Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Radio cricket commentary delusion #5a

During a dull patch in the cricket, when Jim is recalling a top feller who played Sydney grade cricket in the fifties, or doing his piss poor West Indies accent that consists of just finishing a sentence with "mon" - and Kerry is saying "he could play a bit, D.G. Bradman" - that's when I imagine the commentary panel are all dressed as women. In a half-arsed, footy-club-drag-night-fundraiser way. Or like Lemmon and Matthau in Some Like It Hot. Lots of big dangly earrings swinging as they turn their heads to follow the ball racing to the boundary. Weathered ex-cricketer faces with a bit of lurid red lippy and maybe some blue eye shadow.

I like to think its an ABC radio tradition, perhaps started by Neville Oliver, one dull afternoon in 1978 in Christchurch or Manchester or Durban. He liked a laugh.

Maybe they only do it for the morning session of the first day of each First Test. Then perhaps, for the Second test of a series, they all come as Charlie Chaplin.

2 comments:

Nobody said...

Of course you mean Lemmon and Curtis.

Chris Rees said...

Or maybe I meant Lemmon and McCartney - who knows, really. Can you tell I haven't actually seen it?