I have great respect for Edward Aquilina as a sports commentator. His technical and tactical analysis of what is going on in a match gives viewers the chance to grasp elements of the game that they could have missed.

It is his vocabulary that leaves much to be desired. Mr Aquilina often resorts to twisting words in English and use them in Malta. For example, in one of the recent matches he was involved in, I heard him say “nimmuvjaw” – to move, when he could have used “imexxu”; “jikkatja” – to cut, when he could have used “jaqsam”; “kien qiegħed late” – when in Maltese we have the word “tard”; “jibbitja” – to beat, when in Maltese we have the word “jegħleb”; and at one point he also said “fil-height” – which made me think that he was referring to a wall (“ħajt”, same pronunciation as height) when in Maltese we have the word “għoli”.

It is a pity that he uses these (and other) expressions that he could easily avoid to have a smoother commentary. I do not think that any BBC or Rai sports commentator would be allowed to be on air if he does not speak English or Italian well.

■ Mario Caruana

Naxxar