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In order:
Bill Lawry
Tony Cozier
Richie Benaud

Before you jump on with ridiculous answers, colour means Television ok. If ball by ball my number one would be Tony Cozier.

A color commentator is usually the analyst, and in today’s game....the “entertainer”. In that sense, Danny Morrison is a good example of a color commentator.

To answer your question, I would say Micheal Holding, Pommie Mbangwa, Ian Bishop, Harsha Bhogle, and Jonathan Agnew are the best today.

Best ever?

Cozier and Benaud would join that list,

I didn’t care for Lawry. Hated CMJ. I liked Blofeld too....although he was mostly radio. Enjoyed Brian Johnson. Tom Moody is pretty good as is Mark Nicholas.

Shout out to Andrew Mason who I always thought very entertaining and pretty knowledgeable. Don’t think he ever appeared on TV tho.

My top 3

Holding
Cozier
Bhogle

In reply to Wally-1


1-Anant Setalvad


2-Richie Benaud


3-Bill Lawry

In reply to imusic

Technically you're right. The distinction between Television and radio is the objective because they're totally different.

In reply to shivnotout
Television brother, you get another chance.

In reply to Wally-1

FIX

Richie Benaud
Michael Holding
Tony Greig

In reply to Wally-1

Cozier
Benaud
Boycott

In reply to shivnotout

How old are you,bannuh?

In reply to Wally-1

ah glad yuh clear that up because I was about to say...


My three are West Indians. Respect to Boycott and Chappell but my top 3 are Cozier, Holding and Bishop giving their take in any format of the game. They usually offer a more in-depth analysis of each play than most analysts in the sport

Henry Blofeld

Tony Cozier

Reds Perreira *

Is it people you like or people who are the best at what they do.Some people's opinions mesh with your own or people whose knowledge is vast and who have logical and incisive thoughts.
I found Richie Benaud to be the most knowledgable, Henry Blofeld the most entertaining and Brian Johnston the funniest..

I almost forgot to say I like Mikey Holding and Ian Bishop the most because they are my people!!!!!!LOL

For pure entertainment
Blofeld
Cozier
Reds Periera
Bill Lawry

Danny Morrison
Jefferey Dujon
Rememba the name

In reply to Onionman0

Good observation to include Boycott.
He has sound knowledge of the game, which help his commentary.

Tony Cozier
Brian Johnson
John Arlott

So, nobody liked Raffie Knowles?

In reply to Wally-1

John Arlott: "And there is Garfield Sobers... within pocket-picking distance of Boycott"


Roy Lawrence! Yes Roy Lawrence: "The sun is falling and the rain is shining down here at Sabina Park!"




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In reply to Ewart

Yes , Roy Lawrence one of my favorites
With that lovely Jamaican and English accent with a good sense of humor.

In reply to Ewart

Roy Lawrence: And here comes Governor Hat taking off his foot.

In reply to Drapsey

And he is on his way!!

In reply to Drapsey

Raffle was more known for horse racing commentary, not cricket.

Besides.......don’t know if Raffie did too much TV cricket commentary.

In reply to Wally-1

Harsha Bhogle
Ian Chapoell
Ian Bishop

Honerable mentions
David Gower
Pomme Mbangwa
Daryl Culinan

Cozier and Holding are legends but growing up, I found WI wickets always fell in clusters during their segments......and if it was two of them together, heaven help the West Indies. For their individual and collective abilities to be blights, cant put them on this list. Fazeer also is on this list, as great as he is

In reply to Wally-1

Tony
Reds
Cutburt Mushwah - spelling maybe off.

In reply to Ewart

As a kid I attended my first fare paying cricket match at Jarrett Park. Bus load from my little neck of the woods.

Sitting (on the grass) near the Commentary box, somebody got bowled with the bails just barely dislodged. The commentator, none other than the great Roy Lawrance, exclaimed, "And the middle stump is right out of the ground!". That's when a member of our party, a grown up, said, "What a rahtid man lie!".

Little did we know that that was heard by the radio audience. When we went back to our hills, that was the biggest topic of conversation.

I always remember Roy Lawrence for that.

In reply to Dukes

Surprised that you have not mentioned the most distinguished cricket commentator In our time, the great John Arlott???

Show the Yardie Hugh Crosskill some love!

In reply to Wally-1
Wally if you ever saw or heard them what do you think of Lindy Delapenha n Roy Lawrence on TV? Oh forgot that was black n white!!!Yeh Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation got feed from the foreign network or had their own for test n other matches such as Rothmans X1 vs JA

In reply to Drapsey
Man on radio that man was A Bad John he n Dickie Rutnegar made the '71 Indian tour of the WI so colorful, so exciting n so funny for me. 'look out a throw is coming in...Boyce throws from the fine leg boundary n Lewis staggers as he collects it smack over the stumps'

In reply to Massy

Indeed I should have mentioned the Late Great John Arlott. He was a great fan of Hampshire cricket and absolutely adored Gordon Greenidge, Andy Robert’s and of course Barry Richards.

my 3 colour commentators-

1.Holding
2.Faz
3.Bishop

In reply to sudden
My favorite commentator of all time is Sleepy (I said what I said and I have no intention of un-said-ing it) Smith

In reply to Walco

that is Sleepy Smith the politician?

In reply to Drapsey





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Donna Simmons the first Caribbean female commentator I think .

In reply to Massy replying to Dukes

But I did!




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In reply to Ewart

Why I enjoyed Brian Johnston

In reply to Dukes
You went with categories.

You cannot have most knowledgeable and leave out Tony Cozier. A tie for that category. Richie Benaud and Tony Cozier.

In reply to EwartJohn Arlott 'Sobers is on the attack and the field is so spread that they look like missionaries off to far places"

In reply to Ewart

In reply to sudden
Yes the statement was made after he was awaken from a nap while parliament was in session. Or so the story goes ...

I don’t like the fanboy vibes of Warne, Bhogle and the like
Lawry, Reds and Cozier for me.

If we class Reds and Tony as mains then Blofeld, Arlott, CMJ, Rutnegar

In reply to imusic In Trinidad
Just as Alvin Corneal was known for soccer etc.
But for us in the Northern Caribbean it was cricket
for both.

Henry Blofeld's summary of the day's play when Lawrence Rowe was overnight batsman on his way to his record 302.

Paraphrase:

"Poor Bob Willis, the faster he bowled, the faster the ball left for the boundary. He even tried a bouncer, only to watch it land in the Kensington stand."

He continued:

"You see, Rowe is and artist, and an artist needs someone and somewhere to display his artistry. Today he found both. ...".

In reply to Brerzerk
BILL Lawry sits at the top

In reply to Ewart

In my infancy I remember Jamaica, RJR radio sports casters Roy Lawrence, and Adrian Robinson. RJR was the dominant radio I believe, and the Gleaner the only print newspaper.

In reply to Drapsey
that night Rowe said he called home n told his dad expect a double

I remember Roy Lawrence used to love and refer to Rowe lovingly as that boy Rowe. It is rumored (never heard myself) that he lost his job at JBC when a Rowe cover drive had Roy beside himself as he exclaimed 'Oh My R...s!'

1) Tony Greig
2) Geoffrey Boycott
3)Ian Smith

Notable mentions:-

Robin Jackman, Michael Holding, Atherton, Cozier, Mark Nicholas

In reply to Brerzerk

It is rumored (never heard myself) that he lost his job at JBC when a Rowe cover drive had Roy beside himself as he exclaimed 'Oh My R...s!'

In reply to Brerzerk

Lindy was boring, he usually commentated from the Morgue.


Roy Lawrence, on the other hand was awesome, he was the one to put the word beautiful into shots.

In reply to Brerzerk
Do you remember Bobby Fray?

Jamaica was playing Guyana in a hotly contested regional game and Redwood dropped I think it was Semple.

Bobby said, "all over Jamaica tonight he'll be a dead wood.'

In reply to Brerzerk

Oh my r*ss!




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In reply to Wally-1

Was Lindy the first Jamaican to play 1st division football in England?

In reply to Wally-1

Fray started out very good, expected a lot from him was sad to learn years later he fell on hard times. BTW color commentator is not the "ball by ball" guy!

In reply to Wally-1

Hugh Croskill Senior was excellent back in the day with that gravelly voice of his...Hugh Jr was no slouch either as a ball by ball commentator

In reply to Wally-1Fray was a wordsmith of the highest order. Formed a great team with Mason (except when talking about food). A spinner got a Jamaican stumped and Bobby said 'He was bemused, beguiled and befuddled...the keeper did the rest.
I remember Lindy for this. Rothman's X1 vs. JA an attack of Snow, Brown, Sobers Intikab n Titmus. Wonderful ton by Renford A.Pinnock. When smothering Intikab's spin nose almost touching the turf Lindy said
'Any school-boy watching' Hope memory is correct

Everton Weekes
Richie Benaud
Geoff Boycott

I remember Weekes commenting on a Gordon Greenidge edge to slips. The only other person in the world besides the umpire who couldn't see that edge must have been Greenidge's mother.

Weekes: "Well he's rubbing his elbow. I hope his fingers aren't broken"

In reply to Dukes

First J'can coloured yes, don't know if he was the first overall.

my 3 favorites are:
Tony Cozier
Richie Benaud
Henry Blofeld