The Seven Network as revealed its star studded commentary team to deliver the summer of cricket with several new recruits bringing in an unenviable wealth of talent to the box.
Ahead of a massive summer which includes the Big Bash, Women’s Ashes and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Seven has gone all out to bring in the best voices in the game to help cover all the action.
Twenty20 superstar Aaron Finch will join the team and will make his Seven commentary debut in Perth helping to call the first two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Perhaps Australia’s best ever T20 player he will be right at home helping to cover BBL14 and will be hosting the BBL and WBBL Draft this Sunday live and free on 7mate from 1pm AWST.
As he did throughout much of his playing career Ricky Ponting will lead to the team having singed a long-term deal to remain with the network and cannot wait for the action to get underway.
“I’m so thrilled to have locked in with my 7Cricket family long term,” he said.
“I love the team we work with on and off air and can’t wait for an epic Test Series against India and another massive season of Big Bash.”
Seven Network Director of Sport, Chris Jones, said it was an honour to have Ponting committing and is excited by the talent that will join him this summer.
“We are so excited to welcome so many new faces to our 7Cricket family, including the BBL’s most exciting player, Aaron Finch,” he saod.
“Having worked with Finchy across our coverage in recent seasons, we know he’s a natural commentator who can take us behind the play like nobody else. As a captain, he saw ahead of the game and will bring that to his commentary across our Test and BBL coverage this season.
“Ricky Ponting is arguably the world’s best expert commentator, and we are so thrilled to continue to share his unrivalled insights with Australian viewers. He is the captain of our commentary team and has led from the front both on and off air since his arrival at Seven.
“The only place you can hear Ricky across the summer is on Seven and for the very first time, on 7plus and it’s an honour for our 7Cricket team to have Ricky commit to us long term.”
It’s been more than a decade since Australia last held the Border-Gavaskar trophy and one man who will hope that drought continues will be the trophy’s namesake with Indian icon Sunil Gavaskar also joining to cover every ball from the from the five test series.
Respected for his articulate commentary and understanding of the game Seven’s Head of Cricket, Joel Starcevic says it doesn’t get any better than the Indian legend.
“We are delighted to welcome back Sunil Gavaskar to Seven’s cricket coverage, where he will provide expert commentary during the Series named in his honour,” he said.
“Never afraid to speak his mind, not only is Sunil a highly respected voice in world cricket, but he is also cricket royalty.
“In a summer where we could see Steve Smith become just the 15th cricketer to score 10,000 Test runs, we will have Sunil – the first player to ever achieve that milestone – behind the mic’ for Seven. It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.
It’s not only past legends that will be behind the mic this summer with current fast bowler Mitchell Starc to join the team covering the Women’s Ashes with his partner Alyssa Healy hoping to retain the coveted trophy beginning at North Sydney Oval on 12 January
Offering a different aspect on the action will be Rachel Khawaja, partner of Test opener Usman, who will be making her 7Cricket debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy reporting on all the colour and excitement from the crowd and connecting viewers to the Australian teams’ families.
“This summer also has the potential to be the biggest ever for Women’s International cricket, and it’s only fitting for us to have a modern-day superstar like Mitch Starc as part of our 7cricket commentary team to add to the excitement of the Women’s Ashes,” Starcevic said.
“Adding Rachel Khawaja to the mix further allows us to connect viewers at home to the families and friends of our adored Australian players. We cannot wait to see her deliver all the colour and excitement from the stadium during the Border-Gavaskar trophy.”
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au