AS a follower of cricket and as a student of umpiring, my involvement with the sport, in whatever capacity, has always been a source of immense personal pleasure. But, strangely enough, the maximum enjoyment I derive from a cricket match is by listening to running commentary on the radio rather than watching live action on television.

There are a number of reasons for my preference which may appear weird to many: like a bowler’s histrionic victory dance after getting a batsman out on a rank bad ball, or umpires giving grotesque signals, which are anything but prescribed cricketing signals.

Since the radio commentary spares me of all such unpleasant sights, I enjoy my cricket to the most while it is on radio. It is not me alone who sorely misses radio commentary, but there are millions of people, including the visually-impaired, who are deprived of their right to enjoy the sport we all love to the hilt.

I am not sure who is responsible for disbanding the radio commentary or not resuming it despite the fact that it is, in the wake of mobile phones, one single medium that can carry cricket to every nook and corner of the country, and, with it, the corporate message.

Can we expect the resumption of running radio commentary on sports, particularly cricket, soon? No encouraging answer is forthcoming either from the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) or the Pakistan Cricket Commentators’ Club (PCCB), which is the most relevant body in this regard.

Until now we are groping in the dark with no answer forthcoming from any quarters even when our national team currently happens to be on the twin tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Mahboob Shah
Former Test umpire
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2021