Jeremy Snape (Leicestershire)
Leicestershire captain Jeremy Snape was called up by the Sky Sports commentary team this week for the NatWest Pro40 fixture between the Northants Steelbacks and the Sussex Sharks, broadcast live across the nation. Here, he shares his experience on life behind the microphone.
How did you get into commentary?
I've done a few media courses over the last few years through the PCA which have been very beneficial. They gave me a taste for it and probably gave me the confidence to take the player mic in Twenty20 cricket, which I have done since the competition has started. It’s a little bit more difficult now I’m captain – trying to explain what you are thinking when you might not even know yourself!
I’ve done quite a few interviews and your profile probably gets raised as captain. And having won a trophy recently – Sky probably thought I’d have some fairly topical to say and asked me to come down last night.
How do the nerves compare – waiting to go into bat and waiting to go live on air?
It’s very different. It throws you out of your comfort zone completely. Going out to bat you are pretty familiar with the surroundings and the situation of the game. In a way you can prepare for that. When you have got a light beaming in your face and a camera on you, you don’t know what’s going to happen or how you are going to react and it makes it a little bit unnerving. To be honest, I was quite comfortable watching the game and giving my insight though. I don’t want to try to emulate anyone as a commentator because I think that would be wrong. But the skills I have are the experience from my cricket and the psychology angle – what the players are thinking, the pressure build up and how they can cope with that pressure. Any skills that club cricketers and youngsters can pick up on from the psychology of being under pressure in a run chase or bowling a crucial last over. That may be an angle that I can provide.
How do you deal with being put on the spot to discuss a fellow player making a mistake without sitting on the fence?
I have been in that position so many times and have got it wrong as a player. What you can do is be very honest about what you think the players is going through and what he was thinking. Often the best laid plans don’t come out right. I think it’s as interesting to hear what the player was trying to do and hear why it went wrong. I think that’s an interesting tale – everyone on the tv can see it didn’t go well. So you don’t have to say 'that was a terrible shot or terrible bowling'. What you can do is paint a picture of what a cricketer at that level is going through in their thought process.
And finally, do you consciously have to mind you P’s and Q’s when you are commentating?
I think you do a little bit. But you do take on a slightly different persona. You are very aware of what you are trying to do and you have your Sky Sports shirt on and there is a microphone stuck to you. You do know you are in a different place rather than being down the pub with your mates watching the cricket where you can say what you like. I suppose that is part of the challenge – you are yourself but at the same time you are trying to give an insightful view of what is going on out there on the pitch.
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