JOHANNESBURG - The International Cricket Council (ICC) last week hailed Zimbabwes visually impaired cricket commentator Dean du Plessis for defying the odds to become one of the influential voices in the sport. The world cricket mother body said in a statement that it was impressed with du Plessis exploits.Dean is not the usual anchor who delivers ball-by-ball passage as he cannot see the silently raised finger of the umpire or unspoken deployment of fielders, but the public love to listen to him as he adds “colour” to sometimes boring commentary by his amazing ability to rely on intuition, the ICC said, in a statement released from the United Arab Emirates.? Du Plessis has shared the box with the likes of renowned commentators Tony Cozier and Geoffrey Boycott in his nine-year-old career.??
The 32-year-old Dean has never seen a game of cricket in his life as he was born with tumours on his retinas but that hasn’t stopped him from doing commentary in Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s for the last nine years, said ICC.?? The Zimbabwean an accomplished cricket commentator has also worked with the likes of Ravi Shastri and Australia’s former spin bowler Bruce Yardley, who himself lost an eye, according to international media.??
In 2004, the Yardley and Dean partnership became the first team to deliver a live match commentary with a single eye between them.?? From the sound of stump microphones, Dean is amazingly able to tell who is bowling from the footfalls and grunts, a medium or fast delivery by the length of time between the bowler’s foot coming down and impact of the ball on the pitch.??
He can pick up a yorker from the sound of the bat ramming down on the ball, can tell if a ball is on the off or on-side, and when it has hit a pad rather than bat.?? When the wicketkeeper’s voice goes flat, it tells him a draw is in the offing.
Post published in: Cricket