tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21636894.post4995357333251379073..comments2024-03-18T23:33:45.536-07:00Comments on A CRICKETING VIEW: Watching Cricket with Test Match SofaKartikeya Datehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512491310629949028noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21636894.post-33859903320802926522012-11-24T21:37:03.384-08:002012-11-24T21:37:03.384-08:00Firstly, thanks for listening Kartikeya and thanks...Firstly, thanks for listening Kartikeya and thanks to mykuhl for the kind words.<br /><br />I can't address all your points (many of which are very good and will inform my work in the Third Test) but I will look at one. <br /><br />I was on ball-by-ball when Samit got a shocker in the First Test, a ball that hit him in front of leg stump having reversed past the inside edge. I said it was a bad decision at the time and on replay - because, the only real rule of TMSofa is to say what you see. Of course, I don't know for sure that it was missing, but I do know for sure that umpires make mistakes (I was on mic when VVS was given out for 91 vs Aus (I think) when he had middled it into his pad), so I'm not goign to treat the umpires as infallible.<br /><br />Unlike some of the ex-pros, we do know how hard umpiring is because almost all of us have done it. It's only club cricket, but I know that LBWs are diffcult, stumpings very difficult and run outs downright impossible. Daniel is very quick to praise umpires and we do (I think all) support the DRS, but there's no corporate line.<br /><br />As for me, I don't mind making the odd mistake - better to be wrong than boring - and will occasionally make "dubious points with hyperbolic conviction" because everyone knows the game is unpredictable so who wants to hear if, buts and maybes. Mistakes are (I venture) less important on TMSofa because correction comes quickly either from other commentators or tweets and on we go. <br /><br />We probably do say a lot of the same things as mainstream commentaries, but with well over 30 hours of a Test match to fill, there are only so many things one can say. <br /><br />It is great fun though and if a tenth of that comes across to the listeners, they'll enjoy it - I feel extraordinarily privileged to be part of it. Gary Naylorhttp://nestaquin.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21636894.post-84616180014624164452012-11-24T19:32:05.824-08:002012-11-24T19:32:05.824-08:00I'm surprised that you read it that way. I dis...I'm surprised that you read it that way. I distinguish between being partisan, and believing in one's own performance of partisanship. Kartikeya Datehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03512491310629949028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21636894.post-45758507445522232372012-11-24T19:06:18.735-08:002012-11-24T19:06:18.735-08:00I am a regular Sofa listener, and I'd have to ...I am a regular Sofa listener, and I'd have to disagree with a lot of this article. One of the primary claims that they make is that they are partisan. You have to listen to it understanding that. <br /><br />It is possible that they made a mistake with that one delivery. However in general they have been critical of the performance of both Dar and Hill because they have been substandard. They are not going to pull their punches, because that is part of the beauty of unashamedly biased commentary.<br /><br />Just as you hear some of them taking a very pro-English stance, you will also hear Ant Sims and Aatif Nawaz cheering on any English mistake. You can also hear some of the best analysis of the game on the Sofa. Gary Naylor, Nigel Henderson and Dan Norcross are all great analysts of the game, in my opinion easily the contemporaries of Peter Roebuck, Gideon Haigh or David Trist. <br /><br />Their partisanship and bias may annoy you, but if you want the quality analysis, and the entertainment of their comments, then that is the price you have to pay. There is no perfect commentary, but I think that Test Match Sofa has the best balance.Mykuhlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16821799061116228138noreply@blogger.com