Favourite sports commentators

Peter Alliss passed away as we know and he was known as the voice of golf so it got me thinking about other commentators that we've known and loved listening to over the years.

Who were your favourites? Mine are below

Richie Benaud  - simply the best cricket commentator ever in my eyes and loved to listen to him on tv and on the radio. I used to love getting into bed and putting on my headphones to listen to commentary late at night even though the Aussies were usually smashing us when we toured there.

Barry Davies - i always thought he was a much better footy commentator than Motty but Motty always seemed to get the big games. He didn't sit on the fence like Motty did and actually had an opinion.

Harry Carpenter  - fantastic boxing commentator and not shy to back a Brit (remember his come on Frank when Bruno had Tyson in trouble in their fight)

Reg Gutteridge - another great boxing commentator who commentated on some of the biggest UK fights ever like Benn vs Eubank.

Murray Walker - when F1 was exciting and cars actually raced, he was very excitable but knew his stuff inside out.

Good thread Norpig, I'm surprised to find I'm the first to add to it.

You've already covered many of the great commentators already so I'll try and add a few more -

Cricket - for me Brian Johnson was my favourite, probably because of the fun he brought to it. I used to love Test Match Special so much that when I used to go and see England play at Old Trafford, I used to take my radio with me and watch the game with the commentary. Loads of others did the same.

I can't really relate to the 'new wave' of commentators and the only outstanding commentator left now is Johnathon Agnew.

My favourite expert summariser of all time is 'Sir' Geoffrey Boycott, and two of the great funny moments of TMS was Aggers and Brian Johnson commentary on Botham 'getting his leg over' and Aggers winding up Geoffrey (see below) -



Football - I used to prefer the Granada commentators personally, firstly Gerald Sinstadt (we won't mention his visit to the cinema!) then Martin Tyler, to any other football commentators, still do I guess as I can't think of anyone else to mention.

Boxing - Harry Carpenter certainly used to be the man but he began to annoy me with his big love in with Frank Bruno, who clearly wasn't one of the world's best heavyweight. My vote would go to Mike Costello who I think is a class act even when sharing a mike with that fool Steve Bunce.

Rugby Union - Bill McLaren was the voice of rugby and it was a sad day when he hung the mike up but Ian Robertson came along and matched him. Hard to say who was the best but if I had to choose I'd go for Robertson.

Rugby League - Ray French and definitely not Eddie Waring who I preferred better on It's a Knock Out with Stuart Hall (less said about him the better).

F1 - Murray Walker obviously, and was at his best when teamed up with James Hunt.

Cycling - The great Phil Leggett, although the purist cycling fans thinks he's rubbish, but for those who just love the sport but are no expert about it, then Phil is the man.

A big shout out to expert summarisers Chris Boardman and David Millar (not to be confused with the great Robert Millar who ended up changing gender!).



Would be great to see others contributing to this thread.

I think you have pretty much cornered the market in brilliant commentators there Norpig although I was
never very keen on Barry Davies and Motty's voice/accent began to really grate on my nerves. He was also beginning to sound really dated I thought in the last few years up until his retirement.
Only others who I can think of are:

Cricket - Jim Laker, Bill Lawrie & Tony Greig off Australia's channel 9. Not forgetting the "spoof" Bill (& his pigeons), Tony, Chappelli and Ritchie(a la Billy Birmingham).

Athletics - Brendan Foster and David Coleman

Boxing - Jim Watt used to speak his mind and was always really entertaining.

Tennis - McEnroe is always really entertaining.

Sluffy i did almost put Gerald Sindstat on my list as i remember him being on kick off as a kid and always thought he was a good commentator. Martin Tyler is still the best of the current commentators and his partnership with Red Nev is very good.

As much as it pains me to say it Red Nev is a very good co-commentator and speaks very well on other subjects around football. Perhaps he should be more involved in the FA which would help get rid of the old boys club currently there.

Dave Higson’s commentary on David Lee’s goal always makes me laugh

David Lloyd, one of the best and certainly funniest commentators has left Sky. Cricket just got a bit duller for me.

Peter O'Sullevan, the voice of racing.
Eddie Waring.
John Arlott, and the wonderful Henry Blofeld.

boltonbonce wrote:Peter O'Sullevan, the voice of racing.
Eddie Waring.
John Arlott, and the wonderful Henry Blofeld.

You just beat me to John Arlett and Henry Blofeld Bonce and I agree that the cricket commentary, especially Test Match Special, with the various panelist’s like Boycott and Both, is much poorer today.

Bill McLaren on Rugby Union obviously and Harry Carpenter on the boxing are also unique but I can’t believe nobody has included our own Kenneth Wolstenholme, if only for his World Cup commentary.

Whitesince63 wrote:

You just beat me to John Arlett and Henry Blofeld Bonce and I agree that the cricket commentary, especially Test Match Special, with the various panelist’s like Boycott and Both, is much poorer today.

Bill McLaren on Rugby Union obviously and Harry Carpenter on the boxing are also unique but I can’t believe nobody has included our own Kenneth Wolstenholme, if only for his World Cup commentary.

Cricket has certainly been blessed with more than its fair share of greats. Honourable mentions should go to Don Mosey, Brian Johnstone, Jim Laker, and Aussie, Alan McGilvray.
I used to love the interjections of Fred Trueman. 'I don't know what's going off out there!'