Cricketers entering broadcasting is nothing new, but Alan Wilkins is rare among his kind. He did not merely take up the job, it became an integral part of his life, making his cricketing career appear to be almost an afterthought.
Wilkins’s autobiography, Easier Said Than Done: A Life in Sport , corrects that assumption, with much space dedicated to his playing days. But it was his thoughts on commentary that was the focus of our discussion on a sultry afternoon in New Delhi.
Wilkins’s career in cricket brought him close to some of the game’s greats but it was only through broadcasting that he grew close to those whom he calls friends now — Sunil Gavaskar, for one. Yet, even Wilkins has to look over his shoulder every now and then, as it is increasingly difficult for those who have not played cricket to feature as commentators. Harsha Bhogle is a rare exception, and one fears that may remain the case.
When Wilkins asked ESPN Star Sports executive producer Huw Bevan why he was not part of the commentary team for the marquee games at the World T20 in 2009, he was told, “Because you’re not Indian and you did not play Test cricket.” Wilkins says, “He was very honest with me. I couldn’t argue with either point. But I did argue with him that I had a role in facilitating conversation with some of these great players. He agreed with that, but at that moment they wanted more of the big names.”
Wilkins puts his finger on the issue when he says, “TV companies now enjoy having someone who has played someone at the highest level. If you’re a former Indian or English captain, that brings credibility.” One wonders if that credibility is merely assumed in cricket, particularly when he points out that the main football commentators on British TV, such as Clive Tyldesley and John Motson, have not been a professional footballers. But, as Wilkins infers, this growing trend in cricket will continue to upstage the likes of Bhogle, him, or even someone like Mark Nicholas.
Although he does believe that playing the game helps, Wilkins’s experience also showed him the advantages of becoming a good broadcaster. He cites the example of Wasim Akram’s dedication to broadcasting: “Wasim Akram is a fine broadcaster now, but in the early days, he spent three months with ESPN Star in Singapore learning the nuances of broadcasting. He sat with directors, producers; he learnt about editing, writing scripts, and voice delivery. He was one of the few to take it upon himself. At first, it can be quite daunting.”
However, Akram’s meticulous approach to broadcasting remains a rarity. As more cricket populates our television screens, one is likelier to hear the voice of an untrained ex-cricketer than somebody who may know and understand the game differently. The technical understanding of cricket seems to take precedence over everything else.
The situation presents other concerns too. Not only do most commentary boxes look similar to an old boys’ club, the quality of the coverage suffers because nobody ever seems to disagree with anyone on air. Wilkins stresses on the need for differing opinions: ‘If I’m in the commentary box with Vijay (Amritraj) and he says he likes a player, I might differ. You don’t want to be squabbling about it but if there is total uniformity, it makes for a dull commentary box.”
The absence of dissenting opinions among the commentators can easily slide into a culture of cheerleading, a tendency that is often associated with those on the rolls of the BCCI , or Channel 9 in Australia. Furthermore, certain assumptions may take hold. On the noisy commentary we often hear from Indian TV screens, Wilkins says, “People in this part of the world like (frequent) comments.” This is what he and his fellow broadcasters have come to believe, for no reason at all.
Commentators generally refrain from speaking freely on air due to the close relationship they enjoy with the cricketers. While, in theory, Wilkins and everybody else do speak for distance between the player and the observer, it remains an intractable situation if broadcasters do not go for more variety in the commentary box. So it was not a surprise to hear Wilkins say that cricketers nowadays pay little attention to the views of those who have not been professionals: “You might get criticism in newspapers. But I’m not sure the modern cricketer reads newspapers. They are on their phones all the time. I’m sure Virat Kohli does not read what is written about him in the media. I don’t think he worries too much about what people say.” But as Wilkins realised, stepping out of the boundaries of your own career can do a lot of good. As a presenter, he looked up to Des Lynam — who never played any sport professionally — for his knowledge and relaxed demeanour on television. “He was how I wanted to be in the studio,” said Wilkins. As Wilkins found out, it was hard to say something about sport too.
Priyansh is a Delhi-based independent sports writer