The Final Word Cricket Podcast

It’s Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history. This week, Bharat joins Geoff to realise how little they both know about Ethiopia, and to attempt a correction. Is there a cricket link? Of course there is. Also this week, hometown heroes, golden boys, injustices whose sting will never fade, and more than one significant dip in the pool. Your Nerd Pledge numbers for this week 6.60 - Terry...

Season 20, Episode 1: A new season brings new faces and fresh storylines. But it’s also a time to admire those who have been on the circuit for a long time, dedicating themselves summer after summer. Heading into his 17th professional season, a man who has done this with distinction for Middlesex is their big quick and standard-bearer, Toby Roland-Jones. A decade on from his magical hat-trick to w...

Season 19, Episode 39: It’s our season finale for the Australian cricket season of 2025/26, with a cracker of a Sheffield Shield final run and won over five days, and a new Australian central contract list moving well away from white-ball formats and investing everything in the extraordinary glut of 21 Tests between this August and the following July. Also this week, separate administrator madness...

Season 19, Episode 38: It’s impossible to avoid more investment in some players’ stories. One for us has been Essex and England seamer Sam Cook. Hs Test debut was a triumph for everyone who believes that hitting the same spot while nipping it around is worthy, regardless of the speed gun. He did so in all conditions for his county and banged down the Test door. That first game at Trent Bridge audi...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history. A fresh combo this week, as Daniel Norcross joins Geoff to discuss one of the least orthodox Nerd Pledges we’ve had - not in content, but in method of delivery. Also, how do you track down someone who has a more illustrious namesake? Your Nerd Pledge numbers for this week 50.00 - Kamal Mann 4.21 - Handsome Hammy Goodman and Glamorous Gary G...

Season 19, Episode 37: In a necessary two-part weekly show, the first dealt with Australian matters, and now Daniel Norcross joins Geoff to look at England’s supposed review of their Ashes disaster. Also this week, the BCCI released a schedule for next year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which has surprised everyone; Pakistan’s PSL is in trouble again, and Amelia Kerr is going up yet more gears. Suppor...

Season 19, Episode 36: Geoff and Adam are back together at last, after weeks of travel difficulty, and a huge news week means a two-part weekly show. Later this week will come the two-day meeting between Cricket Australia and the state associations to decide whether they should go ahead with trying to sell off the Big Bash League. Of course most involved have spent months positioning the conversat...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history. This week, the hope of Queensland and the spirit of Somerset, as we return to happier times for domestic cricket. A tale of a Lord’s final of Daniel Norcross’ youth is told with care, as is the career of England’s big boss when he was a big boy plundering runs. Later, an old friend has a clue in for Adam, which relates to yet another book h...

Season 19, Episode 35: It was on this day, 21 March 1996, that Dean Jones stepped out in front of his adoring MCG crowd to play against the Australian team that he was so unlucky not to be picked in for the World Cup. The century that followed, in most challenging of conditions, was a marker of just how good he had been since selectors dropped him. Two true believers who were there that afternoon,...

Season 19, Episode 34: It takes a bit to wear the Next Big Thing tag in English cricket, which is what Asa Tribe has quickly become. A breakout 2025 for Glamorgan and Jersey, with whom he’s played internationals since he was a teenager, saw him vaulted into an England Lions squad, which he made the most of rattling off a classy ton against a strong Australia A. Also earning franchise opportunities...

Season 19 Episode 33: Does anyone understand how players end up valued in auctions, like what we saw for The Hundred last week? Daniel Norcross has a crack at explaining it to Adam. They’re on more comfortable ground talking all things Shield and debating controversial dismissals. Later, will the BBL be privatised? Sounds like we’ll know by Easter. Which is when the county championship returns, wh...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history. This week, a detailed analysis of every Adam to turn out in a first class game, with the most interesting tale of them all the guy who played only once, yet had time to run into a Final Word fave. Speaking of them, a double from a former guest is featured by Daniel Norcross, who is with Adam this week in the co-host seat. To finish, The Gre...

Season 19 Episode 32: Three months from the start of the Women's T20 World Cup, there's nobody better to chart the rise of the women's game in the nine years since England last hosted a global tournament. Clare Connor's fingerprints are all over the transformation ; her ambition, in so many ways, now realised. She speaks with Adam about nearly two decades as managing director of the women's game a...

Season 19 Episode 31: Normal service resumes, kind of, with Geoff joining Adam fresh off a trip to Meredith for a news week headlined by Gulf air routes being shut down, and first-class cricket's first ever triple hat-trick. Plenty on the women's game, with Amelia Kerr setting records while West Indies players get dudded, as well as some boiled-frog World Cup aftermath and another big Shield round...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history. This week, the man who was Test captain but never knew – an emblem of his peculiar life, told wonderfully by Daniel Norcross. Adam finds an excuse to go back to a beautiful line on contemporary of Bradman who had the knack of stepping up when it mattered most. Later, some love for the long lost tour game, those played in Australia and some...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Final – India/New Zealand: It was an all-round display of near-perfection from an Indian team who were too strong, too skilled, and too smart for their opponents on the day that counted the most. Carrying the weight of 1.5bn supporters? No problem. Bharat Sundarsen joins Daniel Norcross. Get 15% off Step One men’s or women’s underwear at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.stepone.life/discoun...

Australia v India Women’s Test, 2026, Perth, Day 3: Alyssa Healy capped off a remarkable career with a final victory. The result was a foregone conclusion, but not before India let the Aussies know that they weren't for rolling over. Despite the respective retirements and results, the future looks bright for both sides. Bharat Sundaresan joins Daniel Norcross. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge a...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Final Preview – India/New Zealand: India face New Zealand in an ICC final for the third time since 2021 and will not only be desperate to make that a 2-1 scoreline, but to go some way towards shedding themselves of the memories of 2023 in this same stadium. Both teams are peaking in time for the big one. Can India’s superstars send 120,000 fans into raptures, or will New...

Australia v India Women’s Test, 2026, Perth, Day 2: Annabel Sutherland stood head and shoulders above the pack, literally and metaphorically, to not only take charge of the Tests and series but to prove herself as the most valuable player in the world at the present time. Daniel Norcross is joined by Bharat Sundaresan, who met more grannies and the Geraldton Women’s Team during the day. Support th...

Australia v India Women’s Test, 2026, Perth, Day 1: A rare Test Match between Australia and India’s Women’s teams and an even rarer outing for the pink ball saw wickets tumble throughout the day. Who’s on top? It’s hard to tell. Bharat Sundaresan joins Daniel Norcross. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Semi Finals, Day 25 – India/England: A wildly high-scoring semi at Mumbai finished the way we all expected it would, with the mighty men in blue booking their place in the Sunday decider, but not before a Bethell blinder. It's Daniel Norcross with Bharat Sundaresan. Get 15% off Step One men’s or women’s underwear at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.stepone.life/discount/TFW148⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Semi Finals, Day 24 – New Zealand/South Africa: South Africa went into this semi-final confidently, and rightfully, wearing the favourites tag. However, nobody could have predicted the fire and brimstone they had to face if they were to overcome the nice guys of international cricket. Fidel Fernando joins Adam Collins. Get 15% off Step One men’s or women’s underwear at ⁠...

Season 19 Episode 30: The superstar England newsbreaker Will Macpherson joins Adam at The Oval exactly a month before the county season begins, prompting consideration about what England might do in the remarkable event that they win a World Cup having so badly botched the Ashes. Also, potential shadow bans for Pakistani players, Alyssa Healy’s perfect ending, the Ranji Trophy Final, a prospective...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Super 8s, Day 23 – India/West Indies, South Africa/Zimbabwe: Sanju Samson repaid the faith and has belatedly set alight India’s World Cup campaign. It sets up a blockbuster semi-final with England in Mumbai, with last year’s epic Test series still fresh in the memory. We also bid farewell to tournament surprise packages, Zimbabwe. Fidel Fernando joins Daniel Norcross. Ge...

T20 World Cup Daily, 2026, Super 8s, Day 22 – Pakistan/Sri Lanka: Pakistan’s openers put on 176 and had their fans dreaming that the miracle semi-final place was more than a possibility, so what happened from there?  Dasun Shanuka happened. Unpacking a rollercoaster day is Bharat Sundaresan flying solo. Get 15% off Step One men’s or women’s underwear at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠uk.stepone.life/discount/TFW148⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...