Radio sports commentary is on my wavelength

Back in the day, when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I used to smile at my dad's outrage whenever the footie came on the box.

In the seventies, it was only Match of the Day highlights on a Saturday hosted by Jimmy Hill, or ITV's Star Soccer, with the legendary Hugh Johns in the commentary box, on Sunday lunchtime.

Dad would soon go off on one of his favourite rants about commentators spending too much time digging up smarty-pants trivia instead of actually telling the viewer who was on the ball.

Well, things have come full circle in the Jones household. It must be a case of like father, like son, because it gets my back up these days too.

One of the great things about this summer's Ashes cricket series (apart from us giving the Aussies another good hiding) has been inviting the BBC's Test Match Special guys into my living room.

I've been watching the action on Sky Sports, with the volume down, so I can luxuriate in the gently eccentric madness served up by the likes of Henry 'Blowers' Blofeld, indignant Geoffrey Boycott, and comedy pairing Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan.

On the radio, they have no choice but to balance these personalities in with the dirty business of actually describing what's happening.

It's so much better than the pompous one-upmanship on telly, where – aside from the hilarious David 'Bumble' Lloyd – former England cricket captains vie for top billing in the credibility stakes.

And footie's the same. Why would you choose to listen to the snooty Martin Tyler or the pointless Alan Parry rambling about nothing on the telly, when there's radio genius available in the shape of the brilliant John Murray, or even the hyper-exciteable Alan Green?

One of the best things our interactive TVs have offered us in recent times is the ability, through the red button, to choose alternative commentaries for live sporting occasions.

When it's on the Beeb, I always opt for Five Live. It brings a whole new dimension to the game, and it's humbling to see how swiftly, and accurately, the guys respond to paint a precise picture of what's happening on the field.

Flip back to the telly, by contrast, and you'll find them lazily regurgitating the contents of Wikipedia, with a few of their own clichés injected for bad measure.

For sheer commentary skill, though, nothing tops tennis on the radio. On Monday, Andy Murray begins the quest to retain his US Open Title, and I'm in awe at the way they'll record the rat-a-tat rallies, as well as injecting personality and humour.

I remember listening to Jonathan Overend commentating on a Federations Cup match between Argentina and Great Britain a few months back.

Laura Robson was getting some stick from a hostile Buenos Aires crowd, so he piped up: "Oh come on, you're winning this tie. You've already got Lionel Messi and the Pope, what more do you want?"

Broadcast gold. Improvised, instinctive, and intelligent. The late, great, darting legend Sid Waddell would have been proud.