Sport on TV: Ducking out of the tourist trail (23 November 1998)

23 November 1998

Sport on TV: Ducking out of the tourist trail

By Giles Smith

HOW do you like your Ashes? In full or skimmed? "Before we go, a glimpse of the much under-rated city of Brisbane," said Mark Nicholas, out there for the duration with Sky Sports. It's already clear viewers of Sky's all-night coverage are going to have to sit through an awful lot of tourist board pictures of kangaroos and tram-lines before the little trophy gets held aloft. Let's hope they are paying for the air fares.

For those who haven't quite got time to take in Brisbane right now, the BBC's highlights package offers cricket as it might have been seen in the early days of Buster Keaton - at high speed, with the slapstick piled high. No kangaroos here. Just the Channel 9 duck - the unceremoniously quacking cartoon figure which waddles and splutters into view during, for instance, Michael Atherton's walk back to the pavilion.

Some say the duck is a pain now and should be shot, but its presence could also be read as part of a noble grassroots initiative by Channel 9, of the kind cricketing authorities are always calling for but somehow never achieve: a commendable attempt to instil an interest in cricket in viewers of 18 months and under.

Meanwhile the pictures are so sharp and shot from such a plethora of angles, that they now reliably arbitrate on everything, including disputes at the boundary rope where cameras never used to visit. Fears that umpires will soon be redundant are unnecessary, however. You've got to have someone out there for the players to abuse when they get bored of abusing each other.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)