It’s Not Just Cricket

After one of the most thrilling Test series in recent times, the boys look at how England v India 2025 compares with the most exciting contests in Test cricket. Was it as good as the 2005 or 2023 Ashes? Could the manner of the 5th Test defeat leave a bit of psychological scarring on England heading into the Ashes? And Test cricket is as exciting as it's ever been so maybe it's not the product that...

An incredible fightback by India means we are heading into the deciding 5th Test at the Oval with lots of topics to debate - who was in the wrong when India decided to bat on at the end of the 4th Test? Have the pitches been good or bad for the series? Will England have to rest Jofra Archer and field a completely new bowling attack? Will Bumrah play more than 3 Tests in the series? And is England...

Matt & Azeem look ahead to the 4th Test, discuss country v county and then turn their attention to England footballer Jess Carter getting racially abused on social media. Is the reaction to racism now all about gesture politics rather than actually changing things? And what about taking the knee - does it still have an important role in highlighting racism or has it lost it's meaning? Learn more a...

Absolutely loads for us to get our teeth into this week! Ben Stokes delivers a herculean performance, Jofra's back and England are somehow 2-1 up. Matt and Azeem agree that aggression and niggle is good for the game but clash over the best way to speed up play - Azeem even suggests fining the umpires! Meanwhile, Jimmy Anderson and Rocky Flintoff are picked for The Hundred - are both deserving of i...

Azeem and Matt disagree on who they think England should have picked for the Lord's Test, while Azeem also has some strong opinions on England needing Ben Stokes the player more than Ben Stokes the Captain. Over in Bulawayo, Wiaan Mulder denies himself the chance to break Brian Lara's record score - was this an incredible act of respect and sportsmanship or one of the dumbest acts on a cricket fie...

After 2 days at Edgbaston, India are dominating. Matt & Azeem look back on a tough day at the office for Ben Stokes' men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Azeem react to England's incredible win in the 1st Test against India. Was it the greatest ever in the BazBall era?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Azeem is back for the first time after his father sadly passed away and shares some heartfelt memories on his 'best friend' who used to leave him voice notes every day. But he also wants to get back to some cricket chat and the guys discuss why Kagiso Rabada is underrated, how Australia are vulnerable heading into the Ashes and whether Jimmy Anderson could have been a T20 great. Learn more about y...

Aatif Nawaz joins Matt to reflect on a great start for Harry Brook as England captain. Will Ben Stokes return for the T20 World Cup and is he actually still an essential component of the T20 team? The World Test Championship Final is about to begin, it's not a perfect system but let's just enjoy the occasion! And the boys discuss which grounds in England have the best atmosphere. Learn more about...

Sports marketing guru Amar Singh joins Matt to discuss how marketing played a huge role in the IPL becoming a giant of global sport. Can The Hundred get to a similar level within the UK and how should it be marketed? And who are the most marketable cricketers in the world right now? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

England's hammering of Zimbabwe was impressive but it may have thrown up more questions than answers. Are Crawley and Pope now undroppable for the India series? Did we see Sam Cook's limitations on flat pitches? Why is Shoaib Bashir a better bowler in Test cricket than county cricket? The boys also look at India's new look Test squad and who could make the eleven. Learn more about your ad choices....

Lawrence Booth is back for a lively debate on the power that Indian cricket now holds and how it is using it. As ever, Matt, Azeem and Lawrence have slightly differing views on this so stand by for some strong views! After that the three of them look ahead to the England v India Test series - are England now favourites with Kohli and Rohit suddenly retired? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Wisden Editor and Daily Mail Cricket Correspondent Lawrence Booth joins the boys to discuss the massive news of the week - Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket. So is he, as Greg Chappell says, Indian cricket's most influential cricketer? And is he the greatest all format batter of all time? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As news breaks that Gary Ballance will be part of the Zimbabwe coaching team for the tour of England, Azeem reaveals that he holds no grudge against him and hopes he does well. Unlike some others, Gary accepted his role in the racism that took place at Yorkshire and apologized for it. Plus - should James Rew be talked about more and is Vikram Solanki a future England Director of Cricket? Learn mor...

Vaibhav Suryavanshi - remember the name!! He becomes the latest in a long line of incredibly young cricket prodigies and the boys look back on some of the others in history from Sachin Tendulkar to Hasan Raza. Also, Azeem explains why he thinks Jacob Bethell should stay at the IPL and not return to England to play the Test against Zimbabwe. He's got strong views on the IPL being expanded to 94 mat...

It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the IPL - teams who didn't make the Play Offs last year are leading the way and a 14 year old has made his debut and hit his first ball for six! The PSL meanwhile hasn't seen packed crowds at every game and Azeem has a theory as to why. Back in Blighty, Sam Cook and Sonny Baker are pulled out of their County Championship matches - does this mean that one...

Great to have Adam Collins back on the show! Fresh off writing Glenn Maxwell's autobiography 'The Showman', he gives us a fascinating insight into the mind of one the modern game's most iconic players. After that he and Matt discuss Adam's unlikely journey from politics to cricket broadcasting and how cricket journalism has changed beyond recognition over the last few years. Learn more about your...

The County Championship season has started and with England's first Test of the summer just a few weeks away we check in on two players who's season hasn't started exactly as they would've liked. Zak Crawley is badly out of nick, so what do England do if he can't rediscover his mojo soon? At least he's an automatic choice for his county though, which is more than can be said for Shoaib Bashir. Mat...

Commentator, Writer and Podcaster Adam Collins joins Matt for a deep look into where cricket is heading and what the future may look like. When the inevitable Saudi Arabian money enters the game will Indian cricket welcome them with open arms or go head to head in competition? Will cricket become like football where all the power, money and interest is held by the domestic teams and International...

The IPL is back and even though there haven't been many close games, it's still the best T20 show in town. MS Dhoni gets criticised for batting too low down the order but Matt thinks we should just enjoy him while he's still out on the field. An article has been written questioning whether English players still value the IPL but is that really the case? Plus, Moeen Ali calls out cricket for not ta...

It's good to talk. Most people have had issues with maintaining their mental health and Matt and Azeem are no different. In this epsiode they both open up on some of the issues they have had over the years - how they've both felt they've lacked purpose in life at times, the pressure that men feel in seeing themselves as 'providers' and how therapy has helped both of them get through the darker tim...

Remember the Cricket Scotland racism storm? Unlike what happened with Azeem and Yorkshire, it all seems to have gone very quiet north of the border. Cricket Scotland commissioned reports into what happened but were determined to keep their findings a secret. However in the last few days one of these reports has been leaked and it found that former player Majid Haq WAS racially discriminated agains...

A forgettable Champions Trophy comes to an end but that shouldn't detract from another flawless tournament performance by India. Sure they had some well publicised advantages - which should never happen again - but you get the impression they would have won anywhere in the world, probably even Iceland. They have now lost 15 tosses in a row, is Rohit Sharma's captaincy actually a bit underrated?! H...

Matt has lost hearing in both ears jumping off a cliff on holiday but manages to shout his way through this episode! After England crash out of the Champions Trophy and Jos Buttler resigns the boys look at where it's all gone wrong for England in white ball cricket....as usual there are some disagreements about BazBall along the way! Should Harry Brook be made captain? Azeem thinks not, and gives...

India beat Pakistan once again with ease in the Champions Trophy which means Pakistan have only beaten them once in ODIs in the last decade. Is this great rivalry in danger of losing it's lustre unless it becomes less one sided? Azeem reflects on his experience at the first game of the tournament and reveals his worries about the long term effects of Pakistan not having hosted tournament cricket f...