Cricinfo has come out with the results of its poll to select the best cricket commentators and the winner is :

Most Unbiased:
1) Richie Benaud
2) Harsha Bhogle
3) Ravi Shastri

Most Insightful
1) Ian Chappell
2) Richie Benaud
3) Harsha Bhogle

Most Entertaining
1) Tony Greig
2) Geoff Boycott
3) David Lloyd

The top ten commentators are :
1)Harsha Bhogle
2)Ravi Shastri
3)Richie Benaud
4)Tony Greig
5)Geoff Boycott
6)Ian Chappell
7)Michael Holding
8)David Lloyd
9)Sunil Gavaskar
10)Ramiz Raja

The success of Bhogle and Shastri in the poll has probably to do with the fact that a large number of Indians voted in the online poll (I didnt vote though!)

In the main, the list is as expected, but there are a couple there that I definitely disagree with, and one notable omission.

Where, oh where, is Tony Cozier? He has been commentating WI cricket since Bradman wore short pants, and has a wonderful style.

Tony Grieg as Most Entertaining? Only in the way that 'Funniest Home Videos' is entertaining, I guess. He seems to have a rare talent of putting his foot in his mouth on a regular basis. Although he is not a regular, Max Walker is much more qualified for this title.

Not sure about Boycott, as I can never understand what he is saying.

Ian Chappell may have a great cricket brain, but he is a terrible commentator. He generally repeats everything his fellow panel members say- Billy Birmingham does a hilarious parody of him as The 12th Man. Greg Chappell is better than Ian, in my opinion.

I understand that the sheer weight of numbers put the Indians on top of the heap, but I will have my Aussie flag waving as I say that Richie should be Numero Uno- who else can wear the same tan jacket for 50 years and still get away with it? He took over the mantle from another stalwart- the late Alan McGilvray.

I agree with you, Tony Cozier should have been in the top ten, his commentary has a silken touch to it and probably if there is a prize for most knowledgable commentator he deserves it!

I personally hate Tony Greig's commentary, it is irritating, but i love Boycott, he has a unique no-holds barred style and of course a unique accent. Lot of people are fans of Harsha Bhogle, but i find him irritating mostly. I like Charu Sharma, but he is not known internationally and not in the list.

My favourite in the list is David Lloyd he deserves the title of most entertaining commentator.

I remember voting Tony Cozier, Richie Benaud and Michael Holding as the top 3 commentators in that poll

How in the world did Ramiz Raja make it? You want entertainemnt? Listen to Mr Arun Lal....the stupidest commentator, if you ever come across one, in my opinion.

I'm assuming that the poll was for TV commentators only. Otherwise, Kerry O'Keeffe would top the most entertaining by a street!

David Lloyd is very good, but tends to polarise people. I think David Gower is probably England's version of Richie Benaud, with a touch of Max Walker thrown in. He's dignified, but not above having a joke when the situation warrants it.
Harsha Bhogle, when on radio with Kerry O'Keeffe, is hilarious, and has become a great favourite in Australia over the last few years.
Two of my favourite commentators from the past, both sadly no longer with us, were Jim Laker and the great Freddie Trueman. Trueman was like Boycott in some ways, in that the heavy Yorkshire accent was sometimes hard to follow, but it was worth the effort.

I like Tony Cozier, most of Australia's radio announcers are excellent. Skull's hilarious. Alas the tv commentators in Oz are disgracful nad should have been put out to pasture years ago. Richie Benaud, am I the only person who doesn't like him? Dry humour? Try not funny. Tony Greig well if you declares something is out or not its safe to assume the opposite.
Oh yeah and I like Ravi Shastri too.

Maybe it's because I'm British, but I have no problames with Geoff Boycott's accent, and I certainly enjoy his contributions to the Test commentaries on Radio 5 here in the UK. He has a wonderful way of cutting through some of the airy-fairy stuff spouted by his colleagues with some down-to-earth observations about the basics of batting and bowling, based on his own first-hand experience.

Am I the only guy on the site who remembers John Arlott?

I do remember John Arlott a little during the 70s, Tom, but not enough to rate him.
A radio commentator that I did like was Lindsay Hassett. A true gentleman, he also had a wicked sense of humour. And a TV commentator who was either loved or loathed, because he spoke the truth with no frills, was Keith Miller. I remember watching a Sheffield Shield match on TV in 1976-77, and Miller was on. He was talking about the young NSW batsman who was making his debut. The young fellow scored 36, and took a couple of wickets, and Keith opined that this young fella would play Test cricket no problem at all, basing his opinion on just those stats and the way the young guy batted. As it turned out, Keith was right, to the tune of 156 Tests. The 'young fella' was Allan Border!

I remember John Arlott - lovely calm quiet commentary... and who can forget the lovely Brian Johnston (Johnners) who was the voice of cricket on BBC radio and tv for around 50 years - made some classic comments. I quite liked ~Dickie Bird when he retired from umpiring to join the BBC commetntary team along with Henry Bloefield....

See women can like cricket too - or creeekit as Boycott would say... can't stand the man.

I'll agree with Dalgliesh about Kerry O'Keefe - I've been known to plan long road trips around the ABC commentary in summer

You know who I ike that wasn't mentioned is Jimmy Adams .. that man is coolness personified. Actually it doesn't matter what he's commentating - I'd still listen to him talking about paint drying.

Tony Greig? Ugh Remeber his gaff about the mailorder bride? hehe

Here is the great man and some of his best gaffs...

http://www.johnners.com/goofs.html

No one will ever be better than Brian Johnston - he was the epitome of cricket as it should be

My top 10 Current commentators are

1:Michael Vaughan
2:Ricky Pointing
3:Mark Waugh
4:Damien Fleming
5:David Lloyd
6:Ian Chappell
7:Michael Holding
8:Ian Bishop
9:Danny Morrison
10:Michael Atherton

Ian Chappell is the only Channel 9 commentator I can stand to listen to