Raju Korti
The legendary Richie Benaud once remarked that "the problem with relying on nostalgia for commentary is that people remember only the good things." What Benaud said was a rule with the honourable exception of fellow commentator Tony Cozier.
Tony Cozier, who died at 76 yesterday was actually more of a Barbadian than West Indian. I say this because when the West Indians were the most exciting bunch of cricketers in the fifties, sixties and early seventies, being a Barbadian carried more weight than being a West Indian. Cozier's refrain then was a simple but factual comment he would make in all the years of the island's glorious cricketing history: "The West Indies are a tremendously talented side." That was his subtle way of telling that no other cricketing nation could be considered anywhere close to the West Indies. Cozier was more West Indian than the West Indians themselves. For someone who was a charmed witness to the illustrious and resplendent chapters in West Indies cricket for well over 48 years, Cozier carried facts and figures on the tip of his tongue, never faltering even once. He defied the unwritten rule that if you are not controversial, you will never break through the din of the commentary. To his cricketing sense, commentating was more of lucid narration and expression which he did with forensic details.
As a commentator he was in a class of his own if you realise that there were other sublime commentators like Brian Johnston, John Arlott, Christopher Martin Jenkins, Henry Blofeld, Don Moseley, Alan M'cgilvray, Freddie Truman, Trevor Bailey and Ray Illingworth who were the uncrowned kings of commentary box. I am mentioning these names because Cozier himself was part of the terrific BBC Test Match Special team in those days. Commentators in those days were not the kind you see on television now. They had a tougher, non-visual medium like the radio to hold forth their commentary skills. They were so good and vivid that listeners would feel that they were watching the match live. Such was his craft that Cozier could shift gears easily to be as good on the TV if you know that skills required for both fundamentally differ. He could move seamlessly between radio and television boxes lost in himself describing the (then) domination and (later) demise of the West Indian cricket.
Never pompous and expansive in his description unlike many of his contemporaries, Cozier was born with two blessings -- an exceptional voice tailor-made for radio and TV and his innate ability to reel out facts and figures on the spur of the movement. While his colleagues always turned to statisticians for facts and figures, Cozier had them on the tip of his tongue. That gave him a fluency and edge perhaps no other commentator had.
Cozier never played Test cricket in his life but his roots from Barbados was a qualification enough. Add to that his writing skills as a journalist where the words became slave to his matter-of-fact expression. Just how good he was can be gauged from the fact that as a White, he saw the West Indian cricket flourish despite the racial prejudice that prevailed until the early seventies. A lot is being said about the tightrope Caribbean politics that Cozier may have had to negotiate at a time where even the slightest adverse comment about a West Indian cricketer could lead to a frenzied backlash. Cozier's love for the West Indies and its cricket was unquestionable but he had the guts to take on the Quixotic functioning of the West Indian Cricket Board and never crossing the line even once. He was equally fierce with those who were unfair to the West Indian cricketers. A voice with conscience, he had this ability to be outspoken without rubbing people the wrong way and being officialese. That made him a golden mean between the dryness of Australian commentary and self-indulgent English commentary.
Indisposed in the last few months, Cozier had the pleasure of seeing some revival of the West Indian cricket when the country recently won Under-19 World Cup, Women's T20 World Cup and the World T20 finals. He had been forced to give up alcohol after a major surgery but for this hat-trick of victories, he would have surely risked a liberal toast.
The legendary Richie Benaud once remarked that "the problem with relying on nostalgia for commentary is that people remember only the good things." What Benaud said was a rule with the honourable exception of fellow commentator Tony Cozier.
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| Cozier with Michael Holding (Courtesy Barbadostoday) |
As a commentator he was in a class of his own if you realise that there were other sublime commentators like Brian Johnston, John Arlott, Christopher Martin Jenkins, Henry Blofeld, Don Moseley, Alan M'cgilvray, Freddie Truman, Trevor Bailey and Ray Illingworth who were the uncrowned kings of commentary box. I am mentioning these names because Cozier himself was part of the terrific BBC Test Match Special team in those days. Commentators in those days were not the kind you see on television now. They had a tougher, non-visual medium like the radio to hold forth their commentary skills. They were so good and vivid that listeners would feel that they were watching the match live. Such was his craft that Cozier could shift gears easily to be as good on the TV if you know that skills required for both fundamentally differ. He could move seamlessly between radio and television boxes lost in himself describing the (then) domination and (later) demise of the West Indian cricket.
Never pompous and expansive in his description unlike many of his contemporaries, Cozier was born with two blessings -- an exceptional voice tailor-made for radio and TV and his innate ability to reel out facts and figures on the spur of the movement. While his colleagues always turned to statisticians for facts and figures, Cozier had them on the tip of his tongue. That gave him a fluency and edge perhaps no other commentator had.
Cozier never played Test cricket in his life but his roots from Barbados was a qualification enough. Add to that his writing skills as a journalist where the words became slave to his matter-of-fact expression. Just how good he was can be gauged from the fact that as a White, he saw the West Indian cricket flourish despite the racial prejudice that prevailed until the early seventies. A lot is being said about the tightrope Caribbean politics that Cozier may have had to negotiate at a time where even the slightest adverse comment about a West Indian cricketer could lead to a frenzied backlash. Cozier's love for the West Indies and its cricket was unquestionable but he had the guts to take on the Quixotic functioning of the West Indian Cricket Board and never crossing the line even once. He was equally fierce with those who were unfair to the West Indian cricketers. A voice with conscience, he had this ability to be outspoken without rubbing people the wrong way and being officialese. That made him a golden mean between the dryness of Australian commentary and self-indulgent English commentary.
Indisposed in the last few months, Cozier had the pleasure of seeing some revival of the West Indian cricket when the country recently won Under-19 World Cup, Women's T20 World Cup and the World T20 finals. He had been forced to give up alcohol after a major surgery but for this hat-trick of victories, he would have surely risked a liberal toast.
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