Fox Cricket to introduce new duck, to be voiced by Shane Warne

IT’s all over for Daddles the duck. But a new TV cartoon duck that will accompany batsman as they trudge off after scoring a globe is soon to be unveiled by Fox Cricket.

Fox Cricket's new duck.

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THE duck is dead. Long live the duck.

Daddles, the animated TV duck which long accompanied batters who had suffered the dreaded doughnut on their lonely walk back to the sheds, has uttered his last quack and waddled into retirement.

With coverage of the national pastime undergoing a facelift under new broadcaster Fox Sports, it was felt a new-look duck should make an appearance.

Unlike Daddles, who was something of a one-trick duck, the new version will have a lot more feathers to its tail.

So far it is the duck with no name, but there will be no mistaking its sound.

“Shane Warne is the voice of the duck,” says Fox Head of Cricket Matt Weiss. “We wanted the duck to be cooler, have more attitude.

“Who better to provide the quack than Warnie?

“We thought of calling it Courtney, after Courtney Walsh, given that he’s got more Test ducks than anyone else with 43. Then there was a school of thought we should name it after Glenn McGrath because he’s the Australian record holder, but Glenn sounded boring and the last thing this duck is going to be is boring.

Fox Cricket's new duck.

“In the end we thought we’d hold a competition so the public can get involved. That’s what it’s all about, having fun.”

With Warne providing the sound effects, the duck will have a range of reactions to suit different types of dismissals, Weiss said.

“You’ve got your golden duck, your diamond duck, your pair, your king pair …,” he said.

“Depending on how the batter gets out – and how they react – the producer will scroll through and select the best version of the duck.

Fox Cricket commentator Shane Warne will be the voice of the new duck.

“There’s one where he snaps the bat over his knee, another where he digs a hole and buries himself.

“We’ll be more respectful during the Test matches, just a pretty sedate duck and a standard ‘quack, quack’ from Warnie, but we’ll have some more fun and be a bit tongue-in-cheek with the Big Bash and T20s.

“That’s what it’s all about with our coverage – respect the past and celebrate the future.

“We want to reinvigorate cricket coverage, just like we have with Fox League and Fox Footy. Our mantra is to be special and different.”

Sort of like a duck that sounds like Shane Warne.

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