by Diana Ching
Thursday, October 4, 2001

The news that Michael Atherton has signed up to join Channel 4's Test commentary team from next year comes as no big surprise. It was pretty evident from his rather self-conscious appearances in English press-boxes in 2001 that he was limbering up for a role somewhere. In fact, you almost expected to see him walk off camera displaying a big L-plate on his back.

We've always known that Athers - one of the more cerebral members of the team - has a way with words. But it's one thing to have a history degree from Cambridge and be able to churn out informed, reasoned, even witty copy when you're sitting in front of a PC - Atherton is purported to be the only England player with a newspaper byline not to use a ghost writer. It's quite another to have to think on your feet in front of a live audience of millions hanging on your every word but ready to pounce on every slip-up. Jonathan Agnew wasn't the first to make an on-air commentary howler and he won't be the last.

Seasoned scribe he may be, but when speaking in public Athers has so far been a man of relatively few words and it will be interesting to see whether he has had any obvious training to cope with the different demands of live TV. It's not as effortless as it looks, although the experts make it seem so: the garrulous Mark Nicholas probably had a chat to the midwife before he let out his first cry, while Geoffrey Boycott is hardly a man to tire of the sound of his own voice.

How Athers will contend with switching the tool of his trade from bat to microphone remains to be seen but, as a recent Test captain, he will certainly add a missing link to Channel 4's current core dream team, headed by Richie Benaud (the purists' choice); Nicholas (the housewives' choice); Dermot Reeve (the girlies' choice); and Simon Hughes (the anoraks' choice).

But this is Wisden.com's Women's Page and the question must be asked: why no women in this team? This can be no sexist slight on the part of Channel 4, for their choices are clearly limited. The bubbly Sybil Ruscoe is great on the Saturday morning Roadshow but unproven in the commentary box, and the only other woman to have had any notable presence on the air is the Barbadian lawyer Donna Symmonds, whose stints with BBC Radio's Test Match Special received mixed reviews.

So why the dearth? TV and radio apart, you could count on one hand the number of women who make their living from writing about cricket.

You could argue two things here. One, that women have not, traditionally, been interested enough in cricket to pursue a career in it; and two, for anyone who has never played the game, it may not be easy to commentate on live action. Both suggestions are likely to be shot down in future, though, as more girls are encouraged to take up the sport - largely thanks to recent ECB initiatives and Channel 4's innovative and appealing coverage. Indeed, a 20-year-old woman wrote to Wisden Cricket Monthly recently saying that her dream job was to be a commentator and asking why officials and pundits were "so determined to ignore women who are interested in the game".

Well, maybe things will change. Meanwhile, with the addition of Atherton, Channel 4 seem to have their dream team pretty well complete - apart from one notable exception.

Last winter's tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka had this particular female scribbler setting her bedside radio-alarm for 4am to listen to the dulcet tones of Mr Boycott on TalkSport. Now, as commentators go, that's one man whose entertainment value is well worth losing a few hours' beauty sleep over. Bring back Geoffrey!

Diana Ching is a freelance writer. The Women's Page appears every Thursday. Drop us a line at feedback@wisden.com if you have any comments or suggestions.

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