Annoying terms used by commentators

[Paul31]

Am I the only person getting annoyed by commentators (mainly on Sky) overuse of terms such as fivefor or sixfor as an abbreviation for, say, five for 56 to define a five wicket haul.

In my days as a village cricketer when I was a teenager, we played 40 over games and if anyone hit the milestone of a 50 or a 5 wicket haul, they had to buy a jug of beer for the team.

So for example you might hear in the clubhouse; "Paul got a fivefor; he's getting the beers in".

The use of fivefor to determine the milestone of a 5 wicket haul is tolerable in my book.

I do however draw the line at hearing this used constantly, especially when I hear terms as ridiculous as "threefor" and even "0for".

Am I over reacting, or has anyone else noticed how annoying this is?

Another Sky-ism that makes my blood boil is " He came to the party", used in situations where someone who perhaps has not previously contributed a big score or a few wickets, suddenly does so.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Actually paul, not really. The rot started when batsmen became "batters" about 10 years ago. That annoyed me !

[Paul31]

While I am in the mood to rant, Charles Colvile is an idiot.

I was extremely proud of Lancashire coach Mike Watkinson making several sarcastic remarks to brush him off as Colvile continued to bombard Watkinson with questions and comments about signing Luke Sutton to replace Hegg behind the stumps when he retires.

Colvile would not let it lie. How stupid does he think Watkinson is if he thinks he is going to admit trying to sign a player, whilst he is still contracted to another county.

Colvile needs to be axed at once. The only reason he ever got a job with Sky is because he joined before they had any decent cricket and they probably feel a sense of loyalty. Notice how he gets nowhere near the International coverage.

Same with Paul Dempsey, another annoying fool who managed to get a job with Sky in the days when they were nobodies. Interesting how he too was jettisoned back to low key boxing as soon as Sky got biger and recruited proper presenters like Keys and Gray.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

The rot started when batsmen became "batters" about 10 years ago. That annoyed me !

That annoys the hell out of me too. But I think its way more than ten years old... the first time I heard it (not used in conjunction with fried fish) must've been twenty or more years ago on the BBC's fine coverage when some "expert" commentator like (I don' know) Tom Graveney? (who really should know better) came out with it.

My mother is a speech correction fiend... and consequently I am too (maybe you've noticed ) - I often find myself shouting at the screen "BATSMAN" in between those moments when I shout: "FOR GOD'S SAKE VAUGHAN, TAKE YOURSELF OFF AND PUT ON JONES."

It's a wonder my blood pressure is so low.

[Zainub]

I don't like the sound of it when commentators say "that's a biggy" when it goes for six.

[Oliver]

Mark Nicholas should be shot every time he utters: "CRACKERJACK"

It's not "Crackerjack" Mark, that was on Friday at five-to-five in the afternoon and it was taken off the air years ago because it wasn't funny anymore.

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by O

Mark Nicholas should be shot every time he utters: "CRACKERJACK

I would go one step further and shoot him just before he tries to utter absolutely anything.

[greg]

Mark Nicholas when he says "Wonderful batting" or "Excellent Batting" Makes out that nobody in the history of the game has played that shot before.I sit at home and think "it was only a coverdrive,and it never went to the boundary anyway"

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Oliver

Mark Nicholas should be shot every time he utters: "CRACKERJACK"

Ah! A man after my own heart!! An article in the Wisden Cricketer this month is about the best commentators, and a public vote. Nicholas can 5th!! For pity's sake people, he's the worst commentator in the history of the game!!

It is important to highlight that the result was skewed as you had 6 votes, 5 of which had to go to 10 TV commentators, and only 1 could be allocated to any commentator. This meant that Blowers ended up with 1,500 votes, as opposed to Nicholas' 4,500 even though statistically speaking, he had much more chance of getting votes. I didn't bother voting as out of the TV people available, I could only vote for Richie and Athers. None of the other chumps deserved my vote in the TV category.

[Oliver]

There was a pretty good thread on WaT some time ago, on that very subject, which must have inspired which ever Wisden cricket writer.

I'll see if I can find it.