Channel Nine slammed for all-male Ashes commentary team
"Where are the role models for young girls to take up cricket as a sport?" Photo: Twitter
On the same day the women’s Southern Stars won the Ashes, Channel Nine has been slammed for its all-male, all-white Ashes commentary team, with one commentator decrying it as a “sausage fest”.
To promote the Ashes coverage, Channel Nine promoted their commentary team with a photograph of eight cricket commentators, all male, in a Twitter post on Friday.
Meet our #Ashes commentary team. pic.twitter.com/5OP6KLsqjy
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) November 17, 2017
“Did Cricket Australia sign off on this sausage fest? Where are the role models for young girls to take up cricket as a sport?,” one Twitter user blasted.
“Cricket commentary team or the next batch of men appearing on The Bachelorette,” another Twitter user quipped about the all-male line-up.
Another joked that the team was indeed diverse, as former Test skipper Ian Chappell was wearing a hat.
Former test cricketers Bill Lawry, Ian Healy, Michael Slater, Mark Taylor, Michael Clarke, Shane Warne and Chappell were among the all-male crew to commentate the Ashes series starting Thursday, November 23.
Mel Jones (R) at a 2015 match between England and Australia. Photo: Getty
Writing for News Corp, sports journalist Selina Steele blasted Nine for what she saw as an insult.
“Let’s recap some Southern Stars figures for the women’s Ashes: 4.1 million minutes watched live; 3 million+ video views on social, 236,068 broadcast views — [star player] Ellyse Perry alone pulled over a million views for her double century,” Steele wrote.
“The likes of Mel Jones and Lisa Sthalekar have been a consistent voice this summer and Nine have also crossed to injured Australian captain Meg Lanning. Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy is also great for a TV grab.
“Good enough to commentate cricket, but apparently only when women are playing. How can Channel 9 read the room so wrong?”
The New Daily approached Channel Nine for comment.
Cricket’s Ashes coverage stands in stark contrast to other male-dominated sports such as NRL where women such as Sarah Jones, Erin Molan and Yvonne Sampson and Lara Pitt feature large.
Women also have a presence in AFL coverage, with the likes of The Footy Show panelist Rebecca Maddern, and commentator Kelli Underwood, Lauren Arnell and Daisy Pearce.