Cut out the dross

11:49am Thursday 26th June 2008

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WITH the start of Wimbledon and the continuation of Euro 2008 comes a surfeit of that BBC phenomenon - the sports person turned rubbish presenter.

For the past few weeks we have had to endure the dull as ditchwater Alan Shearer and Co on the Euro 2008 coverage. Lineker’s attempts at humour and Hansen’s predictable dross are bad enough, but who thought it was a good idea to put Shearer in front of the camera and allow him to open his mouth? My cat could give more a more incisive insight into a match than he can.

The Geordie with a charisma by-pass has taken the art of stating the obvious to new levels. His presence has even reduced the usually animated Martin O’Neill to a bored onlooker. Thank goodness the tournament’s over soon! Over at Wimbledon, Sue Barker has swapped flirting with the boys on ‘Question of Sport’ with pretending to be a tennis star of the past. However much she indulges in cosy insider chatter with former players boasting a sackload of titles, she will never have the gravitas she seeks, especially when sitting beside icons of the game such as McEnroe and Becker.

It’s time that the Beeb stopped employing retired sports folk, unless they have the necessary personality for television - and actually have something interesting to say about their particular sport !