Sky Cricket's man of the match display reaffirmed how spoilt we are

NICK FRIEND: The biggest compliment I can pay is that I could tune in for a washout and end the day heartily satisfied. There is no fourth wall – that has long since been removed. Once the camera rolls, there is a glorious serenity to it all

I think we’re coming to understand how spoilt we are. In the past, perhaps we took it for granted.

But well into the first Test at the Ageas Bowl, there was a significant moment; Michael Holding held court, microphone in tow. We live in an era during which cursing the demise of the game’s longest format and bemoaning its future has become so much a par for the course that it might almost have its own micro-sport status.

Yet, these are – as we so are so frequently reminded – exceptional times. Never has a Test match been so widely followed, Holding mused. If the planet was thirsty for cricket, Southampton was on hand to quench its craving. Never has the watching world had eyes only for a single game. Never has there been so little competitive action across the globe.

And with such an occasion on the line, who else could you possibly want in charge of projecting it back into your living room? No other sport’s television viewers are treated so consistently to the levels of broadcast excellence afforded by Sky Cricket.

Maybe it is because we had all waited for this day for so long, maybe it is because – shorn of the opportunity to be there in person – we all tuned in to be there in spirit. But this felt like a magnum opus for a team whose default mode has long been set to outstanding: a piece of work that will take some beating.

As a paywall product, Sky have become collateral in the debate around cricket’s falling participation levels; last year’s World Cup final was shared and simulcast on terrestrial television, with 4.5m tuning in on Channel Four alone. Criticism in that department has never been far away.

On this, serial sports promoter Barry Hearn put it to me in blunt terms earlier this year. “We’re all grateful for TV money because without it, we don’t have a sport,” he smiled. And with the funds that have come through television deals – the latest of which was worth £1.1b, the game has grown immeasurably. That, though, is a separate discussion entirely.

Because once the camera rolls, there is a glorious serenity to it all, a tremendous familiarity, a calming knowledge. There is no fourth wall – that has long since been removed. The characters have been developed to the point that each has its individual calling card: wisdom, humour, sage analysis, authority without condescension. Key, Atherton, Holding, Hussain, Rainford-Brent, Knight, Holding, Bishop an additional treat for this series – all led by Ian Ward. So often, the right note is hit.

This was a first home Test since David Gower and Sir Ian Botham were effectively retired last September. Dismay greeted those moves – and while it would be wrong to suggest that neither were missed, the strength in depth and collective bonhomie of those remaining meant that the absence of two legends of the genre left no obvious void. Likewise, David Lloyd – returning at Emirates Old Trafford.

Over the course of five days, there were interval features on Holding, England’s win at Kingston – the first part of a review of the 1990 tour, MCC’s trip to Pakistan and a masterclass with Curtly Ambrose. The biggest compliment I can pay is that I could tune in for a washout and end the day heartily satisfied.

"If you don't educate people, they'll keep growing up in that sort of society and you'll not get meaningful change."

Michael Holding and @ejrainfordbrent say that institutionalised racism must be eradicated for the good of humanity. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/TIpdAcdZJI

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 8, 2020

And then, take Wednesday: the first day of the international summer – an occasion of belated excitement, bio-secure bubbles and stand-in captains: so many easy topics to focus in on. Instead, the most powerful piece of sports documentary that I can recall. Holding and Rainford-Brent presented in the simplest terms imaginable: their faces spotlighted ahead of a dark backdrop as they stared into the lens in front of them.

There was nothing else to see, only their words to hear. Racism called out for what it is. I have written separately about it. It was only an hourlong segment in a game that lasted all of five days, but when time moves on and the cricket is gradually forgotten, this won’t be.

With the exception of a short introductory chat about both sides’ bowling attacks, this was the series’ first action, perhaps the most impactful rain delay in the history of cricket broadcasting. If the job of an introduction is to grip its audience, then this was job done and then some. Holding’s follow-up – a five-minute unscripted monologue performed live on the Ageas Bowl’s concrete concourse, at this point, has been viewed on 6.5m occasions on Twitter alone.

The version cut for social media has been shortened to just over a third of its overall running time. The full video is 15 minutes long, but worth each second of your attention.

The most powerful piece of sports broadcasting I can recall

It wasn’t a one-off; Jason Holder was asked about the subject in his Player Zone interview, while he retorted by singling out Holding as an inspiration. What followed between the pair was a heart-warming back-and-forth doused in mutual respect.

Each member of Sky’s team wore Black Lives Matter emblems on their jackets. Hussain, as so often, hit the nail on the head.

“The players should be proud of wearing these badges,” he stressed. “We should be proud of wearing these badges. But really, 2020 and we have to wear a badge saying black lives matter? Really? That should be a given.”

That morning, I had turned on my television at 10am, awaiting my hour of pre-match coverage. Only, it began half an hour later – the complications, I assumed, of live reporting in a coronavirus environment: no direct access to the players, no pitch report, no Sky Cart rolled onto the outfield. What would this look like? I recalled England’s tour of India in 2012, when a disagreement with the BCCI meant that Botham, Hussain et al commentated via television pictures from London.

But 10.30am struck and so began a montage for the ages – business as usual, as much a staple of the English summer as rain and selection debates. A video that featured Boris Johnson and Marcus Rashford among many others, packaging together the hardships of recent months into a single heartfelt tribute: it wasn’t really about cricket, but it didn’t need to be.

"Until we educate the entire human race, this thing will not stop."

Michael Holding delivers a powerful message, explaining why #BlackLivesMatter. pic.twitter.com/2jiATkOqQ4

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 8, 2020

Minutes later, Ward made reference to George Floyd, before opening the floor to Holding and Rainford-Brent. “Mikey and Ebs explain now why black lives matter,” he said. Simple but oh so effective. No tiptoeing around the subject; he highlighted cricket’s own problems with racial inequality.

In the subsequent discussion, Ward’s words could be counted on a single hand. His job was to listen. Hussain spoke briefly about the prejudices he has faced, while his voice audibly wobbled with emotion as he reflected on the courage of Holding and Rainford-Brent.

Before that, he had offered another important truth for these unprecedented times, laying out the debt of gratitude owed by English cricket just minutes into the programme. “The West Indies Cricket Board and their players take a lot of credit for coming over when the numbers were as high as they’d ever been, when the BAME community were being hit so hard,” he said.

“For a West Indies cricketer to pick up a newspaper in Barbados or wherever and say: ‘You know what, I’m going to go over to England and play Test match cricket in this sort of environment with no one watching,’ I think we should never ever forget that – both Pakistan and West Indies, we applaud your bravery really, for coming over and putting cricket first.”

^{Ben Stokes performs his post-match duties via videolink, with players and pundits unable to mix due to social distancing}

All this before a ball had even been bowled. Stuart Broad sat disgruntled in a specially-designed chamber with definite Big Brother roots, commenting specifically on the quality of Sky’s coverage – a morsel from a fascinating set of frank admissions from England’s second-most successful bowler of all time.

“First of all,” he began, “I just want to say, having watched your footage and coverage over the last couple of days, it’s been incredible, guys.

“It’s not often that I get to see much Sky footage in the summer when I’m playing. It’s been great to watch, hugely powerful. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

The seamer’s candour in the presence of Ward and his colleagues is as much a sign as any of the trust that exists between the two camps.

In the absence of face-to-face interaction between player and pundit, this was the next-best option. Members of each side would sit, somewhat awkwardly to begin with, in a chair somewhere between Mastermind studio and local barber, up to their necks in lockdown hair. But no sooner had the situation’s peculiarity been addressed, both parties were at home.

Key creasing 😅#ENGvWIpic.twitter.com/jDiYPZR5ox

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 11, 2020

Dom Bess, a terrific talker whenever he has been called upon, spoke impressively about the mindset of an off-spinner and the intricacies behind his field placements. Kraigg Brathwaite reflected on overcoming a long spell of poor form. Rory Burns was fascinating on the impact of a dominant left eye on his setup at the crease. Kemar Roach walked viewers through his progression from youthful tearaway to experienced metronome.

Good questions get good answers, and Sky have perfected the art. There was a noticeable increase in Third Man features through the Test, while the use of CricViz’s almanack of wizardry and statistics added to the spectacle.

And then, there was the most glorious blooper – an all-timer in the televised prank hall of fame. Shannon Gabriel took nine wickets in the game, but it was Hugh Jardon’s six-wicket haul up in Cockermouth – Ben Stokes’ old club, Atherton reminded us with a comic innocence – that might be remembered for longer as the finest single spell of the Test.

It was funny for several reasons – not least the pun itself and the fact that it had passed through, presumably, some sort of rudimentary vetting process. But more so, because it was just so unusual for an operation that runs like the very smoothest clockwork to fall hook, line and sinker into a trap like that – in cricketing terms, this was a part-time off-spinner tempting you, against all better judgement, to chip straight to the one man on the legside rope.

An enormous cap-doff to Charlie Hilton, whose tweet it was that temporarily halted all commentary, while Key, Atherton, Ward and others broke down in unashamed hysterics. Others simply couldn’t pull this off. There was no hollow, unnecessary apology for “any language that may have caused offence”, the kind that we so often hear now on live broadcasts.

Instead, they owned the moment. That it was Atherton – the hugely respected, Cambridge-educated, former England captain – only added to the scene, along with his forlorn attempt to restore order with a score update.

And to top it off, a fine game of cricket was unfolding.

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