The spotlight on Nine's commentary team has only intensified with the arrival of the Big Bash League (BBL) in the festive season, being broadcast on Channel 10.
The rival network's coverage is carried by Aussie legends Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Damien Fleming, while former all-rounder Andrew Symonds also chimes in occasionally.
Add to that English icons Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan — who are also commentating the Test series for Nine — and Graeme Swann as well as broadcasters Mark Howard, Roz Kelly and Mel Jones, and the Big Bash outfit has won plenty of fans.
Now Shane Warne has bitten back over the commentary war between the two TV networks, defending his Channel Nine colleagues by saying the long days in Test cricket make it a much tougher game to call than a three-hour BBL game.
He didn't denigrate Channel 10's work, but said the Australian T20 competition would still be a great spectacle even if there was nobody behind the microphone.
Nine came under fire as recently as day five of the Boxing Day Test when former English opening batsman Geoffrey Boycott slotted into the chair alongside Warne and Mark Taylor.
He was asked to explain what batsmen should do if they get out on the flat Melbourne deck that made life miserable for the bowlers of both teams.
With Australia beginning to look comfortable in its attempt to save the Test, Boycott suggested any batsman that got out on such a placid pitch should attempt to hang themselves.
"You go into the dressing room, you get on a chair, you tie a noose and you jump on it," he said.
"I don't know how you get out on that wicket."
Boycott's comments did not sit comfortably with fans.
In contrast, Channel 10 has largely escaped any such heat. Ponting has been widely praised as the best commentator in the country for his expert analysis.
He explains captains' tactics and is often able to predict what batsmen and bowlers will do at different stages of an innings in the game's shortest format before it even happens.
