98 Not Out - The Cricket Podcast

We have now reached the halfway point in this year's edition of the IPL. I caught up with Matt Kabir Floyd, who is covering the tournament for Sky Sports to get his views on what he has seen so far. I ask him if it is too long and what could be the effect of the IPL franchises spreading their tentacles across the cricketing globe. He also talks about his new podcast "It's Not Just Cricket" , which...

The ECB has sanctioned the use of the Kookaburra red ball for the start of the 2024 County Championship. But amid all the wind and rain, journalist and broadcaster Mel Farrell takes a look at its effectiveness and asks if it can achieve its goal of preparing England's players for the Ashes in Australia at the end of 2025? #countycricket #cricket #kookaburra #weather #Wisden #England #Ashes

The cricket season is finally here and HUW TURBERVILL , editor of "The Cricketer" magazine talks about finance in the English game. Is foreign investment required to ensure the survival of county cricket and make the white ball game competitive on the global stage? #cricket #countycricket #thehundred #money

Victoria Polley from BBC Essex looks forward to the 2024 county cricket season and assesses the chances of a new-look Essex in the wake of Sir Alastair Cook's retirement and the departure of Dan Lawrence. Dean Elgar and Jordan Cox look like exciting replacements! Victoria also talks about the return of her weekly cricket show "Around the Wicket" on BBC Essex, as well as the BBC's...

Hot on the heels of " How to be a Cricket Fan ", Matt Appleby 's new book " Lost Cricket Stickers ", all about the one year (1983) that Panini published a sticker collection album devoted to English cricket players. Jim Carter of "Downton Abbey" fame wrote the introduction and we discuss why the concept never took off and wonder whether it is worth resurrecting! G...

The fallout continues as England's winter ends; a disappointing World Cup campaign, the first Test series defeat under Stokes & McCallum with a slide to #6 in the WTC rankings. The Cricketer 's George Dobell has been forthright in his views of how the team has played and asks whether " Baz" is more of a mentor than a coach? Have a listen and see if you agree with what he has...

BBC Essex cricket commentator Dick Davies speaks about the life and times of the great Robin Hobbs, who sadly passed away at the weekend. A great leg-spinner whose career peaked in the 1960s, appearing for Essex and latterly Glamorgan, Robin also played seven Tests for England. He was a familiar face at Chelmsford after his playing days ended and also down at Hutton CC, where the Young Volunteer A...

England has slumped to a series defeat in their tour of India, the first under the Stokes/McCullum regime. It's been a tough winter for the team, with a disappointing World Cup and a white ball tour to the West Indies; Paul Newman - Chief Cricket Writer at The Daily Mail - joins us to give his verdict on England's progress and what lessons have been learned, ahead of the English season and...

Tim Brooks talks about his brand new book, "The Batmaker of Copenhagen". Set in wartime Denmark, it's a thrilling tale of how one man is determined to keep his cricket club going against the threat of Nazi occupation. Time explains the ideas and research involved and also his interest in non Test countries that play cricket. Get your copy of his book at all good bookstores now!

In this episode, Dan Haggar and I discuss the plans laid out at this week's Members Forum, where the Essex board set out their road map for the future, including plans for the ground redevelopment/relocation and moving on from recent painful events.

Don Topley is just back from South Africa, where he was watching his son Reece play in the SA20. During his time there, "Toppers" was one of the last people to spend time with Mike Procter, who sadly passed away at the weekend. Here Don reminisces about the great man and the impact he made on the game of cricket.

Derbyshire photographer David "Griff" Griffin reacts to the sad news of the death of Mike Procter, a true giant of the game of cricket, who had huge impact on both the English county and international scene, where he played for, then later managed South Africa. Follow Griff on "X" at @dgriffinpix

As the new season edges ever closer, The Grumbler joins me to look at the various talking points dominating county cricket conversations. Is the membership model broken? Are players' wages, foreign interest and monetisation destroying the game's tradition? Could counties break free from the ECB and form their own league....and should Taylor Swift be brought in to attract the youth?

Charles Dagnall joins us from Johannesburg, where he is covering the ICC u19 Cricket World Cup. England are out, failing to make the semi-finals, but "Daggers" is impressed by what he has seen and highlights some names we should watch for the future.

Former Yorkshire, Warwickshire and England cricketer TIM BRESNAN joins us to talk about glory days winning the T20 World Cup and The Ashes with England, as well as being County Champions with Yorkshire. Since retiring from first class cricket, "Bressie" has spent time travelling with his family and has been playing club cricket at Hartshead Moor CC. He is also building a very successful...

England embark on a five Test tour to India. Questions were asked about their preparation ahead of such a big series and were not helped by the late withdrawal of Harry Brook, due to personal reasons. Here, New Zealand-based journalist Rahul Patil joins us to take a look at what can be expected from a huge Test series. NOTE: this was recorded before it was announced that Virat Kohli would be missi...

Monday was officially tagged "Blue Monday" , the most depressing day of the year; the joy of Christmas long gone, the days fail to get light and the weather is just awful. Worse still if you are doing "Dry January" and are struggling with the cost of living. Here, I am joined by Elizabeth Ammon from The Times to discuss why the downbeat mood appears to be so prevalent among cri...

In the last few days, we have witnessed the shortest-ever Test match take place in Newlands between South Africa and India, the West Indies announce a weakend squad to tour Australia and the increasing frequency of two-Test series. Also the news that the England tour to India later this month might not make it to UK tv screens, is Test cricket in danger of disappearing up its own backside? But goo...

Barely into the New Year and we have received the sad news about the passing of German legend Franz Beckenbauer, one of a very select few men to have lifted the World Cup both as a player and as a manager. When we talked to the Liverpool FC star Craig Johnston a couple of years ago, he told us about how instrumental "Der Kaiser" was in getting a deal with Adidas for the revolutionary Pre...

In today's show, we take a look at the extraordinary events at Newlands where South Africa were beaten by visitors India in the shortest Test match in the history of the game. Commentator Ravi Shastri came up with one of the all-time great soundbites to sum up what was going on! As Luke Littler takes the world of darts by storm, we take a look at the teenagers who broke the records in cricket...

If you are a regular visitor to the Cloud County Ground at Chelmsford, or indeed many of the away fixtures, you might well recognise Dan Haggar, or "Kit Man Dan" as he is sometimes known. A passionate Essex fan and regular supporter of "98 Not Out", it was high time we got him on for a chat. Enjoy!

Roland Butcher was the first black player to play cricket for England back in 1980 and he speaks to us from Barbados, where he now lives, to review the progressof West Indies cricket in 2023. Despite not qualifying for the World Cup in India recently, Roland is upbeat about the overall picture of the team's progress, not only in white ball cricket but points to success at u19s, u23s and Academ...

Here are a few seasonal messages from just some of the people we have had on the show: Charles Dagnall, Debbie Knight, Asif Tanvir, George Dobell, David Paynter, Ryan ten Doeschate, David Gower, Jeffrey Archer, Tymal Mills, Harry Gurney, Rikki Clarke, Nasa Hussain, Huw Turbervill, Peter Moores, Mark Pugatch, Paul Newman, Alex Stewart, Richard Clarke, Michael Carberry, Chevy Green, Chris Green, Ron...

Here is the abridged edit of the radio show broadcast on Phoenix 98FM on Thursday, 21st. December For the full version, head to: https://www.phoenixfm.com/2023/12/21/98-not-out-with-special-guest-debbie-knight/ Debbie Knight , author of the excellent rugby and cricket blog "365 Sporting Days" joins me in the studio to discuss England's white ball tour to the West Indies (with special...

Special guest on this episode is West Indies legend Ian Bishop, who speaks to us from Barbados, where he is commentating on the England tour and recalls some great moments playing for the West Indies and also at Derbyshire, as well as that famous “remember the name” moment from the 2016 T20 World Cup Final.