Do yourself a favour and turn on the radio

For a few hours on Thursday night I returned to my childhood, reminded of the exquisite delights that radio can bring.

Visually television may provide the next best thing to actually being at a major sporting event, but if you want to sit back, savour the moments and let your imagination run wild it's not even a close-run thing - radio would win virtually every time. Especially if the station is blessed with commentators of the calibre of the late Charles Fortune, whose story-telling powers were immense.

The great man could be infuriating if you had just tuned in to get a quick score and had to listen to a tale of something that seemed irrelevant to the cricket. Perhaps you would be rewarded soon - if not, tough, that was far from his inimitable style.

However, after one session of even the most tedious game imaginable you were bound to come away with a feeling of satisfaction, as if a trivial point you had learnt during his unhurried tales had made up for the lack of quality inside the oval.

Thursday and Friday night listening to the coverage of the third cricket Test from the Kensington Oval wasn't quite of that lofty calibre provided by Fortune. It didn't have to be. Just listening to the range of commentators, from the South African-based duo of Neil Manthorp and Marcus Prior, through to former West Indies international cricketers Colin Croft, Ian Bishop and others, was enriching on its own.

They traversed a range of topics, such as why some of the grounds had covered stands, and others hadn't; discussing the sections of grounds throughout the archipalaego where the true characters could be found, along with a run-down on the apparent fact that everyone in Barbados had their own distinct views on cricket in the islands - and on the appropriate action needed to return to the glory days of Lloyd, Richards and others.

Even without the visual aids, which television enjoys, I was able to come away with a more rounded picture of the cricketing communities in the islands.

Yes, representatives from both sides did harp on about the failings and strengths of their particular team. The islanders complained about the way the home side, after an impressive start, had ceded control to their opponents with some less than disciplined bowling.

Manthorp and Prior repeatedly spoke about how well Cullinan and McKenzie had repaired their innings, referring to how proud Kevin McKenzie, Neil's father, who was in the stands, would be of his son after flying out to see him.

It was so enjoyable in a quaint sort of way to follow the progress of the cricket through the eyes of the various commentators, hearing what facets of the game amused them, along with a string of anecdotes about characters in the sport.

For one who sometimes grows weary from the sheer scale of live sport on the box, it was the perfect antidote. Sport, after all, involves much more than competition, the hopes and fears of competitors and fans alike are what make the entire story so compelling.

Then I tasted the down side. Watching the Cats/Sharks Super 12 rugby clash at the Elephant and Castle, a popular Florida Road pub, I was given a harsh reminder of how poor some South African commentators are, by comparison.

You couldn't hope to bump into two more congenial characters than Hugh Bladen and Guy Kebble if you were in a pub discussing sport.

Unfortunately, neither seem to put in the leg-work necessary to provide viewers with anything further than what they already see on their screens. Both were big-name players in their day, and have contacts you would assume would help them get the inside track on latest developments in the respective camps.

However, Bill McLaren they ain't, and with most commentators, or comments men, acting on a part-time basis, the situation is unlikely to change in the near future.

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