Cricket and criticism

John Weekes at HoS reports:

Sky’s cricket commentators have been told they must be nice to the Black Caps and are not to regurgitate their off-field dramas.

The controversy surrounding the sacking of captain Ross Taylor has fired up debate for the summer game but fans expecting Sky commentators to weigh in will be waiting a long time, the company says.

“We don’t put down sporting codes because we’re in the business of promoting sport,” Sky spokeswoman Kirsty Way said.

Sky and New Zealand Cricket had a business partnership, she said. “It’s natural for our commentators to promote our product.”

Cricket is just a product?

Former New Zealand cricketer and commentator John “Mystery” Morrison said Sky’s policy was “pathetic”. “The day that people don’t debate and argue these issues will be a sad day for the game,” he said.

He said commentators should be allowed to voice their passion and interest and scrutinise the game.

I tend to agree with John.

Sure you don’t want the commentators sledging NZ Cricket between ever over, declaring how much better the team would be playing if it were not for the wallies who did xyz.

But the recent happenings shouldn’t be taboo, and if relevant to the game, commentators should be able to mention them.

Also I hope that the fact NZ Cricket are a business partner doesn’t mean the news and sports shows are instructed to not talk about their problems. I can understand the actual game commentary being a bit sensitive, but the daily news and sports shows should have no restrictions.