Brave Film Company lead BBC cricket in a new direction

With the NatWest one-day series looming the BBC recently turned to Selby of The Brave Film Company to direct an eye-catching new ident for BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live.
In marked contrast to previous cricket idents, this innovative piece shows "the side of cricket that you don't see." In an almost gladiatorial stand off, a South African batsman is poised at the crease while the young but exceptionally talented English pace bowler, James Anderson, powers towards him. As the bowler releases the ball we cut to an extreme close up shot of the batsman¹s eyes behind his face guard. The ball pitches, the batsman attempts to play a stroke, but misjudges the pace and bounce of the ball and is struck directly on his helmet.
This ident is far removed from the all too often perceived view of cricket as gentlemen in whites, village greens and cucumber sandwiches. It perfectly encapsulates the truly athletic, combative and competitive world of international cricket today, in which the demands are both physical and psychological.
Selby said: "It's stylised. It's all about the duel between batsman and bowler. Everything else disappears. When you can curve a ball through the air at over 90 miles per hour you don't have to worry too much about anyone else. James is a major talent. I think he¹s the Beckham of the cricket world. It was incredible to watch how he used every mechanic of his body to propel the ball. This is what interested me and what I wanted to shoot."
(GB)