Most Australians wouldn't understand this, but hearing the voice of Martin Tyler on the World Cup telecasts is a bit of a shock to the system of the American sports fan.

In Australia, we've become accustomed to British voices on television. Years of English football and (don't kill me for saying this) the similarities between the two accents, has left little doubt that British commentators are more than welcome on Aussie TV. Australia's no.1 soccer caller, Simon Hill, as well as Channel Nine's smooth cricket host, Mark Nicholas, both hail from the Old Dart.

In America, a huge country with thousands upon thousands of American born and bred announcers, a British voice is still a foreign voice. At Germany 2006, ESPN put baseball broadcaster Dave O'Brien in the booth and he was roundly criticised, not just by the "soccer elite," but by many American sports fans. It was fair; O'Brien talked too much and didn't really know the game.

So when South Africa 2010 rolled around, the self-described Worldwide Leader in Sports decided to take a different tack and go with mostly foreign talent. The studio hosts - Chris Fowler, Mike Tirico, Bob Ley - are Yanks, but the analysts are all non-Americans, with the exception of Alexi Lalas. Tyler and American John Harkes are the lead commentary team, but the rest is a mishmash of English callers. There's the superb Ian Darke, the take-him-or-leave-him Derek Rae, and the whiny, unlistenable Adrian Healey. The special comments people include Efan Ekoku, Robbie Mustoe and Scotsman Ally McCoist.

Needless to say, it's been a bit of a gamble for ESPN, with your average American trying to come to terms not only with the annoying vuvuzelas (Swahili for "Made in China" as some comic suggested), but an array of exotic voices, some of which are barely decipherable. McCoist, for example, has plenty of good things to say, but I would suggest 75 per cent of Americans wouldn't understand a word. ESPN's star columnist, Bill Simmons said this on Twitter after the US drew with England: "Good take on Germany's win from ABC's color guy (McCoist): "Thdgdgdg cbfbfbs hjssjsjk gpppgakg fkkffkkffd dhdhjkds dhd syyffk wptrpp."

Also challenging for American audiences are terms like "nil," "draw," and "argy-bargy." Aussie readers might think this absurd, but you have to remember the United States is not a Commonwealth nation. There's no Queen's Birthday holiday, scones aren't available everywhere and chances are that hot beverage isn't a cuppa - it's a "cup of Joe." That's coffee by the way, in case you didn't know.

It remains to be seen how the invasion of the British announcers will affect TV ratings. The USA/England game did a 6.1, which translates to about 12 million viewers. That's decent, but not mind-blowing. And I'd argue that number would be the same if Christina Aguilera and George W. Bush were calling the game.

Essentially, I think ESPN has done the right thing, by going 360 degrees from the last World Cup. Tyler is a wonderful announcer, and his measured, intelligent commentary is a nice change from the wall-to-wall, Triple M style of most American callers. The hardcore soccer fans in this country will no doubt appreciate the foreign flavour of the telecasts, and some novices will enjoy listening to what they consider exotic accents.

But if anyone thinks having British voices in the booth is going to help propel world football forward in this country, I think they're mistaken.