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Former cricketers and Sky commentators Sir Ian Botham and David Gower said farewell to their positions with the broadcaster this weekend, after they revealed they were ‘being retired’ after the TV network did not renew their contracts - reported the Daily Mail.
Gower blamed ‘ageism’ for his departure from the broadcaster, stating that the decision to get rid of him and Botham as being marred with ‘an element of implied ageism’.
In an interview with the Telegraph Sport, he shared his gripes over Sky’s decision and revealed his disappointment not to be continuing his tenure after ‘applying for my own job’ over the past two years.
He also shared how he had suffered due to the ‘rampant charge’ that has seen ‘more diversity’ in the commentary box adding that ‘lots of things are changing very rapidly and evolving, which are beyond the control of people like me’.
“I have had it explained to me that there are evolutionary trends in broadcasting, and we’ve seen the change towards more diversity,” Gower said.
“I have tried to, as it were, apply for my own job, avidly over the last couple of years. And have been quietly rebuffed by this evolution, or so-called evolution. I would like to think that there is space for people like me.
“Nowadays, in the same way that diversity is very much the key, one’s definition of old is changing very quickly as well.”
This news comes after recent figures found that ageism was starting much earlier than many individuals would believe. Stats from Fairygodboss revealed that one in three people who’ve experienced ageism encountered it before they reached the age of 45-years-old.
Meanwhile, in a study carried out by Fast Company, 28% of respondents had personally experienced ageism at work, while 44% have observed it at work.
