The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 6 - Australia/New Zealand: Are the Australians unstoppable, again? Is that what's going on here? Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby consider this important question after Alyssa Healy's team hammered New Zealand in Sharjah. Go Ambassador cruising with Goochy, Aggers, Blowers and Alex Tudor from December 12-19! Pick up 10% off with finalword10 at checkout here - www.ambassa...

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 5 - England/South Africa: It was tougher than it looked. Chasing anything over a run-a-ball in this comp will be, and that's what South Africa set England at Sharjah. In the power play it looked like loads, but then the hyphenated pair sorted it out to give Heather Knight's side a second win. Cam Ponsonby is with Daniel Norcross for us every day of the tournament in the...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, we start by looking back at how Bangladesh went from destruction to a seat at cricket's top table. From there, the stories of two Queenslanders - a Slasher and a leggie. We finish with some cryptic fun that takes us back to Jamaica in 1995 where the Waughs were never better. Your Nerd Pledge numbers thi...

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 4 - India/Pakistan, West Indies/Scotland: What is it about India and Pakistan at World Cups? It went as predicted, with Harman's team bouncing back from their loss to the White Ferns. Later, it was the Windies' turn to get on the board after dropping their tournament opener. Over to Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby at Dubai Sports City who will take it away from there. S...

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 3 - Australia/Sri Lanka, England/Bangladesh: Not the most clinical performances from Australia nor England, but the favourites did enough to overcome Sri Lanka and Bangladesh respectively in their tournament-openers. It’s in Sharjah where Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby are with you tonight for their recap. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword...

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 2 - New Zealand/India, South Africa/West Indies: Well, well. India, the team everyone thought might give it a shake and challenge Australia have been hammered by New Zealand in the White Ferns' most significant World Cup victory in over a decade. Meanwhile, South Africa were just as ruthless in dispatching the Windies. There's plenty for Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby...

Women's T20 World Cup, Day 1 - Bangladesh/Scotland, Pakistan/Sri Lanka: A crucial opening night win in this World Cup for Pakistan’s women, seeing off the dangerous Sri Lanka. Earlier, Scotland did a lot right with the ball against Bangladesh but didn’t have enough with the bat. For the first of our daily eps, coming thick and fast every day from the UAE, it’s Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby! Sup...

Season 17, Episode 1: Is Hampshire but the first domino to fall? Now sold to the conglomerate that owns the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, county cricket could be set to change in ways that would've been barely believable a decade ago. It's the start of a very busy agenda that takes us around the World Test Championship, to domestic competitions near and far, and casts forward to the Women's T20 World...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 5th ODI, Bristol: We got there. Five matches, five results. This one could have fallen either way, with both teams walking the tightrope of imminent rain. It was another contest that went wildly one way or another. Sometimes bowlers looked unplayable, other times they looked unusable. But a flurry of boundaries decided it before a flurry of sleet. That's our final...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, after orbiting her at a distance for several months, Adam and Geoff spend some time with one of Daniel's favourites, Betty Snowball. Also this week, a tale of Scotland, a one-day match that is both famous but remembered in almost no detail, and an equally forgotten one-day champion. Your Nerd Pledge num...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 4th ODI, Lord's: Series level. What a spectacle. Rain first, shortened to 39 overs a side, then one of the most bizarre matches you will ever see. Explosive hitting, supreme fast bowling, 2023 callbacks, 2019 callbacks, 2013 callbacks, and more besides. Jofra Archer, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, all had their moments, at a ground where Austra...

Season 16, Episode 39: The Australian season begins, even as the English season continues to a chilly end. We’ve been busy with our TFW match and a book deadline - find out all about both. And everything else has been busy, with the county championship nearing its end, the 50-over silverware decided, Test matches around the world with another Ashwin special, and a lot more. Support the show with a...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 3rd ODI, Durham: We got a game! They said it would rain, but Chester-le-Street had sunshine in patches and we got most of the overs in. It was tough going against the local seamers early, but Steve Smith did his thing and Alex Carey saved the day again for Australia. Then it was over to England, where Will Jacks and Harry Brook had their own night out. Daniel Norc...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 2nd ODI, Headingley: No, there was no Daily for the 1st ODI. Sometimes, even Can't Stop Won't Stop is defeated by a deadline. But we're back on the horse for the second match, with Cameron Ponsonby joining Geoff in Leeds. Last time Alex Carey came here, he got a very hostile reception. This time, he showed them what's what, from a disastrous position. Like the fir...

Season 16, Episode 38: They form the most Final Word adjacent domestic team in the world, and after a long winless streak The Freaks have done it. Some silverware courtesy of the T20 Blast. Take that, Freak haters. Also this week, baseless news gets all the attention out of Afghanistan although the real news is worse. South Africa is the latest country to grapple with the ethics of playing a Talib...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 3rd T20, Manchester: It was a washout in Manchester: colour us surprised. But does that mean we won't record a Final Word Daily? Hell no! We still have to decide who now holds the T20 Ashes, and we have plenty to talk about ahead of the ODI series with new England captains, weird squad substitutions, and some reanimated corpses stumbling towards 2027. Matt Roller...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 2nd T20, Cardiff: Wales has not been a happy hunting ground for Australia, and it looked like that might change on a brisk night when Travis Head and Matt Short again got flying. The contest didn't end there though, with a returning Brydon Carse having a say before the influence of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, and a truly mad finish. Matt Roller joins Geoff Le...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, we heed the Pet Shop Boys with their good advice to Go West, with double answers from Australia's less populous seaboard. There we seek the answer to an endless question: was a certain person Long, Big, or both? And how far could he shotput the stomach of a sheep? Also this week, the size of the back of...

The 2024 England Australia Daily, 1st T20, Southampton: Travis Head has been on a different planet for the last year. When he's not pinging golden ducks, he's pinging record fifties and tons. So it was on a cold night in Southampton where other than Travioli, leg-spinners ruled. Matt Roller joins Geoff Lemon. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out Westfield Londo...

Season 16, Episode 37: With Australia back in the UK for a major white-ball tour, Adam and Geoff are together again in London. After a week in which Sri Lanka produced an epic Test win, England also have the major loss of Mark Wood injured for months. Quelle surprise. England also have a team for the Australia T20, a squad for their Pakistan tour, and a new Lions coach in Andrew Flintoff. We talk...

The 2024 England Sri Lanka Daily, The Oval Day 4: Pathum Nissanka enjoyed his finest moment as a Test opener, leading Sri Lanka to a stirring come-from-behind triumph. And so the post-mortems begin, with England finishing their red-ball summer with such a poor showing. Nobody better than Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsonby for that, coming to you from The Oval. Check out Westfield London and Stratfor...

The 2024 England Sri Lanka Daily, The Oval Day 3: The extent to which England have botched this deserves as much discussion as celebrating Sri Lanka for thrusting themselves into such a strong position - go you good things. Daniel Norcross and Cam Ponsbony are on the tools at The Oval to tell you the story and they do not miss. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Check...

The 2024 England Sri Lanka Daily, The Oval Day 2: Bad light, bad cricket, a big boy on debut and some offies from Chris Woakes. The day that was at The Oval, which Sri Lanka did well to get back into, with Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins who were together on the balcony. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out Westfield London and Stratford City. Download the app...

The 2024 England Sri Lanka Daily, The Oval Day 1: Ollie Pope had a shocker last week at Lord's but across the river to his dear old home ground, he was back to his best with a fine ton. It defined the opening exchanges of England's third and final Test against Sri Lanka, which was otherwise marred by autumnal rain and gloom. Cam Ponsonby has Daniel Norcross with him, who was calling the action on...

Season 16, Episode 36: A big week, beginning with the very sad and seemingly inevitable confirmation that Will Pucovski's career will end early after one Test for Australia. A different kind of retirement too, at the end of a very long career, as the consummate newsbreaker Malcolm Conn finishes up. Elsewhere, back to a topic that needs to come up more often: how can English grounds charge music-fe...