He is known for his "loud” shirts. He has often been seen chasing international cricketers around the Adelaide Oval during Test cricket matches, offering them an opportunity to be photographed wearing one of his famous “Loud” shirts. Former ABC Grandstand commentator Peter Walsh loves chatting with his mates, and he loves his cricket. It is doubtful there is anyone in South Australia who enjoys the Adelaide Oval more than him. He has been fortunate enough to work with Richie Benaud Kerry O’Keefe, Peter Roebuck, and Damien Fleming.
Peter Walsh has confirmed his support for the 2021 O50’s Veterans Cricket Association Championships in Adelaide from 14th – 18th November 2021. Peter will head up the commentary team for the daily live streamed games from the Karen Rolton Oval.
There is not a sport he has not covered over the past 40 years, but one of the more memorable cricket memories was when he was behind the microphone in Karachi in 1984.
Pakistan was 9 wickets down with Shane Warne bowling. The ball deflected off the batter’s pads, and the missed stumping by Healy saw the ball race away for 4 leg byes giving Pakistan the win by 1 wicket. Peter indicated it was breathtaking to call and watch the result.
Also, a devoted Hawthorn Football Club fan, Peter, has been the host on three occasions at the Peter Crimmins Best & Fairest count. He has seen the Hawks win 13 flags and has also commentated at three of the Grand Finals at the MCG.
Some of the major sporting events he has covered include 7 Olympic (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London), six Commonwealth (Auckland, Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Melbourne, New Dehli, Glasgow), and 5 Paralympic games with some extremely & amazing personal experiences as highlighted below.
1992 Summer Olympics Barcelona
Peter called the USA Dream Team’s first game in the Olympics. The stadium shook when the best team in the world hit the pine. Basketball at its best featuring Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barclay & Scottie Pippen.
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta
He was courtside in Atlanta when Muhammad Ali was wheeled onto centre court. 25,000 fans in the Georgia Dome, and you could still hear a pin drop.
2000 Olympic Games Sydney
Peter shed a tear when Cathy Freeman won Gold in Sydney. Her coach, Peter Fortune, is a long-time friend.
In addition to being known for his rowdy and excitable style of commentary akin to the manner of a boxing announcer, particularly after a player made a flamboyant or attacking action, Peter also called 1,000 National and International Basketball games and over 1,500 AFL, SANFL, and TFL games. Peter worked closely with the legendary “Mr. Football” Ted Whitten for 4 exhilarating years calling football. He was a magnificent man, and he was like a second father to Peter. Ted passed away at aged 62 from Prostate Cancer.
In 2014, Peter was also diagnosed with prostate cancer and now regards himself as one of the lucky ones to have beaten and survived the dreaded disease. He is now an advocate and fundraiser for both breast & prostate cancer and a major supporter of men’s health and uses his loud shirts to raise awareness and is often a conversation starter which leads to dollars for his favourite charities.
In June 2016, Peter was recognised with a medal in the Order of Australia (AOM) for services to the Broadcast Media and the Community.
Here is a snapshot of some of his interviews – all Sporting Royalty!:
Leigh Matthews, Peter Hudson, Luke Hodge, Peter Knights, Rachel Sporn, Phil Smyth, Luke Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Michael Jordan, Charles Blakley, Cathy Freeman, Steve Moneghetti, Rob De Castella, Merlene Ottey, Anna Meares, Stuart O’Grady, Lance Armstrong, Cadell Evans, Ian Thorpe, Kieran Perkins, Muhammad Ali, Irene van Dyke, Belinda Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Mark Waugh, Les Burdett, Darren Lehmann, Adam Gilchrist, Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock & Sunil Gavaskar.
But note there are 100’s more we could place on this list. He has developed special friendships with them all.
The South Australian Veterans Cricket Association is excited to have Peter join the Over 50’s Nationals.
“With his expertise, professionalism & sporting contacts, we know Peter will definitely put veterans cricket on both the World & Australian sporting calendars in November and well beyond. His involvement will be massive. Having just met Peter, I could listen to him all day, every day. He is a legend in Australian sporting commentators.”, stated Championships Director Anthony Telfer.
Peter is bringing more to the table than just his commentating expertise. More exciting announcements will be made over the coming months.
But one thing is for sure, and there will be no doubt Peter Walsh will be at “full throttle” from the first coin toss to the last ball bowled in the O50’s National Championships in November.
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