Social media critics were not hard to find, while the Daily Mail described TNT Sports\u2019 \u201chalf-baked plan\u201d as a \u201cdumbed-down insult to long-suffering England fans\u201d, and questioned Hatch and Eykyn’s commentating from TV screens with an \u201cinability to see anything other than what their monitors are showing them\u201d. <\/p>\n
Hatch rejects those points. For one, it is hardly unusual in the modern age for commentators to be watching from afar. He cites the 2024 Tour de France, when his voice was the soundtrack to Mark Cavendish<\/a>\u2018s record 35th stage win<\/a>. The clip has amassed more than one million views on YouTube and his words still produce a tingle down the spine. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is history! This is history! First there was Merckx, now it\u2019s Mark Cavendish, standing on the shoulders of giants \u2026 One record breaker now stands alone. Mark Cavendish has 35 stage wins, more than anybody that ever came before. Most doubted. He believed. A day he, and we, will never, ever forget.\u201d<\/p>\n People still ask Hatch what it was like to be in Saint-Vulbas that day.<\/p>\n \u201cA secret, here,\u201d Hatch tells The Independent on a video call from his house. He leans into the camera just a little. \u201cI was sat in this very chair when Mark Cavendish won that 35th stage. And I think, if you listen, you probably don\u2019t realise were not in the same room.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Covid suddenly made commentating from home a necessity and Hatch covered four Tours that way. He doesn\u2019t agree with those who say he needs to be inside the stadiums to bring the Ashes to life. \u201cFor television commentary, one of the key rules is to talk to pictures. We will talk to the picture, and of course, we have eyes and ears in the stadium as well, so if there is anything bizarre happening, we\u2019ll get to know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Cook, Swann and Steven Finn are among those on the ground with broadcaster Becky Ives, while Hatch and Eykyn will be joined by former England player Ebony Rainford-Brent for stints of commentary. TNT Sports\u2019 cycling and cricket teams share producers, so they know each other a little already, and Cook sent a congratulatory video message when Hatch won commentator of the year at the 2024 Broadcast Sport Awards. Less than a month before the Ashes begin, the TNT Sports\u2019 WhatsApp group is said to be lively.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Besides, Hatch may be a cycling commentator, but he comes from a cricketing family, many of whom played to a high standard in the Lancashire league. Hatch\u2019s first experience of sport was cycling around the edge of the cricket pitch watching his dad play, and he was himself a decent bowler before committing to a career in the media.<\/p>\n The Tour de France is a passion, but the Ashes mark a career pinnacle. \u201cIt\u2019s indescribably special,\u201d Hatch says. \u201cIt\u2019s a dream come true. I\u2019ve been very lucky to achieve everything I wanted to achieve in cycling. But this was something that blew my mind. It\u2019s made my career being asked to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Australia and England will battle for the Ashes urn in Australia (PA Archive)<\/p>\n The two sports are not so different to commentate over \u2013 long days in the saddle and all that, with stretches of nothingness to be filled. Hatch\u2019s commentary heroes were cricket voices like Tony Cozier and Michael Holding, and of course the great Richie Benaud \u2013 he paused a Paris-Roubaix broadcast to pay tribute when Benaud died in 2015. <\/p>\n But he was also inspired by commentators who could turn their hand to different sports. \u201cPeople ask me, how are you going to go from cycling to cricket? All-round broadcasters, the very best \u2013 Barry Davies, David Coleman \u2013 were able to do lots of different sports. If you are a proper lead broadcaster and you understand what the job is, then it\u2019s not necessarily you who\u2019s meant to shine.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of a meandering day of Tour de France coverage, how does he find the right words? \u201cIt\u2019s an instinct, probably from watching too much cycling. Sometimes it strikes you \u2013 and this is a great thing about sport, isn\u2019t it \u2013 when you least expect it, and the reactions are probably much more natural. But I don\u2019t think you ever have a script because it wouldn\u2019t sound proper. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n TNT Sports will be broadcasting the Ashes this winter (TNT Sports)<\/p>\n \u201cHaving that ability to recognise the moment, to react to it and to change the tone and change the pace \u2013 in cycling and cricket, I think that\u2019s quite similar. You go from nothing to a lot very quickly. Being able to capture those moments is the big key, even more so than talking for hours and hours, because they\u2019re the moments people remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that there are likely to be too many lulls this winter. Hatch has a carefully planned coffee routine to get through the long nights, but he expects the adrenaline of an intense series between two well-matched rivals to see him through.<\/p>\n \u201cI predict a fast-paced start to the series, and then I think it\u2019ll be very close. I can\u2019t imagine there being many draws. But I would say England are going to start very quickly and they\u2019re going to set the tone by winning in Perth \u2026 it\u2019s going to be, to use cycling parlance, full-gas cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/49ce58a32b272ae02774e8ffe717c901Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU4MzY1Njkz-2.72629201.jpg\")
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