Reverse Swept Radio - cricket books, films and history

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: The death of Bob Blair, and is the Bazball captaincy a poisoned chalice? "It's the story so good that we accidentally told it twice on the podcast." FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'50): The Bouncer that Peter Lever regretted "When I got back to the pavilion I wanted to retire."  THE REVIEW (20'55): The Fifth Estate: Corruption Inside Cricket Canada (2026, Canadian Broadcasting Corp...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: The annual RSR Lord's away day "The Lord's bar's approach towards carbs is really something else." FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'42): A new cricketing alphabet game "There is absolutely no way you're going to come up with a Q."  THE REVIEW (23'45): Catching the Light (2026, Fairfield Books) "It's exactly the kind of thing that could be written while languishing in the long grass....

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy feels the weight of his Middlesex voting rights, and Toby ponders the changing seasons "I particularly enjoy just watching the groundstaff standing and looking at the pitch." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'30): An(other) Unusual World Record: The only wicket maiden in a T20 Super Over "How do you even get the stadium announcer job? I would *love* that job."  THE REVIEW (22'25...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy surveys his cricket-themed birthday cards, and Toby wonders whether Livingstone's criticism of Bazball might let the genie out of the bottle "It does make you wonder what they'd send if I wasn't a cricket fan." FROM THE ARCHIVES (09'40): An Unusual World Record: Jimmy Sinclair scores the longest ever six "His name sounds like a super hero, which is probably quite app...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy is struck by a photo of Shaoib Bashir, and Toby reads an open letter about England's playing fields "These are young men with fragile careers chasing dreams." FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'10): Tony Lewis’ Christmas Present: India v England 1972 at Delhi "England at least remain unbeaten on Christmas Day."  THE REVIEW (19'46): Flintoff (2025), Disney Plus "It was delightful...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy admires a test debutant towards the end of his fourth decade, and Toby encounters Plum Warner in a new context "I don't score quickly enough, that's my real issue." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'00): The One-Eyed Cricketer - the remarkable life of Colin Milburn "Often you saw him batting with both feet off the ground, in a sort of gravity-defying act"  THE REVIEW (22'17): Ba...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy empathises with Durham's demise, and Toby marks Chris Woakes' test retirement "Dwayne Bravo - a true road warrior of the franchise era." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'00): The Run Reaper "This was all about reducing the air resistance when you play the shot. The physics here - well, it's fair to say that I'm not a physicist..."  THE REVIEW (19'00): The 2005 Ashes: Settling t...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy visits the Hundred, and Toby has an unusual wager  "I think what you've cleverly done, without knowing it, is an emotional hedge." FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'00): Jeff Thomson's Test debut "He decides that he's not going to let a big toe get in the way of his test debut and a shot at the West Indies."  THE REVIEW (22'00): The King of Spain and I: Surviving Cricket, Depres...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy talks cricket at work, and Toby talks cricket in Italy "This was an excellent moment to be an evangelist - because of the recent news in Italian cricket." FROM THE ARCHIVES (09'30): Shane Warne's Test debut "Haigh also says you could see Warne’s “lucky yellow speedos visible through the white pants”."  THE REVIEW (18'20): Bad Sport: Fallen Idol (2021) "If anyone's en...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy has a new mug - with a deep cricket backstory, and Toby plays an unconventional game of T20 "If at any point you see me, I'll likely be drinking or making tea." FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'20): Ajit Agarkar's debut century - England vs India, Lord's, 2002 "Agarkar had recently returned from an Australian tour where he had been taunted as Bombay Duck after recording seven c...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy and Toby head to Lord's for the annual Reverse Swept Radio day in the Pavilion "You gave me false advice with just the right amount of confidence to truly screw me." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'33): Alex Tudor's Nightwatchman Heroics - July 1999  "Thorpe comes back to the dressing room, fresh from being abused by the crowd, to the abuse of his team-mates." THE REVIEW (20'4...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy puzzles over a forgotten childhood poster, and Toby applauds Wisden taking the gloves off. "Mind you he wasn't massive, so you could probably print him on A3." FROM THE ARCHIVES (09'20): Stump Cricket, or Podex "At its core this is an issue with the length of time you spent pulling out tree roots." THE REVIEW (19'00): Godfrey Evans: A Biography by Christopher Sandfor...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: An announcement about the next chapter in the history of the Gabba (play Olympic cricket there, then knock it down); Andy's summer begins when his county wallchart arrives. "My oldest daughter made a move for it, and while I am usually tolerant of her playing with my dearest property, in this case I had to say 'No, this is sacred stuff.'." FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'45): The I...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy's brother revives a promising career, and Toby wonders whether cricket and politics can ever be entirely separated. "It may astonish you, but he's actually better than me." FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'04): The Curious Tale of Billy Midwinter - The Kidnapped Cricketer "WG Grace dragged him bodily out of the Lord's pavilion and over town to the Oval." THE REVIEW (19'52): Cri...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Maiden's new female cricket kit, and encounters with the game in Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy “I will absolutely be selling my daughters on the idea that cricket is the finest way to waste a large chunk of one's life, but it's far better when that message is being communicated by their peers ." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'10): The final day of the 2010 County Championship “Nott...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Darren Lehmann embarks on a County Cricket chapter, and Toby attempts to pass on the flame to a new generation “We’re recording 60 years to the day since possibly the most one-sided match in first class cricket history: a victory by an innings and 851 runs." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'15): The strange beginnings of the super sopper “Does it just make a huge mess? That’s actual...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy receives a message from a listener, and Toby ponders whether cricket's efforts to reduce carbon emissions may have some unintended consequences "As a podcast host, it makes you feel very differently about the whole enterprise." FROM THE ARCHIVES (12'00): England's victory in the dark: Karachi 2000 "England would later celebrate in the dressing room with a chorus of “...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy plays fantasy cricket, and Toby comes across some retro technology on the train  "I went to take out my headphones, and then my ear was caught by the message coming out of his phone." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'15): The Canterbury Lime: Cricket's most famous tree "That particular rule is completely rational, but something of a shame." THE REVIEW (22'40): Herbert Farjeon's...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy donates his Cricketers to a good cause, and Toby ponders the Shakib al Hasan scandal. "There's a bandaged batsman sitting in hospital leafing through my old magazines." FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'54): Cricket in the poetry of Philip Larkin "'...an Odeon went past, a cooling tower, and someone running up to bowl...'" THE REVIEW (19'00): The Great Cricket Con (BBC Radio 4 /...

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy overhears a conversation about cricket discipline; Toby plays in a family grudge match "The pavilion had the most perfectly positioned loo." FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'00): When Left-Handers were in danger of being banned from the game "Most things you Google, you get pages and pages of results. For the Academy of Statistical Studies, you get just three hits." THE REVIEW...