London, Dec 22 (IANS): Former England captain Nasser Hussain has paid tribute to former cricketer and coach David Lloyd, calling him 'one of the all-time great commentators and a wonderful human being'.
Hussain's comments come after Lloyd, a former England player and coach, announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the Sky Sports commentary roster after 22 years.
"I cannot believe I will not be sharing a Sky commentary box with David Lloyd anymore. He is one of the all-time great commentators and a wonderful human being. Cricket is in Bumble's (Lloyd) veins. You can hear his love and passion for the game in every word he says and he has that priceless ability to inform and entertain at the same time," wrote Hussain in his column for Daily Mail on Wednesday.
Hussain mentioned that Lloyd was best in calling out the bad things in cricket apart from speaking on the good stuff in the game and keeping everyone entertained.
"Bumble always tries to promote what is good for cricket but he is never afraid to call out anything bad that needs to be addressed, like criticising poor over-rates. Cricket can be a slow game at times but invariably Bumble is at his best during those quiet periods. He becomes that great entertainer and brings the game back to life."
Hussain pointed out that Lloyd knew how to balance between being sweet and serious while on-air.
"And he always knows when to talk and when not to, when to be serious and when to have fun. Bumble senses when the viewer needs cheering up and can always bring a smile to their faces, whether it is by singing Sweet Caroline or just making a little one-liner.
"Then in the next breath he is switching on to find the perfect words for the great moments, like Yuvraj Singh's six sixes in an over during the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup or Stuart Broad's eight for 15 at Trent Bridge in 2015."
The 53-year-old recounted an incident which signified that Lloyd didn't make TV cricket commentary all about himself.
"It is never about Bumble. He doesn't make commentary about him. Like that time when Carlos Brathwaite hit four sixes in the last over off Ben Stokes to win the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup for West Indies.
"Bumble was the lead commentator but he turned to Ian Bishop and said 'this is West Indies moment. You do it.' And that's how he instigated one of the great cricket commentary moments, with Bishop saying, 'remember the name'."