The Final Word Cricket Podcast

T20 World Cup Daily, 2024, Day 8.2: The heavyweight contest of Group B took place in Barbados, with England needing a win more badly than Australia giving the team's divergent fortunes in their opening matches. David Warner and Travis Head who made the early running, while Jos Buttler and Phil Salt almost matched them for speed. But the middle orders would decide the fate of this game. Meanwhile,...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2024, Day 8.1: Netherlands v South Africa, Bangladesh v Sri Lanka What an opening week of this tournament! The Dutch have a habit of knocking off South Africa in World Cups and they very nearly did it again on Long Island. Meanwhile, in Dallas on Friday night, another chapter was added to the fierce rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Adam Collins has Ben Jones with him....

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, we look at the point when a Marsh coincidence became a Marsh supremacy, before a wander back to one of the most unconvincing toffs to stumble over a Test cap for England. Skip forward some decades to meet the unlikely Danza Pacino Hyatt, discover the mystery of the Pearls Cup, and why not go modern with...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2024, Day 7: Canada v Ireland O Canada! A first T20 World Cup win for the Maple Leafers, defending 137 with class and skill at Eisenhower Park on Long Island. Adam Collins has Daniel Norcross with him to reflect on the second consecutive day where an associate nation has knocked off a full member. Bigger World Cups are Better World Cups. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at ...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2024, Day 6.2: Scotland v Namibia. While history was being made in Dallas, Geoff was with Steven Finn in Barbados watching the Scots eventually flex some muscle against an already muscular Namibia. The arm wrestle wavered either way before a final flat six decided the day. Let's go to the street outside Queen's Park Oval in Bridgetown to find out what happened. Support the sho...

T20 World Cup Daily: 2024, Day 6.1: USA v Pakistan Wow. What a game, what a victory. It took going to a Super Over but the Americans have produced the most stunning result against Pakistan in Dallas. Adam Collins checks in with Cam Ponsonby at the ground to discuss a massive victory for the co-hosts. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfield UK competition...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 5.2: Australia v Oman, Uganda v Papua New Guinea. The Australians finally get into action, but Oman are not about to let them do it easily. On a testing pitch in Barbados, a lot of testing takes place, and perhaps the catch of the tournament. Meanwhile in Guyana, Uganda's Cricket Cranes make history when they take on Papua New Guinea, and 43-year-old Frank Nsubuga has...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 5.1: India are away, thrashing Ireland on Long Island. But what's going on the New York pitch? It's just as much of a talking point as Rishabh Pant's return and the men in blue's fine work with the ball for Adam Collins and Daniel Norcross, who makes his first appearance of the World Cup. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfie...

Season 16, Episode 18: Coming to you from New York City! Or more specifically, Long Island. The ICC is hunting for US-born cricket converts, so we found a couple to sit under a tree in Eisenhower Park for a chat: US national panel umpire Bryan R. Caine, and sportswriter Mike Leboff. Also this week, another cricketer in hot water for gambling in a sport funded by gambling, and Nerd Pledge gives us...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 4: Scotland dominate the first ten overs of their game against England, and give themselves a real chance - but what effect will some badly timed rain have? Meanwhile, Afghanistan flexed their muscles against Uganda the previous night while Ben Jones discovered the paloma. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfield UK competitio...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 3: Time for a Super Over! That didn't take long. David Wiese was there in all disciplines for Namibia in the absurdly tight game against Oman. The next morning, welcome to New York, where Sri Lanka batted in concrete gumboots before South Africa did much the same. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfield UK competition: win gi...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 2: Join us in a Dallas diner for pancakes, and maybe an imminent upset? West Indies, the other co-host, had a challenge on their hands in their opening game, as Papua New Guinea were resolute with the bat thanks to Sese Bau, before a host of spinners and Kiplin Doriga's fine hands behind the stumps brought an opportunity to create a huge surprise. In next: Andre Russel...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 1: What. The. Absolute. Hell. The USA pulled out one of the great cricket turnarounds tonight, after Canada dominated the first innings of their World Cup opener. Aaron Jones and Aussie Gous produced the miracle after Jeremy Gordon's over for the record books. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfield UK competition: win gift v...

The T20 World Cup Daily, Day 0: Welcome to America! The Final Word hits Texas ahead of the opening game tomorrow. It’s time to head down to the cricket ground at Grand Prairie and check out what has been put in place, while the temperature rolls through a low swelter and the finishing touches are applied to the stadium. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the West...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, the argument has gone on long enough that it's time to finish it. Is a century plus a half century a milestone? Also this week, a reinterpreted Bannerman, a misunderstood basher, and a contender for the most freakish debut of all time. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week: 3.53 - Tim Vanderpump, Party Lia...

Season 16, Episode 17: India, the UK and the USA are all heading towards national elections, in the same year that the USA, England and India will all be prominent in cricket, starting with the gathering for the T20 World Cup. For that to arrive, the IPL had to finish, after a campaign as long as any election, and this time Mitchell Starc went from first gear to seventh with exactly the right timi...

Season 16, Episode 16: It has been quite the story. First, the revelation that France's cricket board was approving scorecards from domestic games with no evidence of ever existing. Then, blacklisting the entire national women's squad when those players asked for an investigation. The ICC says there is nothing to see here. As ever, there is a lot of money at stake. We speak to the France24 reporte...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, is this one of the most bogus games to get first-class status? Probably not in the top hundred if we're honest but it's funny anyway. Also, a great player's brief and bombastic return, another's fondest day, and the ease of resolving scheduling dilemmas when you have sufficient clout. Your Nerd Pledge n...

Book Club 6: Harry Ricketts - Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes The 1961 Ashes had it all, especially at Old Trafford. The ground where Jim Laker ran amok the previous time the Australians visited would be the scene of a staggering come-from-behind triumph under the bold leadership of Richie Benaud, spinning to win from out of the rough. Adam has Steve Cannane with him to interview Harry Ricketts,...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, how many things do you not know about Jim Laker? For us, plenty, including how close he came to turning out in the baggy green. Lara Killick asks about some rubbery figures, we head back to the early IPL, some forgotten T20 Blast, and the very beginning of Test cricket once again. Your Nerd Pledge numbe...

Season 16, Episode 15: Yes, we finally have our ad-free feed up and running, extra exciting in the same week as Adam claims to have watched The Greatest Round of County Cricket Ever. Wait for his documentary series on it in 10 years' time. Jofra Archer is tentatively back bowling snorters, there is civil unrest in Australian state cricket, and we finally figure out how the IPL works as Mitch Starc...

Season 16, Episode 14: After Australian cricket endured its worst moment in modern memory in 2018, the Sandpaper debacle, cameras were invited into the inner sanctum of the men’s dressing room for a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Five years on, they have returned for a third installment during last year’s World Test Championship and the Ashes that followed. The result is another engaging peek behind...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. Did Paul Nixon pen his own Wikipedia entry? Daniel Norcross reports, you decide. Our co-host has been busy too, getting Paul Collingwood to help tell the story of the less enjoyable half of that visit to Australia. Adam goes back to a memorable week in Galle, takes in Surrey challenging the touring Australians in...

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, a long backtrack to a much earlier episode where we tried to unravel the mystery of carrying one's bat for nought not out. Enter a multitude of Hearnes. Also, the man they called Stork, a forgotten career of coincidences, Winnie Mae's birthday, Pip Clark The Musical, and the fastest snorters that Braddl...

Season 16, Episode 13: With the Jimmy farewell in the air, was it the right move or wrong? Should it have happened three years earlier, or one year later? Let's get into it. Also this week, Monty does a Mal Meninga, the ECB continue towards selling up, the ICC continue selling out to the worst people in sport, the Dutch keep being sold short, Ireland's men and Pakistan's women put in performances...