HERE is the second in our new weekly High 5s series in which a member of the Evening Press sportsdesk selects their top five in a particular facet of sport.

Today sports editor Martin Jarred picks his nap hand of television's best sporting analysts. But we want readers to have their say, too. If you disagree with our choice then write in your suggestions to the sports desk at 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN, or e-mail us at sport@ycp.co.uk and you could get your selection published on the High 5s page. Don't forget to include your contact details.

LET'S face it most of us watch our sport on the box.

We have turned into a nation of sporting couch spuds.

The terrestrial and digital telly revolution has spurned a plethora of talking heads. But who are the analysts who can cut the mustard?

Topping my bill would be Richie Benaud, who gave his last-ever commentary in England during this summer's memorable Ashes series.

The titanic battle with Australia was a fitting finale to cricket's finest television observer.

Although he is a former Aussie captain, he never paints anything but an impartial picture.

His knowledge of the game, presented with humour and grace, is unsurpassed.

Channel 4's superb series coverage was a magnificent platform for Benaud's skills. In their own piece on the great communicator's retirement, Richie revealed that he felt the best commentators actually said very little.

Although he uses words sparingly every syllable is made to count. He makes analytical cricket commentary an art form.

As Britain continues its long and desperate search for a Wimbledon champion, the well is dry when it comes to finding a home-based player under the age of 80 who has conquered the tennis world.

The BBC has cast their net far and wide to tone down the jingoism which rears its head for a couple of weeks from SW19 each summer. Former champs Boris Becker and Michael Stich offer a sharp German perspective, but they are no match for John McEnroe.

Mouthy and opinionated as a player, he can still fire from the hip behind the mike. Now there's less venom and more thought in what he says but he remains a thought-provoking realist amid the Union Jack-waving throng.

If Mac talks, people listen. If he says Andrew Murray will go on to join tennis's elite then it is a fair bet he will.

Much the same can also be said of another American - 400metres supremo Michael Johnson.

His comments have spiked some of the GB runners' egos in recent years but, like McEnroe and Benaud, he speaks from a position of real authority.

It is only when you listen to Johnson that you realise how much more there is to running than putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as possible.

Johnson, is a man who can dissect a race in an instant and make it sound compelling.

The Texan was the world's one-lap maestro and looks as relaxed in the studio as he was powering round the track.

Stuart Barnes would hardly class himself as an athlete - even in the peak of his playing days.

The Bath RUFC stand-off was a bit of a roly-poly figure but his kicking game was second to none and he did well enough to pull on an England shirt.

Union can get pretty stuffy in the corridors of power, but Barnes isn't afraid to pull punches.

He reads the game so well, has great tactical awareness and an eagle eye when it comes to spotting off-the-ball incidents.

Union's main problem as a spectacle is the amount of players squeezed on to the pitch - 30 is a hell of a lot. But Barnes can sift through the close contact nitty-gritty and make dour forward-led wars of attrition entertaining.

My final choice is a squad, rather than an individual - the Channel 4 racing team.

Love him or loathe him, the deer-stalker mad hatter John McCririck has become the bushy side-burned face of on-course betting. He has brought the betting 'jungle' to life with more than a touch of showmanship with his side-kick straight-woman Tanya Stevenson.

Keeping McCririck in line on live TV is a hard job but Alastair Down, who always seems to tease stories out of racing connections, keeps the bling-clad McCririck in check.

Throw in Lesley Graham, Mike Catt and the in-depth riding knowledge of John Francome et al, then you are on a winner.

Updated: 09:58 Tuesday, November 22, 2005