JOBS FOR THE BOYS

The executive from Sky Television looked down at the curriculum vitae in front of him and then looked across the desk.

“You are just the sort of person we are looking for. We like our cricket commentators to have had a good grounding in newspaper journalism before entering broadcasting. Your radio experience will stand you in good stead too. You have a great voice, you know your cricket and you obviously have a way with words. You are hired.”

Yeah, right.

No journalist commentates on Test cricket for Sky. They are all former England players and most are former England captains.

The cricket correspondents of the BBC, The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer are all former England players.

The Independent employed a former Test cricketer in Angus Fraser before he stepped down last year to become managing director of cricket at Middlesex and the face of cricket on Channel 4 is a former captain of Hampshire.

Young newspaper reporters or local radio broadcasters hoping to cover cricket should prepare themselves for a lifetime in the shires or learn how to write for the tabloids.

And if they do make it to international cricket they had better have skin thicker than a callus on a spinning finger.

There is, it must be said, a long and sometimes honourable tradition of cricketers taking up the mic after their playing days.

Two of the best examples captained New South Wales.

The late Alan McGilvray never played Test cricket but he was a shrewd skipper and once out-thought Don Bradman.

McGilvray worked hard at his second career, developed a unique style and became an outstanding radio broadcaster.

Richie Benaud led Australia with distinction and replicated that success as a journalist and broadcaster. The English summer has never sounded the same since he confined himself to broadcasting in Australia.

And, in this day and age, the BBC’s Jonathan Agnew and Channel 4’s Mark Nicholas do a fine job.

Examples of cricketers who became excellent writers are harder to recall but readers of The Times say Michael Atherton is one and Steve James of the Sunday Telegraph has a growing reputation.

One or two cricketers may have the talent, skills and dedication to become outstanding journalists but most owe their employment to their prowess on the pitch.

What does it matter if former cricketers take all the top jobs? They bring expertise and insight to a complicated game and did not the Sports Journalists Association recently acclaim Atherton as Sports Writer of the Year and vote Sky’s cricket programme as the best on TV?

It matters because the long form of cricket is dying on its spikes and it is no coincidence that the standard of cricket writing and broadcasting is going the same way.

Attendances at four day county matches are pitiful and viewing figures for non-Ashes Test matches are dwindling.

Cricket has had to invent a new format to prevent financial implosion.

Twenty 20 has taken off in England and India with new leagues, sellout crowds and exciting games.

It has brought a new and much-needed audience to cricket; one that wants three hours of bang bang instead of four or five days of strategy which more often than not ends in a draw.

And how many of the former cricketers hired by television, radio and newspapers as commentators and correspondents has ever played Twenty20? Not one. Not a single one.

Their expertise is redundant.

Where is the next EW Swanton, Neville Cardus, Frank Keating, Brian Johnston, John Arlott or Gideon Haigh going to come from?

Given the experience of one talented broadcaster it is a surprise that anyone would want to try.

Arlo White was a rising star on BBC Radio 5 Live. His enthusiasm and style caught the ear of Test Match Special (TMS) producer Adam Mountford and he made his debut in 2006. The carping soon began.

Mike Selvey, also a former England player, was dropped from the TMS team two years ago and said,

“ Once upon a time TMS was part of a great tradition of BBC radio. But they are bringing in commentators with little knowledge of the game, especially of the cadences of Test match cricket.”

Sports news hound Charles Sale, ever eager to pursue the Daily Mail’s anti- BBC agenda, weighed in with constant sniping.

And Michael Henderson, a vituperative snob, wrote in the Daily Telegraph,

“White has some talent as a presenter. But, where cricket is concerned TMS should look elsewhere. There is a world of difference in tone and mood between Norwich against Coventry and a Test match, and White does not appear to understand it. His grasp of cricket is shaky, and TMS prides itself on being rooted in the game. Mistakes can be forgiven; ignorance cannot.”

During the West Indies tour of England last year White told me he was doing his dream job but described the press box as a nest of vipers.

His confidence undermined and dream shattered White resigned from the BBC and has gone to work in Seattle where the school you went to is of no consequence.

Selvey, Sale and Henderson will claim a victory over dumbing down but for this observer it is an endorsement of the old boy network and a reflection of why the longer form of cricket is failing to engage a new audience.

It is cosy, cliquey and closed.