Boxing Day Test 2024: How cricket commentator Isa Guha is carrying on the late Shane Warne’s legacy
She shared the commentary box with the late cricket legend Shane Warne. Now, Isa Guha is reflecting on the spin king’s legacy ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
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As a young girl growing up in England, each Christmas Isa Guha would watch the cricket coverage from Australia. And every time she was struck by the way the sunlight would filter through the screen.
The idea that she would one day enjoy that same sunshine while sitting in the commentary box seemed an impossible dream.
“I love just being there and being part of it,” the former England cricketer-turned-presenter tells The Binge Guide of commentating on this week’s Boxing Day Test in Australia.
“I spend a lot of time in Australia now, and it does almost feel like a second home.”
Guha – who in 2002 was the first player of Indian heritage to play for the England women’s cricket team – spent countless hours as a child perfecting her game in the backyard with her older brother.
“The house we grew up in had a long, thin back garden so it was perfect for a cricket wicket, and we used the crates as the stumps,” she recalls.
“The greenhouse was on the leg side, so I smashed loads of windows. But it was classic. It was perfect.”
Asked to recall which players inspired her own career on the pitch, Guha, 38, says, “It was Darren Gough for me. He played for England. He was super charismatic. He always made things happen on the field. And he had this kind of never-say-die attitude.
“I had a similar sort of feeling, too, watching Shane Warne play in that great Australian team. That team was just revered all around the world.”
She’s grateful her commentary career eventually led her to work alongside Warne, and she says that returning to Australia this year to watch our national team play – led by captain Pat Cummins (pictured above left, playing against India in November) – as part of the Fox international commentary team will be bittersweet.
“We will miss Warnie and we will miss Roy [former Australian player and commentator Andrew Symonds, who passed away last year a few months after Warne],” she reflects. “Losing them both in a space of four months was hard. As a commentary team, it’s important that we keep remembering them – and we keep their legacy going.”
Just as Warne inspired a young Guha, the 2009 World Cup winner believes her commentating is having an impact on the next generation.
“I definitely have seen the change because there was a handful of us [women in commentary] when I first started,” she says.
“And a lot of the jobs that I was doing in the early days, a woman had never done before. I feel a tremendous amount of pride when I watch broadcast now and there are multiple females in the coverage – and it feels normal. I think that’s ultimately a place you want to get to, where it’s almost strange if there isn’t a female in the coverage.”
Guha is further buoyed by the enormous growth in audience support for women’s sport, although she admits that the spotlight brings with it extra pressure.
“I wouldn’t want to be a player now, I’ll be totally honest with you,” she admits.
“Everyone’s watching their every move, and everyone feels entitled to an opinion on social media.
“I think I had it a lot easier when I was playing, because no-one watched us. It was fine. You could make your mistakes on the field, and it was OK.”
Honing her skills as a commentator since she retired in 2012 and finding her own unique voice has been a gradual process, but Guha is assured in her abilities.
“I know what my niche is. I know a lot about strategy and cricket tactics.
“I’m a bit of a geek about that stuff, so that comes a lot more naturally to me. Now I’m very happy just sitting back and talking about cricket.”
The Boxing Day Test airs live from 10.30am AEDT on December 26 on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports.
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Originally published as Boxing Day Test 2024: How cricket commentator Isa Guha is carrying on the late Shane Warne’s legacy
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