THE spectators at the Oval yesterday may have been bewildered by the lack of information given to them, but what about those of us who were watching on television or listening to the radio? We were given a demonstration of why the former player is not always best suited to operating the commentary box at a time when pure journalistic instincts need to be emphasised.
David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Ian Botham were hesitant, uninformative and amateurish in the way they handled the situation. They waffled. By contrast, the professional journalists on radio, although as much in the dark as the three former England captains, were much more professional in assessing what the problem was and keeping their listening public abreast.
Simon Mann proved to be a godsend in the way that he reported from among the spectators and from within the Surrey headquarters, where he gleaned an indication of the issues being discussed by principal characters in the drama.
Jonathan Agnew and company, like the TV team, were captive in their commentary booth, but they made a much better fist of working out what the problem was and of passing on both what they knew and their frustration at the lack of information.
Gower could rarely have looked so unsure. He, Botham and Hussain — experts all — needed a journalist to moderate their debate. Botham was at least forthright, and Hussain came up with perhaps the earliest and most accurate assessment of the issues.
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I watched the drama unfold on television and listened to it being broadcast on radio, and for me radio won hands down.