Waking up with Freddie
Daniel Brigham meets the presenters of Sky's new Saturday show, Cricket AM
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Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it's all in the name of television. Simon Thomas, formerly of Blue Peter and currently a Sky Sports News anchorman, and Anita Rani, who as well as her Channel 4 stint hosts a radio show on the BBC Asian network, met each other and Flintoff, for the first time while shooting the trailer for Sky's Cricket AM.
"He was very comfortable," says Rani of Flintoff. "And he gave off a lot of body heat. Very accommodating." Thomas is slightly less enthusiastic: "It was such a surreal experience. It was the first time I'd met him and we were in bed together in our pyjamas within five minutes. It was a super kingsize bed. It needed to be."
Taking over from the acclaimed Soccer AM's slot from 9 to 10.30am for 12 weeks during the summer, starting on May 20, Cricket AM promises fun, irreverence and hopes to entice new fans to the game. And then, of course, there's Freddie, who every week will try out a new sport - from tenpin bowling to darts. Other features include `It's Throw Time', when players from a county introduce themselves to the camera (Darren Gough insists he's an allrounder) and then take aim at the stumps with their wrong arm. Dominic Cork casts an eye over the best and worst moments of the week in `Champagne Cork' and Ian Botham teaches youngsters new tricks (cricket tricks, apparently, not wine-drinking, tache-growing or sponsored walking). Star guests will include Kevin Pietersen, newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, indie band Razorlight, England rugby player Matt Dawson and celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott, who used to be the chef at Lord's.
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Sky have been acutely conscious of the opposition to the new cricket television deal, so new shows like Cricket AM ("support programming" they call it) are designed to make the sport accessible to the footy-loving crowd who lap up Soccer AM. "I think it's about debunking the myths around cricket," says Thomas. "There are an awful lot of phrases and technical terms and I think sometimes in the past broadcasters have assumed that the audience know what they're talking about.
"If you want to engage other people in the game and build on what was achieved last year during the Ashes you've got to make it accessible. Sport, ultimately, is entertainment and theatre and I think we'll be putting that across and engaging with as many current and new cricket fans as possible." "We're targeting anyone and everyone," says Rani, who learnt to play cricket on the streets of Bradford with milk crates as stumps. "I guarantee that people from right across the board will be watching. I think the Ashes proved that there are fans from all walks of life out there. I'm sure MCC members will love it."
Thomas says he heard Soccer AM presenter Tim Lovejoy tell a producer "the show succeeds or fails on your presenters". And he's right. Soccer AM works because of the chemistry between Lovejoy and his co-host Helen Chamberlain. You can't contrive these things but Thomas and Rani seem to have it and are already finishing each other's sentences. Test Match Special it ain't.
Daniel Brigham is staff writer of The Wisden Cricketer
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