A very sad day when Channel 4 gave away the telecast rights. Was the best sports coverage I've ever worked on. Thanks to Gary Franses and Rob Sheerlock. Great memories.
They were great, weren't they? I was stuck in the Virtual Spectator graphics van for this season but they were the most memorable OBs I've ever worked on!
Watching the 2005 Ashes Series DVD, and god do I miss Channel 4's coverage of cricket. Nicholas, Benaud, Atherton, Boycott, Greig, Slater and Hughes the voices of the most golden summer.
31 now, remember the early alarms to watch the entire series, every day, without fail, in the school summer holidays. Mambo No. 5 and this bit of TV is engrained in my memory.
Channel 4's production team on this just got it. They knew how to make engaging and fun packages while still including stats and facts. I don't think Sky has ever really repeated their magic.
@MadMusician91 It's back, live test-match cricket finally returns to English free-to-air, terrestrial telly after 16 years. Bout' bloody time too! English cricket hasn't been the same since '05.
@@KishanPatel-hf6uq Yeah, i also recorded the last edition of what use to be known as _The Cricket Roadshow_ till they renamed it _The Cricket Show_ in '03 till it's last broadcast on September 10th, '05. th-cam.com/video/yFGR7BVxhL0/w-d-xo.html
Channel 4 Cricket was an integral part of my childhood. Loved listening to Mark Nicholas, Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Greig and Richie Benaud. I remember the final day of the test series very well. Annoyingly I was at school, so either had to listen out for updates from the teachers who had an interest in Cricket, or wait for breaktime and lunchtime to run to the library and logon to a computer to look at the score. As soon as school finished for the day, I lived a half hour walk from my school, so I ran home to catch the final session of play. My mum told me she had it on all day, and even though she is not a fan of sport at all, she said the atmosphere at the ground just from watching on tv was absolutely fantastic. Songs being sung ranged from Jerusalem to Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Land of Hope and Glory reverberated through the tv set all day. It was just such a fantastic time to be a Cricket fan and especially as a 12 year old, watching England win the ashes for the first time in my lifetime was absolutely tremendous.
@Howzattt channel 4's cricket was the best ive ever seen and was a real surprise in production, detail, expert views and presention. Not even Sky has yet matched this effort of showing cricket to the nation. Much missed. Heres a short, great example....
Against all odds and with imperfections, (Hollyoaks 6pm and cutting to racing) channel 4 changed cricket as a tv product. The BBC had grown stale using relics from the 1970s and outdated coverage...ch4 took the remaining positives from the beeb and refreshed the whole tv product. Hosted by the fantastic Mark Nicholls who still today is the best presenter of cricket on TV by a street, added to that Richie and Boycs, the dry wit of Mike Atherton backed up with his recent experience at the top level. Simon Hughes who as the analyst I believe was the forerunner to the DRS system we use today. Simply put, ch4 changed the sport of cricket forever. Skys coverage today is poor in comparison.
Really do miss Test Cricket on Channel 4/Terrestrial TV. When the rights are up for grabs again, one of the terrestrial broadcasters should at least make a bid for it. I mean if its on BBC, I'm sure no one is going to miss Bargain Hunt or Flog it for most of the summer, if it was on ITV I'm sure no one will miss Dickinsons Real Deal and on C4 no one would miss Countdown or Deal or no Deal.
I never understand why the terribly amateurish people in charge of coverage on SKY doesn't replay tapes of Channel 4 to suss how to do cricket coverage. Hussain and to a lesser extent Atherton are excellent commentators as is David Lloyd but the endless repetition (and surprising insecurity) of Botham, Warne and especially Holding means that standards of cricket commentary are going backwards rather than forwards. A real shame - plus the endless saturation advertising of betting that's on SKY.
+Stephen Kuhrt Exactly mate, fuck sky for ruining everything and taking a monopoly of live sport coverage. Due to them, no live coverage of sport is free anymore and soon Wimbledon coverage will be owned by those bastards.
+Tad Evans Well I guess they have to be praised for covering every ball. The BBC was often elsewhere - especially during the afternoon and with those hourly news bulletins they introduced near the end of their time (ironically to counter Sky News) and even the brilliant Channel Four coverage had to compete with Channel 4 racing on Saturday afternoons. But I still find it frustrating that I can't see live cricket when I'm on holiday unless I find a pub somewhere and my main point is that Sky - with the exceptions mentioned above - are just so amateur in their coverage. Apparently Kerry Packer saw Channel 4 and realised how Channel 9 needed to improve - hence the hiring of Mark Nicholas. But you get the impression Sky aren't bothered about quality. Gower as an anchor is particularly hopeless and rather Terry Wogan confusing words coming easily with those words being any good.
+Stephen Kuhrt You serious, holding's an excellent commentator and analyst. Botham is decent as well, Warne is give or take but is an intelligent commentator. Sky's coverage has been excellent, though I do which it was back on Channel 4.
+Connor Fryer Can't agree. Holding endlessly repetitive ('You miss, I hit' every other time someone is bowled) and Botham (who I was the biggest fun of imaginable in his playing days - I still know every one of his Test scores) wildly inconsistent in his views. And Warne has continued sledging but simply from a different location. Stand by what I said. The strange thing is that the three indisputed greats as players show so much insecurity as commentators whilst those who weren't greats (Lloyd, Hussain, Atherton) are far less interested (certainly than Warne - the worst example) in still trying to project an image.
@@stephenkuhrt635 for others I would say OK, but man Holding, never. It's always been if he's on commentary, I watch. That's it. I always wait for his commentary.
I cant believe this was 6 years ago. god time flies. I agree its a HUGE shame that cricket isnt on FTA tv anymore and channel 4 where brilliant for cricket in this country imho
pity not all of us got access to the 2013 test series as we did for the great ashes series in 2005. If you would like to see all Englands home international back on terrestrial telly feel free to join my facebook page its called get all England home international matches back on terrestrial tv
I'm being kinda selfish in that I'm glad cricket is on Sky because I'm lucky enough to have it and there's no way that you could see as much cricket especially tests if it was on terrestrial because of time constraints. However, I do think that the government should add Ashes series (at least the home ones) to the list of protected sporting events that have to remain on terrestrial TV.
Put it this way, he wasn't found guilty, but he wasn't found not guilty. Google 'Qayyum report' for the murky details. I agree with you about Barry, except I'd use good rather than great. I think he's out of the commentating game now.
Great thAt Test match cricket is coming back to terrestrial TV and channel 4 hopefully home test matches will be live on terrestrial TV soon hopefully Channel 4
the reason this series was as good as it was was because the whole nation could watch it without paying extortionate amounts for sky sports
Spot on.
I heavily agree
Get up tomorrow at 4. It’s back.
A very sad day when Channel 4 gave away the telecast rights. Was the best sports coverage I've ever worked on. Thanks to Gary Franses and Rob Sheerlock. Great memories.
They were great, weren't they? I was stuck in the Virtual Spectator graphics van for this season but they were the most memorable OBs I've ever worked on!
Can't wait for it to return next week
Anyone else here after Channel 4 have been confirmed to show the India series?
Me
Again 9 million viewers watched the serries
Channel 4's coverage of this was class.
Watching the 2005 Ashes Series DVD, and god do I miss Channel 4's coverage of cricket. Nicholas, Benaud, Atherton, Boycott, Greig, Slater and Hughes the voices of the most golden summer.
Slats was excellent. Very underrated.
2021 and we are back!
OMG! I've been looking for this mambo No. 5 montage for ages!!! Thanks!
31 now, remember the early alarms to watch the entire series, every day, without fail, in the school summer holidays. Mambo No. 5 and this bit of TV is engrained in my memory.
All those calling for Channel 4 to get the cricket back... your wish has been granted!!!
For one series only then is back to sky and bt
I miss the times of watching free-to-air sports such as this.
Channel 4's production team on this just got it. They knew how to make engaging and fun packages while still including stats and facts. I don't think Sky has ever really repeated their magic.
I miss Richie Benaud commentating .The best cricket commentator of them all in my opinion.
I just finished my GCSE Exmas and used to watch this whilst on study leave :)
Memories
the day cricket's soul was sold to the devil.
d347b2 when pay tv ruined cricket
And now the return!
Guess who's back?
@MadMusician91
It's back, live test-match cricket finally returns to English free-to-air, terrestrial telly after 16 years. Bout' bloody time too! English cricket hasn't been the same since '05.
well well well, its back on channel 4 after 15 years!
And I couldn’t be happier
Hopefully they put mambo number 5 somewhere in the coverage just for nostalgia’s sake
Channel 4 Cricket ('99-'05) was my childood. I'm happy live test-match cricket has finally returned to free-to-air terrestrial telly'.
@@AshesHereos my favorite segment was the cricket show
The last ever episode is on TH-cam and is class
@@KishanPatel-hf6uq
Yeah, i also recorded the last edition of what use to be known as _The Cricket Roadshow_ till they renamed it _The Cricket Show_ in '03 till it's last broadcast on September 10th, '05.
th-cam.com/video/yFGR7BVxhL0/w-d-xo.html
I have been looking for this video for years! God bless the uploader!
sebasback sound track is called 'Mambo number 5'
Channel 4 Cricket was an integral part of my childhood. Loved listening to Mark Nicholas, Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Greig and Richie Benaud. I remember the final day of the test series very well. Annoyingly I was at school, so either had to listen out for updates from the teachers who had an interest in Cricket, or wait for breaktime and lunchtime to run to the library and logon to a computer to look at the score. As soon as school finished for the day, I lived a half hour walk from my school, so I ran home to catch the final session of play. My mum told me she had it on all day, and even though she is not a fan of sport at all, she said the atmosphere at the ground just from watching on tv was absolutely fantastic. Songs being sung ranged from Jerusalem to Swing Low Sweet Chariot and Land of Hope and Glory reverberated through the tv set all day. It was just such a fantastic time to be a Cricket fan and especially as a 12 year old, watching England win the ashes for the first time in my lifetime was absolutely tremendous.
@Howzattt channel 4's cricket was the best ive ever seen and was a real surprise in production, detail, expert views and presention. Not even Sky has yet matched this effort of showing cricket to the nation. Much missed. Heres a short, great example....
Channel 4 cricket was just the best. Lovely memories, simple as.
IT'S BACK BABY
Still gives me goosebumps 16 years later 😊
I know it's a bit late to celebrate but cheers for a wonderful memory of summer 2005. Bless Freddie and the England boys.
Against all odds and with imperfections, (Hollyoaks 6pm and cutting to racing) channel 4 changed cricket as a tv product. The BBC had grown stale using relics from the 1970s and outdated coverage...ch4 took the remaining positives from the beeb and refreshed the whole tv product. Hosted by the fantastic Mark Nicholls who still today is the best presenter of cricket on TV by a street, added to that Richie and Boycs, the dry wit of Mike Atherton backed up with his recent experience at the top level. Simon Hughes who as the analyst I believe was the forerunner to the DRS system we use today. Simply put, ch4 changed the sport of cricket forever. Skys coverage today is poor in comparison.
Agree with that but Atherton is boring as paint drying. I also dislike David Lloyd on Sky. Really fake if you ask me. Loved channel 4 cricket.
@@thelad789 cool, different Stokes for different Woakes
Earliest memory of cricket right here
Really do miss Test Cricket on Channel 4/Terrestrial TV. When the rights are up for grabs again, one of the terrestrial broadcasters should at least make a bid for it. I mean if its on BBC, I'm sure no one is going to miss Bargain Hunt or Flog it for most of the summer, if it was on ITV I'm sure no one will miss Dickinsons Real Deal and on C4 no one would miss Countdown or Deal or no Deal.
Really do miss cricket on ch4, good old days!
Channel 4 coverage was awesome
Channel 4's worst comm was Wasim Akram, closely followed by Dermot Reeve. Ian Smith was the best foreign import.
Cricket should come back to Channel 4
Granted
I never understand why the terribly amateurish people in charge of coverage on SKY doesn't replay tapes of Channel 4 to suss how to do cricket coverage. Hussain and to a lesser extent Atherton are excellent commentators as is David Lloyd but the endless repetition (and surprising insecurity) of Botham, Warne and especially Holding means that standards of cricket commentary are going backwards rather than forwards. A real shame - plus the endless saturation advertising of betting that's on SKY.
+Stephen Kuhrt Exactly mate, fuck sky for ruining everything and taking a monopoly of live sport coverage. Due to them, no live coverage of sport is free anymore and soon Wimbledon coverage will be owned by those bastards.
+Tad Evans Well I guess they have to be praised for covering every ball. The BBC was often elsewhere - especially during the afternoon and with those hourly news bulletins they introduced near the end of their time (ironically to counter Sky News) and even the brilliant Channel Four coverage had to compete with Channel 4 racing on Saturday afternoons. But I still find it frustrating that I can't see live cricket when I'm on holiday unless I find a pub somewhere and my main point is that Sky - with the exceptions mentioned above - are just so amateur in their coverage. Apparently Kerry Packer saw Channel 4 and realised how Channel 9 needed to improve - hence the hiring of Mark Nicholas. But you get the impression Sky aren't bothered about quality. Gower as an anchor is particularly hopeless and rather Terry Wogan confusing words coming easily with those words being any good.
+Stephen Kuhrt You serious, holding's an excellent commentator and analyst. Botham is decent as well, Warne is give or take but is an intelligent commentator. Sky's coverage has been excellent, though I do which it was back on Channel 4.
+Connor Fryer Can't agree. Holding endlessly repetitive ('You miss, I hit' every other time someone is bowled) and Botham (who I was the biggest fun of imaginable in his playing days - I still know every one of his Test scores) wildly inconsistent in his views. And Warne has continued sledging but simply from a different location. Stand by what I said. The strange thing is that the three indisputed greats as players show so much insecurity as commentators whilst those who weren't greats (Lloyd, Hussain, Atherton) are far less interested (certainly than Warne - the worst example) in still trying to project an image.
@@stephenkuhrt635 for others I would say OK, but man Holding, never. It's always been if he's on commentary, I watch. That's it. I always wait for his commentary.
I cant believe this was 6 years ago. god time flies. I agree its a HUGE shame that cricket isnt on FTA tv anymore and channel 4 where brilliant for cricket in this country imho
pity not all of us got access to the 2013 test series as we did for the great ashes series in 2005. If you would like to see all Englands home international back on terrestrial telly feel free to join my facebook page its called get all England home international matches back on terrestrial tv
#Channel4Cricket #bring back live and free cricket
I’m hearing rumours...... mambo is back?!
Yes it is!
If you think channel 4 raise enough money for rights for more sports on their live coverage do you think they would bring back cricket
Yeah I think they would ;)
And it’s back today!
Cricket back on FTA TV on the BBC! Pretty good so far too, oldies out and young, more energetic commentators in. Seeya Aggers!
We back boys
Better than anything Sky Sports could dream of. Bring test match cricket back to free tv!
Big up Ben Titchmarsh
This is Mambo Number 5 😏
My god what a time to be alive
Cricket was so much better when it was there for all to enjoy
"Jones......Bowden......Kasprowicz!!"
I'm being kinda selfish in that I'm glad cricket is on Sky because I'm lucky enough to have it and there's no way that you could see as much cricket especially tests if it was on terrestrial because of time constraints. However, I do think that the government should add Ashes series (at least the home ones) to the list of protected sporting events that have to remain on terrestrial TV.
show the cricket on Today at the test but thanks to channel 4
Screw sky, let's have the cricket back on the terrestrial channels.
Put it this way, he wasn't found guilty, but he wasn't found not guilty. Google 'Qayyum report' for the murky details.
I agree with you about Barry, except I'd use good rather than great. I think he's out of the commentating game now.
Great thAt Test match cricket is coming back to terrestrial TV and channel 4 hopefully home test matches will be live on terrestrial TV soon hopefully Channel 4
Yes. Mercifully, he was dropped in 2000 because he'd been implicated in match-fixing.
Mark no.5!
trish cuthbert try 'Mambo number 5'
Channel four cricket as ending
Aah, 2005. What an anti-climax.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
THIS IS MUMBO NUMBER 227!
The ultimate ending to the greatest cricket coverage available! May God bless you, Richie.
Sky rules!