ABC Radio Grandstand
Encyclopedia
ABC Radio Grandstand is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
local radio network across Australia
. The program runs on Saturdays and Sundays, typically from noon or an hour before, until 6 pm. Sports that are covered by ABC Radio under the Grandstand banner include Test and One Day International cricket
, Rugby League
(mostly in Queensland
and New South Wales
), the Summer Olympics, Australian Football League
games, Australian Open
tennis
and occasional soccer matches, including games involving the Socceroos and the A-League
grand final. However, when there are major football, cricket or tennis matches in progress, or the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the coverage is often continued for the entirety of the relevant time frame if Grandstand is broadcasting the competition, as opposed to simply reporting the results. This can result in broadcasts in the early hours of the morning if Australia is playing in a cricket Test on another side of the world.
Being a national program with significant local content, Grandstand includes live crosses to local ABC radio stations for sporting updates as well as centralised broadcasts of major events.
Presenters include:
Past callers include Wally Foreman
, Glenn Mitchell
(WA)
During the winter seasons, the show is divided into Northern Grandstand (NSW and QLD) and Southern Grandstand. The northern states are given commentary of rugby league and rugby union matches, and the southern states receive coverage of Australian rules football. Matches are also held on Friday and Saturday nights. Unlike in Summer Grandstand, the winter coverage is almost entirely focused on Australian rules football and rugby at the exclusion of all other sports. While the cricket matches are often bookended by analysis by commentators for around 15 minutes before and after the start of play, football matches often have 90 minutes of preview and post-match discussion and interviews, while analysis will go on throughout the half-time break, whereas the longer breaks during the cricket season are usually used to go through other sports. Treatment of other sports is restricted to a perfunctory reading of scores, and there no interview segments or reports on other sports, except for a 20-minute Grandstand Wrap at the end of Sunday afternoon. On Saturdays, the typical format is to 2–3 hours of football talk before the afternoon match, followed by the match itself and another 2–3 hours of post-match talk and a preview of the night match, before the evening match and another hour of analysis. As many matches occur at the same time, different states will received different games depending, with priority given to matches involving a team from the state in question.
programme nationally. The programme calls up to 5 NRL games live a week with in depth previews and reviews, analysis, extensive talkback and interviews, and live score updates of other matches.
Commentators include David Morrow, Warren Ryan
, Paul Osborne
and Craig Hamilton
.
is ABC's flagship sports programme in the southern states. The programme calls six AFL games live a week with further match preview, analysis and talkback of the game. An introduction in 2008 was the Sunday Inquisition with Gerard Whateley highlighting the good and the bad of the AFL games for the past week. Coverage preference is given to local teams in their state. National coverage for games outside the home state is determined by the match with the highest appeal.
Commentators: Dan Lonergan
, Drew Morphett
, Gerard Whateley
, Rob Waters, Quentin Hull, Rob Cross, Roger Wills, Peter Walsh, Clint Wheeldon, Corbin Middlemas, Adam White, Jarrod Molloy
, Chris Grant
, Matt Clinch, Matthew Knights
, Austinn Jones
, David Parkin
, Peter Schwab
, Ken Judge
, Jon Dorotich
, Ashley Hansen
Aaron Lord, Mark McLean, Kellie Underwood, Stan Alves
, Sam Lane and Peter Brukner
.
The lead ABC cricket commentators are as follows:
Former ABC Cricket Commentators
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
local radio network across Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The program runs on Saturdays and Sundays, typically from noon or an hour before, until 6 pm. Sports that are covered by ABC Radio under the Grandstand banner include Test and One Day International cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
(mostly in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
), the Summer Olympics, Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
games, Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and occasional soccer matches, including games involving the Socceroos and the A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
grand final. However, when there are major football, cricket or tennis matches in progress, or the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the coverage is often continued for the entirety of the relevant time frame if Grandstand is broadcasting the competition, as opposed to simply reporting the results. This can result in broadcasts in the early hours of the morning if Australia is playing in a cricket Test on another side of the world.
Being a national program with significant local content, Grandstand includes live crosses to local ABC radio stations for sporting updates as well as centralised broadcasts of major events.
Presenters include:
- Charlie KingCharlie King (sports broadcaster)-Media:He is a commentator for ABC Radio Grandstand and is based in Darwin.He hosts Grandstand and Sporttalk, Northern Territory style.He has commentated on various sports including Australian rules football and cricket....
(NT) - Tim Lane (Vic)
- Dan LonerganDan LonerganDan Lonergan is a Melbourne based sports commentator and writer for ABC Radio Grandstand.After attending the Jesuit Xavier College, Lonergan landed a cadetship with ABC Radio Sport in 1997 after stints at various stations including 3HA Hamilton, 3CS Colac, K Rock in Geelong and Fox FM in...
(Vic) - Gerry Collins (QLD)
- Simone ThurtellSimone ThurtellSimone Thurtell is a presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio's Grandstand program.She formerly shared the hosting of the summer Grandstand program with Peter Walsh and is also the ABC's around-the-ground reporter during international cricket matches played at the SCG...
(NSW) - Clint Wheeldon (WA)
- Karen TigheKaren TigheKaren Tighe is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio and television sports presenter. She grew up and was educated in Sydney, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in communications and psychology at Macquarie University. She joined the ABC sports department as a television reporter and...
(WA) - Peter WalshPeter Walsh (sports broadcaster)Peter Walsh is a sports commentator for ABC Radio Grandstand and is based in Adelaide, Australia.-Early life/career:Peter grew up in Ballarat, Victoria and had a passion for sport from a very early age....
(SA)
Past callers include Wally Foreman
Wally Foreman
Walter "Wally" John Foreman OAM was a sports administrator and commentator for ABC Radio program "Grandstand" based in Perth, Western Australia....
, Glenn Mitchell
Glenn Mitchell (sports broadcaster)
Glenn Mitchell is a former sports commentator and writer for Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's Grandstand program in Perth.He joined ABC Radio Sport in January 1990 with commentaries on Australian rules football and cricket....
(WA)
Format
During the summer months, when cricket is predominant, National Grandstand is run across the country. Whenever an international cricket match is in progress, full commentary of the match is provided, and other sports are fitted in during breaks in play, or rain delays and so forth. Day-night matches continue into the night, and some night-time basketball or soccer matches are provided to certain states outside the usual timeslot if a team from the state is in action. When there is no international cricket in progress, the time is divided up more evenly among various sports. There are regular phone-ins to reporters at various sports events across the country for score updates as well as short stints of commentary and analysis from the reporter. This is mixed in with in-depth, pre-arranged interviews with sports administrators, coaches, scientists and athletes from a variety of fields. Sometimes there are panel discussions to analyse future or recent events, as well as opportunities for members of the public to partake in discussions or compete in sports quizzes.During the winter seasons, the show is divided into Northern Grandstand (NSW and QLD) and Southern Grandstand. The northern states are given commentary of rugby league and rugby union matches, and the southern states receive coverage of Australian rules football. Matches are also held on Friday and Saturday nights. Unlike in Summer Grandstand, the winter coverage is almost entirely focused on Australian rules football and rugby at the exclusion of all other sports. While the cricket matches are often bookended by analysis by commentators for around 15 minutes before and after the start of play, football matches often have 90 minutes of preview and post-match discussion and interviews, while analysis will go on throughout the half-time break, whereas the longer breaks during the cricket season are usually used to go through other sports. Treatment of other sports is restricted to a perfunctory reading of scores, and there no interview segments or reports on other sports, except for a 20-minute Grandstand Wrap at the end of Sunday afternoon. On Saturdays, the typical format is to 2–3 hours of football talk before the afternoon match, followed by the match itself and another 2–3 hours of post-match talk and a preview of the night match, before the evening match and another hour of analysis. As many matches occur at the same time, different states will received different games depending, with priority given to matches involving a team from the state in question.
Grandstand Rugby League
Grandstand Rugby League is the ABC's flagship NRLNational Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
programme nationally. The programme calls up to 5 NRL games live a week with in depth previews and reviews, analysis, extensive talkback and interviews, and live score updates of other matches.
Commentators include David Morrow, Warren Ryan
Warren Ryan
Warren Ryan is former rugby league football coach and player from Sydney, Australia. He is considered as one of the most influential coaches in recent times. Ryan also played 1st Grade Rugby League for the St George Dragons and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks....
, Paul Osborne
Paul Osborne
Paul Osborne is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 1995 until 2001...
and Craig Hamilton
Craig Hamilton
Craig Peter Hamilton is a Scottish internationalist rugby union player. His position is lock and currently he plays at club level for Edinburgh Rugby.-Career:...
.
Grandstand AFL
Grandstand AFLAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
is ABC's flagship sports programme in the southern states. The programme calls six AFL games live a week with further match preview, analysis and talkback of the game. An introduction in 2008 was the Sunday Inquisition with Gerard Whateley highlighting the good and the bad of the AFL games for the past week. Coverage preference is given to local teams in their state. National coverage for games outside the home state is determined by the match with the highest appeal.
Commentators: Dan Lonergan
Dan Lonergan
Dan Lonergan is a Melbourne based sports commentator and writer for ABC Radio Grandstand.After attending the Jesuit Xavier College, Lonergan landed a cadetship with ABC Radio Sport in 1997 after stints at various stations including 3HA Hamilton, 3CS Colac, K Rock in Geelong and Fox FM in...
, Drew Morphett
Drew Morphett
Drew Morphett is an Australian sports broadcaster.Morphett started his career as a sport specialist trainee in Sydney in 1966 at 18 years of age....
, Gerard Whateley
Gerard Whateley
Gerard Whateley is a Melbourne based sports commentator, writer for ABC Radio Grandstand and as of July 2010 is now the host of the ABC's television programme, Offsiders.-Print:During Whateley's started his media career at the Herald Sun...
, Rob Waters, Quentin Hull, Rob Cross, Roger Wills, Peter Walsh, Clint Wheeldon, Corbin Middlemas, Adam White, Jarrod Molloy
Jarrod Molloy
Jarrod Molloy was an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.A key position player, Molloy was trialled in both attack and defence as his career wore on, with most success enjoyed near the goalmouth....
, Chris Grant
Chris Grant
Christopher Lee "Chris" Grant is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, and a legend of the Western Bulldogs Football Club...
, Matt Clinch, Matthew Knights
Matthew Knights
Matthew Knights is a former Australian rules football player, having played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002. He went on to a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010...
, Austinn Jones
Austinn Jones
Austinn "Aussie" Jones is a former Australian rules footballer with the St Kilda Football Club.The 176 cm Jones played for the Collingwood reserves in the mid-1990s, but they were afraid to recruit him due to him weighing just 64 kilograms...
, David Parkin
David Parkin
David Parkin is a former Australian rules footballer and four-time premiership coach.- Pre-football career :He attended Melbourne High School and during his time there, was the school vice-captain and captain of football....
, Peter Schwab
Peter Schwab
Peter Schwab is a former Australian rules footballer and coach in the VFL/AFL.-Playing career:Recruited from Bennettswood, he played with Hawthorn from 1980-1991, going on to play 171 games and boot 38 goals...
, Ken Judge
Ken Judge
- Playing career :He was recruited from East Fremantle Football Club to Hawthorn and made an immediate impact in his VFL debut in 1983, being part of a premiership side in his first season and winning the Hawks' Best First Year Player award...
, Jon Dorotich
Jon Dorotich
Jon Dorotich is a former Australian rules footballer who played for South Fremantle and Carlton during the 1980s and 1990s.Known as "Doro" he moved to Carlton in 1986 where he played in the grand final in his first season against Hawthorn...
, Ashley Hansen
Ashley Hansen
Ashley Hansen is an Australian rules footballer most known for his stint with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. Hansen was born in Victoria, Australia and was educated at Mazenod College....
Aaron Lord, Mark McLean, Kellie Underwood, Stan Alves
Stan Alves
Stan Alves, OAM was an Australian rules football player and coach. He played 226 games for the Melbourne Football Club in the 1970s, captaining them from 1973–1976 and finishing runner-up for the Brownlow Medal in 1975, before joining North Melbourne in 1977. Legend has it that he chose to play...
, Sam Lane and Peter Brukner
Grandstand Cricket
ABC Grandstand is the only national Australian radio station to broadcast live Test, One Day and domestic cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
.
The lead ABC cricket commentators are as follows:
- Terry AldermanTerry AldermanTerence Michael Alderman is a former Australian cricketer.He began his first-class career in 1974 with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and came to international prominence when he was chosen for the Australian national team to tour England in 1981...
- Former Australian Right Arm Fast-Medium bowler, who has played 41 Tests and 65 One-Dayers for Australia. Terry is most notable for overtaking Jim LakerJim LakerJames "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...
's 42 Test wickets during the 1981 tour of EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was chosen to tour England in 1981 and in 1982, his cricketing career was cut short when he had a shoulder injury (received after tackling an English ground-invader) at the WACA GroundWACA GroundThe WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. - Geoff LawsonGeoff Lawson (cricketer)Geoffrey Francis Lawson, OAM is a former Australian cricketer and the former coach of the Pakistan cricket team....
- Former coach of PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He has played over 120 Test and One Day cricket matches for Australia and has a Test bowling averageBowling averageBowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 30.56. - Jim MaxwellJim Maxwell (commentator)James "Jim" Maxwell is a sports commentator with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation best known for covering cricket.-Playing career:...
- Highly experienced and highly regarded cricket commentator, Jim has covered many Australian One-Day, Test and World Cup matches. He also has broadcast many Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, Rugby LeagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, HockeyHockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
and many Olympic GamesOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. - Drew MorphettDrew MorphettDrew Morphett is an Australian sports broadcaster.Morphett started his career as a sport specialist trainee in Sydney in 1966 at 18 years of age....
- He has covered AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
matches, Australian OpenAustralian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and broadcasting four Olympics. - Kerry O'Keefe- "The Skull" is arguably the most popular on the ABC Grandstand cricket broadcast team. Noted for his sense of humour (and his infamous laugh), he brings listeners entertainment to any cricket coverage. Playing 24 TestsTest cricketTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for Australia between 1971 and 1977, he was also a notable leg breakLeg breakA leg break is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. A delivery of a right-handed leg spin bowler. Leg breaks are also colloquially known as leggies or wrist spinners, as the wrist is the body part which is primarily used to impart spin on the ball, as opposed to the fingers in the case of...
bowler who has taken 53 wickets at an average of 38.07. - Damien FlemingDamien FlemingDamien William Fleming is a former Australian cricketer who played in 20 Tests and 88 ODIs from 1994 to 2001....
- The ABC's resisdent "Bowlologist". He has an outstanding bowling record in TestTest cricketTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, One Day International and State cricket for Australia as he matered the art of swing bowlingSwing bowlingSwing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
. Fleming also commentates on Ford Ranger Cup State cricket matches for Fox Sports Australia. His record for Test matchesTest cricketTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
reads as 20 matches, 75 wickets, 25.85 bowling average, 3 five wicket hauls and has best bowling figures of 5/30. His One-Day record is just as impressive; 88 matches, 134 wickets, 25.38 bowling averageBowling averageBowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
, 1 five wicket haul and best bowling of 5/36.
Former ABC Cricket Commentators
- Glenn MitchellGlenn Mitchell (sports broadcaster)Glenn Mitchell is a former sports commentator and writer for Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's Grandstand program in Perth.He joined ABC Radio Sport in January 1990 with commentaries on Australian rules football and cricket....
- Joining the ABC Grandstand team in 1990, Glenn is a valuable member who contributes to the domestic cricket coverage and AFL. Glenn has covered the cycling events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games for the ABC, as well as the cycling at the 1998 Commonwealth GamesCommonwealth GamesThe Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
, Mitchell resigned from the ABC in May 2011. - Peter RoebuckPeter RoebuckPeter Michael Roebuck was an English cricketer who achieved later renown as an Australian newspaper columnist and radio commentator. A consistent county performer with over 25,000 runs, and "one of the better English openers of the 1980s", Roebuck captained the English county side Somerset...
- Former Engish county cricket captain for SomersetSomerset County Cricket ClubSomerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
from 1971 to 1981. Batterered right-handed and occasionly bowled off-spin. Once captained England to a loss in Holland, Roebuck died while on assignment for the ABC on the 13th November 2011.