An unexpected sting in the tail
Guyana - It's amazing how something can take off during a TMS cricket commentary. Halfway through South Africa's innings in Guyana a very large and frankly terrifying looking insect attached itself to the window of our 91Èȱ¬ commentary box... fortunately on the outside.
The insect then proceeded to show off its long antennae for the remainder of the broadcast as if it were listening intently to the commentary. Jonathan Agnew gave the bug a mention and then photographed the beast on his camera phone so that listeners could see it on the blog and perhaps assist with identification.
The texts and e-mails then starting arriving by the hundred…
Jo Farleye suggested it was a , Roger Leppard from Southampton went for a "Capricorn beetle", John Hartley made the case for a "Lyngaeidae" or "seed bug" whilst Tim Biernan was certain our insect friend was a "Puerto Rican long horned beetle". One wag said it was a "deadly glass cutting beetle" which can make its way through glass to attack people - especially former fast bowlers!
I'm still not exactly certain what breed of bug it was but its appearance led to some very enjoyable radio. To be honest, at the time it landed on our window we were in need of some other talking points as South Africa were strolling to victory with seemingly no problems.
But in actual fact the sting in the tail came not from our insect friend, but from Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga. His gave the match a thrilling climax.
The episode with the bug reminded me of my first match producing a TMS commentary. It was a one-day international in in Sri Lanka played basically in the middle of a jungle. It was a day/night match with huge floodlights shining out among the rainforest.
But like moths to a light bulb, floodlights in the rainforest attracted bugs by the million. It was also a real struggle making any technology work in such a remote location - in order to be able to broadcast I had to stand outside holding a small satellite so that it pointed in the right direction.
With both hands clinging onto the equipment I couldn't fend off the hordes of insects flying around and biting me. I have never seen so many bugs and I was frankly relieved that England batted so badly that the match finished early. The commentary team were fortunately behind glass in a commentary box - but the programme was disturbed by the constant crashing noise as thousands of insects met untimely ends hitting the window as they flew in from the jungle.
I never forget walking past our box later that evening and hearing crunching noises as I stepped on the poor deceased bugs. That day I remember thinking it wasn't quite the glamorous life I imagined a cricket producer had working abroad!
It was certainly a struggle to get the programme on air that night and it looked like we'd face more problems when I arrived at the Guyana national stadium yesterday. I was told our broadcast was dependent on a last-minute delivery of some equipment being whisked from St Kitts. I wasn't that hopeful. But thanks to amazing efforts from the technical support team in Guyana we somehow managed to make it all work.
And hopefully we'll be able to broadcast successfully again on Friday as England face Ireland. Although if the lines don't work perhaps I'll try and get a signal via the massive antennae of our TMS bug. I sense he'll want to be involved in our coverage again.
