'The commentary panel up in heaven has gained another legend'

Reader: gopalakrishna

My association with Late Tony Cozier is worth remembering. I was scoring the first ever test match at Bangalore for All India Radio between India and West Indies in Nov 1974. He was assisting the All India Radio Commentary team as a guest commentator. He was impressed with my neat scoring and asked me whether i would be at Madras for the next test match. I told him no and requested him to get the autograph of the West Indian cricketers on the score card. He obliged me by taking the score book to the hotel and got the autograph of all the West Indian cricketers. The score card is a prized possession of mine. The last occasion I met him was at Chennai during the India and England test match in which SR Tendulkar scored a fourth innings hundred to set up a win for India. In between the first and the last meetings, I had met him on a couple of occasions during the commentary stints and used to pass on stats tit bits which were used by him - HR Gopala Krishna - Statistician - Bengaluru

Reader: mani subbu

Remember listening to Tony Cozier from I think 1968-69 when West Indies toured Australia. I became his fan in 1974-75 when he did commentary in the West Indies tour of India and also wrote for Indian Express. One over of Cozier commentary I vividly remember in the Kolkata Test, Indian first innings, Indian captain Pataudi who was terribly out of form in that series had retired hurt injuring his chin from a Andy Roberts delivery, he bravely came back and hit Roberts for 19 in one over , Cozier was commentating that over, and wow what excitement he brought, I remember him literally yelling, this is the Tiger Pataudi we know against fast bowling, I get very emotional when I think of that one over both for Pat's batting and Cozier's commentary.

Reader: alia juman

For me he was, is and will always be the voice of Windies cricket. In moments of rare triumph and constant despair, his voice and often later his columns will always be held in great esteem. My first taste of live cricket was at the QPO, Trinidad - Learie Constantine Stand to be specific. Imagine my surprise, whilst wandering behind the stands with my siblings and cousins, to hear the voice I always associated with cricket on either the telly or the radio but with no radio or tv in sight. We all stood in awe as we saw this man for the first time in the flesh. We were too shy to say hello and he was oblivious to some children awestruck behind him. RIP Sir, you will be greatly missed. The commentary panel up in heaven has gained another legend.

Reader: newrichhater

It is really sad. Tony was only nine years older than me but I know him as a cricket commentator since my school days. This shows how early he had established himself as an international professional. Before Sri Lanka was given test status in 1983 we had no opportunity to play WI which has always been my favourite team. I used to pick up radio commentaries to and from India and Pakistan on short waves. Tony's was one of the most familiar voices. He was so good as a commentator and his accent was so easy to follow. Cricket lovers all over the world will miss him.

Reader: dunger.bob

I remember a headline from the days prior to his eventual belated selection. It was a tour match against a full strength West Indies (back then they were still pretty good) and Hayden creamed them. "264, still knocking on the door" it read. It was as though they didn't want to pick him but eventually they simply had to. Too many runs, made the Hayden way, to keep ignoring in the end. .. As for the bully-boy tag, well, Hayden was an individual who reflected the attitude and ethos of his team faithfully. Sure, he was big, strong and aggressive but so was his team. The swagger, the ego, the incredible self-belief was all just part of the process of building an aura of invincibility around themselves. Steve Waugh was very quick to notice that some teams were beaten in their own minds before a ball was actually bowled. THAT was what he meant by the term 'mental disintegration" and Hayden was happy to do his bit to encourage it.

Reader: Nutcutlet

I have always had a lot of time for Ravi Ashwin. He is a highly intelligent man who thinks deeply and clearly about our game and how he can drive his game forward. Thus, I approached this transcribed interview prepared and pleased to be allowed to share RA's insights... and how revealing they are! He sees t20 cricket (specifically the IPL) as 'a completely different sport'; he recognises that the craft of bowling top-class spin is effectively non-applicable in t20. All that matters is bowling dots / not allowing more than singles. He also recognises that 'not enough skills' are being addressed in t20. Ravi warns 'we better start finding ways' [to address the balance between bat and ball]. All in all, it is clear that he sees t20 as for the masses and a game that demands muscle more than mind. And of course, he's right. T20 is something apart. Its appeal lacks the depth of Test cricket. The inference is that the two are getting further apart. One is cricket, the other is crackit!

Reader: exfactor44

I think the problem begins at the lower levels of the game; in schools the umpiring is often done by teachers, in club cricket I've played it's by members of the batting team. There is rarely any training involved. It's easy in these circumstances to claim any adverse decision is biased, or if not biased still poor quality umpiring. People learn to distrust the umpires and that follows them through their careers. Until we can create an umpiring structure which trains and develops good quality independent umpires for all level of the game (as with referring in football for Rugby) people will keep pointing a finger.