Missing Blowers et al.
Michael Vestey
A friend emailed from abroad wonder
ng there was no Test Match Special broadcasting the first Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Radio Four long wave. He normally receives it on his satellite television system. He was unaware or had forgotten that the BBC lost the rights to overseas cricket tours to talkSPORT (as it's called), the independent network run by the former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie. The BBC had been rather complacent about these rights, allowing talkSPORT to strike, though, if memory serves, the corporation wasn't given much opportunity to counter that station's audacious bid.
Curiously. its coverage of the Test seemed rather staid compared with TMS . It has a similar format: a commentator and pundit together in the box with guest speakers entering from time to time. Tony Greig, the former England captain, is the main commentator, with Jack Bannister as the pundit. When I was listening, Michael Atherton and Courtney Walsh appeared as guests to discuss the finer points of play. Greig is fluent, a good commentator, and so is Bannister, who used to appear on TMS, but there seems little banter of the kind we're familiar with from Henry Blofeld and Jonathan Agnew. There was a mention, when rain stopped play, of England supporters dancing with West Indians. but that was all I heard.
Although lively in tone, it sounds rather earnest, which I know some people prefer. I rather like the jokes and the non-cricketing references on TMS. No chocolate cakes or Agnew pranks here, no passing seagulls or buses for Blofeld to scrutinise. Greig and Bannister also appear to be more critical of the game's authorities, less polite than 7711S; they were positively scathing when the umpires consulted each other about the fading light. As it happens, the umpires were right as shortly after it bucketed down. A problem is that talkSPORT is on medium wave, which deteriorates quite badly in the evening unless you have a digital radio or listen to it on satellite TV. This is unfortunate for a tour like this as the Tests start in the afternoon and continue until late in the evening. Interference increases, the sound will fall away and then surge back and this. coupled with the noisy West Indian music in the background, makes it difficult to hear what's being said some of the time. Spectator noise might provide atmosphere, but talkSPORT should find a way of mut
ing it more in the evening. Otherwise, the coverage is fine, and I regret missing the final extraordinary spell when the West Indies collapsed so spectacularly.
It's astonishing to think that 600,000 people live on or below the slopes of Vesuvius when that volcano is expected by many experts to erupt again, though no one knows when. In Crossing Continents on Radio Four this week (Thursday) Malcolm Billings went to Vesuvius to talk to volcanologists and local people about the risks involved, at one point peering into the crater to observe the clouds of steam therein. He came up with some interesting facts and figures which enabled him and his producer to put together a fascinating programme. When the volcano erupted in AD 79 the explosion punched gases, ash and rubble 20 miles high until it collapsed, engulfing, as we know. Pompeii and Herculaneum. Many of its victims died instantly, either suffocating or having their brains evaporate in the 500 degree centigrade heat.
The lava, Billings discovered, was relatively harmless, slow moving and easily avoidable. A man who remembered the 1944 eruption, when two people were killed, told him that the locals would light their cigarettes in a pool of lava and roast chestnuts over it. People nearby don't seem too concerned, shrugging off the dangers. Scientists sit in Naples in front of banks of computer screens monitoring seismic trends in the area. Thirty sets of instruments are used on the mountain, and it's thought they could give two weeks' notice of a major eruption. As it is, this control centre records 300 tremors and earthquakes every year — this part of Italy is particularly volatile — though so far little seismic activity has been noticed this year.
Should it go up, they have a hotline to Rome and have plans to evacuate the population. If, however, the wind is in a certain direction, the suburbs of Naples are under threat, In a previous disaster, in 1631, about 4,000 people were killed. Not every expert, though, believes the volcano is still dangerous. An Italian volcanologist living in the nearby town of San Sebastian° thought it was dormant and was happy living so close to it. I suppose the knowledge that Vesuvius might erupt again will add an extra frisson to visiting the ruins at Pompeii.
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