued with the TV set behind the mic.

 

  1. Michael Holding

The legendry fast bowler could glue the listeners with his dense voice. But, he too sits behind the mic with prejudice. He never appreciated allrounder Darren Sammy for his good performances; and is critical to the shortest form of the game T20, as a result, he never regards Kieron Pollard as a cricketer.

 

  1. Mark Taylor

He is one of the saint commentators who took inspiration from the game itself to describe. He is one of the cricket greats who became famous Australian commentators. Right now, besides Ian Chappell, there are no good commentators. Right now, the Channel Nine commentary team is featured by Michael Slater and Ian Healy. But none of them are as good as Mark. Mark is the only man who carried the legacy of famous Australian commentators. He never afraid of talking about the most controversial issues.

 

  1. Jonathan Agnew

Former professional English cricketer Jonathan Agnew made three appearances in Test matches for England’s national team and took four wickets and made three more appearances in ODI matches and took three wickets.

Besides his national side, he played for Leicestershire from 1979 till 1992 in first-class cricket and took 666 wickets in 218 matches with a bowling average of 29.25. Besides his career as a regular cricket player, he worked as a cricket journalist and summarizer in The People from 1990 to 1991.

Agnew appeared as a guest commentator of Test Match Special aired on BBC from 1991 to date. He also worked as a commentator for BBC Television in two spells in 1999 and then again from 2006 to 2009.

 

  1. Mike Atherton

Retired England international cricketer Mike Atherton was a right-handed opening batsman for the English national side. He made 7,728 runs in 115 international test matches with a batting average of 37.69. Mike also made 1,791 runs in 54 ODI matches with a batting average of 35.11.

Besides international appearances, he played for Lancashire from 1987 till 2001. He also made a brief debut for MCC from 1987 to 1990. Besides his cricket career, he worked as a cricket journalist and summarizer in Sunday Telegraph circulated in England from 2002 to date.

Atherton appeared as a commentator for Channel 4 of England from 2002 to 2005. He then also worked for TalkSPORT from 2004 to 2005. He is working with Sky Sports aired in England since 2005.

 

  1. Bill Lawry

Lawry no more does the commentary during summer in Australia. The difference is tangible. The legendary Australian batsman was the man who could bring life to a dead Test match. The man from Victoria province of Australia seating with the mic can give a fan far more to imagine about the game. His partnership with the late Tony Greig was a delight for every cricket fan. They laughed, argued, and untainted us for 33 years before Tony died in December of 2012.

 

  1. Navjot Singh Sidhu

Former Indian cricketer and current Member of Parliament from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu played for the Indian national cricket team from 1983 to 1999. He made 3,202 runs in 51 international test matches with a batting average of 42.13. Sidhu also made 4,413 runs in 136 ODI matches with a batting average of 37.08.

He played for Punjab in first-class cricket from 1981 till 2000. Besides his active cricket career, he started working as a cricket commentator with ESPN Star sports aired in India in 1999 and continued with them till 2003.

He moved to TEN Sports aired in the United Arab Emirates in 2003. Sidhu appeared as the commentator of Indian channel NDTV 24×7 from 2006 till 2009. He moved to the Indian channel Times Now in 2010 and still working with them.

 

  1. Dominic Cork

Former English cricketer Dominic Cork played for the English national side from 1995 to 2002. He was a right-hand batsman and medium-pace bowler. He took 131 wickets in 37 international test matches with a bowling average of 29.81. Cork also took 41 wickets in 32 ODI matches with a bowling average of 27.43.

Besides his international appearances, he played for Staffordshire in the 1989-90 season and played for Derbyshire from 1990 till 2003. Dominic Cork started his commentator career with Pakistan Television Corporation in 2009 which he is continuing to date.

 

  1. Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes, a former English cricketer, and journalist were dubbed The Analyst. From 1980 until 1991, he bowled fast-medium for Middlesex. Hughes later played for Northern Transvaal (1992–1993) and Durham (1992–1993). He got 466 wickets at a bowling average of 32.48 in 205 first-class matches and also scored 1,775 runs.

Apart from his active cricket career, he worked as a full-time sports journalist for a variety of news organizations. He worked as a cricket journalist before becoming a full-time pundit. He was a columnist for two well-known English newspapers, The Independent and the Daily Telegraph.

Hughes was a pundit for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2005, before moving to Channel 5 in 2006. He also served as a commentator for Test Match Special, which was shown on England’s edition of the BBC from 2007 to the present.

 

  1. Ian Chappell

 

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Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell was a successful top-order batsman for the Australian national side from 1964 to 1980. On 9 July 2009, he was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Hall of Fame. He scored 5,345 runs in 75 international test matches, batting at a 42.42 average.

Chappell also scored 673 runs in 16 One-Day International matches, hitting at a 48.07 average. Ian also played for the South Australian regional team from 1962 to 1980 and Lancashire in 1963. Apart from his active cricket career, Ian Chappell began commentating on cricket in 1980.

He began his career with Australia’s Nine Network. He then began working with ESPN Star Sports, which has been broadcast in India since 2007. Along with his usual commentary duties, he served as a commentator for Channel 5 during the 2009 season.

 

  1. E.W Swanton

E.W Swanton

E.W. Swanton, a former British cricketer, journalist, and author, appeared in three matches for Middlesex during the 1937–38 season, scoring seven runs in first-class cricket. He was more successful as a cricket journalist and commentator, and his unusual “fruity” voice made him immediately identifiable.

Swanton authored numerous cricket novels, including ‘Elusive Victory,’ ‘Cricket and the Clock,’ ‘Best Cricket Stories,’ and ‘Follow On.’ He began his career with the BBC, which is broadcast in English-speaking nations. Swanton featured on Test Match Special as a pundit from 1938 through 1975.

From 1948 through 1967, he also covered a variety of international matches for BBC Television. Swanton, in addition to his career as a commentator, wrote frequent essays for The Daily Telegraph, which was published in England from 1946 to 1975.

 

  1. Mark Nicholas

Mark Nicholas was a former English First Class cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1978 to 1995. He established a reputation as an outstanding right-handed batter and medium-pace bowler. He scored 18,262 runs in 377 First Class test matches, batting at a 34.39 average and taking 72 wickets.

Mark also scored 7,334 runs in 359 First Class One Day matches, hitting at a 27.78 average. He also penned cricket columns in addition to his active cricket career. He also worked as a cricket journalist for the English newspaper Daily Telegraph.

From 1996 to 1998, he worked as a commentator for Sky Sports. Mark then moved to Channel 4, which is broadcast in the United Kingdom, in 1999 and remained there until 2005. Nicholas has also served as a guest commentator on Australia’s Nine Network and Channel 5 in the United Kingdom since 2001 and 2006.

 

  1. David Lloyd

The cricket world’s most recognizable voice. He is a top performer at Sky Sports. Lloyd covers all England matches and is a regular contributor to SKY’s coverage of ICC competitions. Lloyd’s use of slang distinguishes him from other commentators; his usage of the term “wallop” during the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka particularly amusing. He is also an expert at adapting to new situations. His famous catchphrase “start the automobile” was easily modified to “start the tuk-tuk” towards the end of the 2011 World Cup.

 

  1. Ricky Ponting

 

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The youngest bloke on the list; and currently performing admirably, just like he did for Australia. He is currently in England. The most admirable aspect of Ponting is his fair assessment of the game. He is not prejudiced; he approaches the game from the commentary box with an open mind, just as the previous captain did. Right now, his careless attitude has elevated him to the king.

 

  1. Harsha Bhogle

 

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Harsha Bhogle is one of India’s all-time great cricket pundits. He is frequently referred to as the “Voice of Indian Cricket” and has worked in commentary and analysis for more than three decades. Harsha is an expert at pointing out minute things that many others may overlook.

He is a frequent contributor to Cricbuzz, providing analysis, match reports, and interviews. His career, however, began in his hometown of Hyderabad, where he was born and raised. Harsha Bhogle began his career with All India Radio at the tender age of 19, where he excelled after being invited to commentate in a bilateral series ahead of the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia.

 

  1. Wasim Akram

 

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Who can forget Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowler, who is also one of the game’s greatest players, who became a commentator? He represented Pakistan in 536 One Day Internationals and 104 Test matches before retiring in 2003.

 

Exceptional Mentions

Numerous other cricketers from a variety of countries have established a reputation as a respected commentators, including Sri Lankans Russel Arnold and Aravinda De Silva, Pakistani batsmen Ramiz Raja, and former English cricketer Freddie Brown, Indian cricketer Farokh Engineer, and legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar.

There are yet additional cricketers who will enter the field of commentary, as it has established itself as one of the best venues for retired cricketers.

 

Conclusion

Famous cricketers such as former England Test captain Tony Greig, the Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram, and renowned Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri have also established themselves as some of the game’s top commentators. These players are frequently referred to as the fathers of cricket commentary, as the majority of the cricket world comes to a halt when they take the microphone in the media boxes.

They were purposely omitted from this list. We pay them due respect because we grew up listening to them during cricket matches throughout our childhood. Please remember to share and subscribe. Additionally, write a comment below and let us know who your favorite analyst is.

 

 

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