Australian great Mark Taylor to make commentary comeback
One of the most recognisable – and influential – voices in Australian cricket is coming back to the airwaves, with Mark Taylor confirming he’s making a comeback this summer.
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Mark Taylor will return to the cricket airwaves this summer.
The former Australian captain has not been heard on commentary since Channel 9 lost the cricket rights two years ago, but will return to calling for Macquarie Sports Radio at the Gabba on Thursday.
Adding to the significance of his return, it’s understood the contract to call three Test matches this summer is the last deal legendary agent John Fordham signed off on before he sadly died last week.
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There will be a strong back to the future feeling in the Macquarie box, with Taylor to share the microphones with another part of Channel 9’s iconic team, Ian Chappell.
It’s understood Taylor will commentate both Tests against Pakistan in Brisbane and Adelaide, and will also call the Sydney Test against New Zealand in January.
Taylor was one of Fordham’s first sporting clients, and the pair enjoyed a close relationship right up until the colourful manager lost his battle to cancer.
Even towards the end when his illness took hold, Fordham was still working deals and negotiated the terms of the new contract for Nine’s radio arm, Macquarie.
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It will be Taylor’s first venture onto radio after years as one of the most familiar voices on television.
While Shane Warne and Michael Slater moved across to cricket’s new host broadcasters Fox Cricket and Channel 7 when the rights left Channel 9 for the first time in 40 years, Taylor stayed loyal to the network and has featured regularly on Sports Sunday.
Taylor got the bug for the live match coverage again during the winter Ashes when he fronted 9’s coverage on the ground in England, alongside Mel Jones.
When Channel 9 originally lost the rights, Taylor said he was looking forward to spending one of the first summers of his life at home.
But a sense of normality will return now as he returns to analysing the game he has brought to households across the country ever since his Test retirement as a player in the late 1990s.