David Lloyd, speaking about his departure from Sky Sports in an interview with the Daily Mail, has suggested the current broadcast coverage is risk-averse and no longer “rock and roll”.
Lloyd brought an end to a 22-year-long stint with Sky in December last year, shortly after he was named by Azeem Rafiq in a DCMS Parliamentary select committee hearing relating to his experience of racism at Yorkshire CCC.
Speaking on his long-standing journey with Sky that began in 1999, Lloyd said that he would miss “having fun and being himself”. He, however, noted that the broadcast was initially such that risks were encouraged, but has changed to its current version, where “it’s absolutely taboo to say anything that can be misinterpreted”.
“My race has been run with Sky and there will be certain things I will miss,” Lloyd said, “after being involved in commentary across five decades. Having fun and just being myself for a start.
“I know I’ve gone to the edge at times, and used to be encouraged to do so. Our coverage used to be rock and roll, we were told to take risks. Now they have clawed things right back and it’s absolutely taboo to say anything that can be misinterpreted. There can be no innuendo. One word out of place now and you will spend your life apologising for it.
“Therefore, it makes me chuckle that Andrew Strauss was knighted for calling Kevin Pieterson [Pietersen] a c*** on air a decade ago, and now gets to select the England team!”
Following Rafiq’s comments, a Daily Mail report stated that Lloyd called up Rafiq to apologise after the DCMS hearing, and while Lloyd’s retirement note did not include any references to the off-spinner’s comments, the report implied that it had been the catalyst for his exit.
The Strauss incident Lloyd mentions dates back to 2014, when Strauss called Pietersen a “c***” on air while commentating at Lord’s during the MCC v Rest of the World fixture. The comments weren’t heard by viewers in the UK, but went out to Australian Fox Sports viewers. Sky Sports, as well as Strauss, who is currently the interim managing director of ECB, had both issued an apology in the aftermath.
