Alan Wilkins reveals alll

IMAGE: Alan Wilkins, right, speaks with Apple CEO canada goose factory outlet Tim Cook, left, as IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla looks on at an IPL game in 2016. Photograph: BCCIGrowing up in India in the mid 1990s introduced us to satellite television and, with that, came the unfathomable joys of sports broadcasts from the world over.Be canada goose jacket outlet it Channel 9 beaming a cricket contest from the MCG or ESPN Star Sports telecasting a Wimbledon canada goose outlet shop final, we were lapping it all up.The face of sports broadcasts had changed big time and not only did we have the opportunity to watch live sporting action, but we were also fortunate to have top canada goose outlet reviews class commentary and match analysis that kept us clued in.Of the many names who successfully made the transition from radio to television and is now a popular face and voice to Indian sports viewers is Alan Wilkins.Sharing space in the studios with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Amritraj and Harsha Bhogle, all of whom he calls dear friends in his just released autobiography Easier Said Than Done: A Life in Sport, canada goose outlet store uk published by Roli Books the Welshman has been a familiar face on our television sets for nearly 20 years now.Through our 50 minute conversation in Mumbai, the former first class county cricketer comes across as a man grateful for the opportunities, a man self assured from a young age, someone blessed with clarity of thought and a foresight to carve his own niche.It is hardly surprising then that 35 years since he first stepped into the realm of sport broadcasting, the 64 year old has now chronicled his journey from cricketer and rugby player to broadcaster.”I have always had it in my head that I wanted to write about my journey even though I never played cricket at the highest level or rugby at the highest level,” says Wilkins.”I felt I had to reflect, if only for my family as much as anyone else. But my journey took me to India and it started really in India and I felt that given the exposure of all the cricket that I’ve covered, I felt a book to encapsulate this career would be the thing to do. It’s been in my head for many, many, years, but now it has come true,” he explains.’Wilko’, as he is fondly called in the commentary box, is a man thorough in his job and disciplined in his approach. This comes down to his Welsh upbringing, and the role his parents played in first grooming him into a sportsman and subsequently in a well rounded personality.”I had a canada goose outlet uk lovely childhood canada goose outlet in usa because I grew up in a lovely part of Cardiff (the capital of Wales), a place called Rhiwbina (pronounced Rubaina). I went to Whitchurch Grammar School (now the Whitchurch High School) of which Real Madrid striker Gareth Bale and British Lions Rugby captain Sam Wolverton are alumni.””My dad bless him worked hard. He didn’t have the opportunities I had, but my parents made sure that even if I didn’t play the part, I looked the part. My mother made sure my flannels my cricket whites were washed and ironed. My dad took me to matches. It was a wonderful upbringing,” he recalls of growing up in Rhiwbina.”I remember playing cricket at 11. My father was a wonderful rugby player and cricketer, so I used to wear his pads they were up here (points to his chin) while sitting down. I used to watch him canada goose outlet online play, so cricket came naturally to me, it was canada goose outlet part of my DNA,” he says, the twinkle in his eyes matching the joy of nostalgia in his voice.”I had Glamorgan cricketers who I looked up to and eventually joined them in the team. My all canada goose outlet parka time idol are the great West Indians Gary Sobers and Vivian Richards. I canada goose outlet black friday could never bat like Viv, but I got on the same field as him, so that was very special when it happened.”WATCH: Alan Wilkins remembers taking Viv Richards’ wicket.Although a boy from Cardiff with great love for rugby, Wilkins knew it was cricket that would eventually hold his attention and become priority.”I wanted to wear the three lions of England on that white cricket sweater, I wanted to play for England. I had two good seasons with Gloucestershire I moved from canada goose outlet nyc Glamorgan to Gloucestershire in ’80 and ’81. I took 54 and 52 championship wickets per season which was quite a decent haul. Then in ’82 I had a terrible shoulder injury. I was 28 and I canada goose black friday sale knew that it (playing for England) wasn’t going to happen.”IMAGE: A serious shoulder injury forced Alan Wilkins to give up cricket.”In ’83, my last year of cricket, I knew I was canada goose outlet online uk on the sidelines. I was going to leave the game. I decided I canada goose outlet store was going to emigrate to South Africa, I had no job lined canada goose outlet uk sale up, but I knew people in the South African Broadcasting Corporation. I knew I was going to knock on their door until they gave me a job https://www.canadagooseparks.com and that is what happened.””Leaving cricket was emotional. When the cricketers were going back from South Africa (to play first class cricket in England), I saw off a couple of them at the airport in Johannesburg and it was still raw that I wasn’t going to play cricket,” he remembers, the memory still rather painful after all these years.Over time, the role of a cricket commentator in India has seen subtle changes. Back in the day critiquing was well accepted by the players, today broadcasters tend to be more politically correct and here’s Alan Wilkins’ take on the subject:IMAGE: Alan Wilkins is glad to see women make their mark in the commentary box.”What’s happened is the broadcasting landscape has changed dramatically over time. When I started, I worked with Richie Benaud, he was with the BBC and I sat with him. It was much more structured back then,” he says.”Now, although there is structure, like you have a lead commentator and then you have an expert commentator, you’ve got many more ex players who just switch roles very quickly. Kevin Pietersen has done it, Michael Slater is a fantastic broadcaster.””A lot of players go straight into the commentary booth. Michael Clarke is one, Graeme Smith is another and a lot of the Indian boys are doing it as well. Sanjay Manjrekar he worked with me on his very first broadcast in 1998.””Criticism comes with the territory. I don’t necessarily like to criticise. What I do, if I have an expert sitting next to me, like Sunny Gavaskar, I would describe something and suggest to him that that wasn’t the best shot somebody has played and what he thinks about it and he will give an expert opinion because he played at the highest level.”.

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