The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Season 11, Ep 14: The women's Ashes Test match is about to start, so we were very fortunate to sit down for an hour with England's captain Heather Knight. A chat about leadership, development, and the wider world outside cricket. Also this week, Ireland's series win over the Windies, India's one-dayers in South Africa, and the last few bits of men's Ashes wash-up. Your Nerd Pledge number this week...

Season 11, Ep 13: It didn't seem like it would happen for years, but it happened quickly in the end. Virat Kohli is no longer India's captain in any format, resigning from the Test job after a hard-fought 2-1 loss in South Africa. He burned fiercely and for a long time, but perhaps in the end burned out. Harsha Bhogle has watched Kohli's life more closely than most, and joins us to help understand...

Season 11, Ep 12: While we were busy in Sydney, Test cricket was going off elsewhere. Bangladesh! Completed a magnificent win in New Zealand, which felt entirely more important than a less magnificent loss to follow. But the second match said farewell to Ross Taylor, after so many years as the core of the Kiwi order. Also, India are in the middle of a ding-dong battle in South Africa. And the wome...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. Hello, 2022! It begins as you might expect, with isolation and covid tests (as well as covid Tests). Does Adam have a strong argument for the greatest match ever played? Has Geoff unravelled a unique clue about David Clarence Boon? Let's go via Faisalabad, visit one of the greatest dashers, after starting w...

Season 11, Ep 11: And a happy new year. As we always do on December 31, The Final Word takes a look back at the year that was. Also, Australia won the Ashes. After England went down 3-0 after barely two days in Melbourne, we get into the thick of the troubles of the game in that country with the perceptive journalist Rory Dollard. Get your free Ashes mag from Wisden Cricket Monthly: pktmags.com/tf...

This is The Final Word Ashes Daily: Day 3 of the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Well that was quick! Hear about it all with Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon. Support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out previous shows at finalwordcricket.com   Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

This is The Final Word Ashes Daily: Day 2 of the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A day that started with drama and ended in drama, just one of those days in Ashes cricket. Hear about it all with Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon. You can support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnys...

This is The Final Word Ashes Daily: Day 1 of the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A cool and rainy day with some action in the middle. Hear about it all with Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon. You can support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out previous shows at finalwordcricket.com Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...

Season 11, Ep 10: Merry Christmas! As we love to do at this time of year, it's time to sit down for a long conversation with a much loved voice of the game. In years past we've had Jim Maxwell, Harsha Bhogle, and Mel Jones at Christmas, this year it's Michael Atherton. A voice of the game and a pen of the game after his years leading England through turbulent times. Get your free Ashes mag from Wi...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Adam is recording under a blanket with booster chills, but: can't stop, won't stop. Want to know the silver lining of an Ashes whitewash? The link between Rust Cohle and Gareth Batty? Or learn about the life and times of Syed Abid Ali? Here you go. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week: 3.54 - Luke...

Season 11, Ep 9: At last, at last, we're back together. Adam, Winnie and Rach have met up with Geoff in the City of Churches, and it feels good to be recording in the same room again. To add to the bonhomie, Ali Martin of the Guardian joins us to talk about England's precarious position heading into the Adelaide Test. Also, Virat Kohli gets punted as India's one-day captain, and Mohammed Rizwan co...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, a sequence of unfortunate timing with some of our numbers - but here's your proof that we don't mess with the spreadsheet. We cover a bit of Lord Gower, the all-round skills of Jolet Hartenhof, when someone was better than Bradman, and the propensity of cricketers to get on the darts. Also don't...

This is The Final Word Ashes Daily: Day 1 of the first Test at the Gabba. Safe to say that it was not England's day. Overcast skies, a bit of green in the pitch, and some fierce fast bowling from Australia's new captain. Hear about it all with Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon. You can support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword Check out previous shows at finalwordcricket.com Support the show: https:...

Season 11, Ep 8: Thank providence, this is our last pre-Ashes show. No more predictions and speculation. Except for this week. The teams, the tactics, the insecurities. Some Mariah Carey, some Happy Birthday Sachin, and a lot of time given to the ten wickets of Ajaz Patel. Plus, Tim Peach from the BBC joins the show to talk about the behind-the-scenes podcast he has spent a year making about the p...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, a partially hidden Marsh whose work we have never touched on before. Not Jack, Geoff, Rod, Mitchell or Shaun. Also, back to Betty Wilson and Una Paisley, a visit to Brisbane's combination Lord Mayor and pitch curator, and Wasim in the pub in Manchester. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week: 3.69 -...

Season 11, Ep 7: With a new COVID variant causing panic in the ranks, the ICC cancelled its Women's World Cup qualifier that was underway in Zimbabwe. But there will be no rescheduling, just the promotion of countries that already sit at the top of the tree. Andrew Nixon joins the show to explain how Thailand, in particular, have been dudded. Also this week: the WBBL final, Ashes selections, and N...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Daniel Norcross joins the show once again as Adam (read, Winnie) deals with jetlag, allowing the show to start with World War II and take a wintry perambulation through the fields of Daniel's imagination. We have some splendid parts of the story of Laurie Nash, the feats of two direct-hit special...

Season 11, Ep 6: There was one main story this week: another Australian captain resigning, claims and counterclaims, and a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation. We sit down with The Age's Daniel Brettig to find some more clarity in the tale. Also this week: Nerd Pledge is back, the WBBL finals, Amanda Wellington for Australia, the Shield, and a new chief exec at the ICC. Your Nerd Pledge num...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. Back from the hospital, stitched up and ready to run, here is the second part of our Revisits Only show to clean the slate before launching into the Australian summer. Adam is on a plane to Australia, Geoff will head to Brisbane shortly. And this episode was recorded before Tim Paine fell to an ill-advised...

Season 11, Ep 5: Few bigger weeks for the show to return: this was the week when Azeem Rafiq's testimony to a parliamentary hearing shook cricket in the UK, after years of him reporting racist conduct as a player at Yorkshire have been dismissed and covered up. It was an extraordinary moment of truth. The ramifications may be felt more widely than in one country. To take us through the story we ha...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. On ep 70, we planned to clear the decks and get through ever revisit in a BUMPER edition until Geoff had another bike accident before we had a chance to record part two. Don’t worry, he’s fine. Before that we did visit the dustbowl of Pune, returned the white-ball debuts of a couple of Aussie stars and re-l...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. On ep 69, it's time to follow the guidance of Missy Elliott: lay it down, flip it, and reverse it. We did consider doing the show backwards and forwards at the same time, but eventually went for the chronologically conventional. Still, given how much we enjoyed exploring some deep partnership data, more Nor...

T20 World Cup Daily: Day 11 South Africa-Bangladesh & Pakistan-Namibia. The Final Word Daily for the 2021 T20 World Cup from the UAE, with Adam Collins and Matt Roller from ESPNcricinfo.  A double header in Abu Dhabi. South Africa’s quicks went on the rampage against Bangladesh, securing an easy win and a net run rate boost. Then it was over to Pakistan, who exploded with the bat at just the right...

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. Today, time to head back to Los Angeles and work out what the airspace is used for. Also, did you ever hear about the game Acid Ninja, or when Betty Wilson cut sick, or the ways in which Ian Harvey is better than Wally Hammond? A less safe for work than usual Story Time, for a range of reasons. Your new Ner...

Pakistan-New Zealand. South Africa-West Indies. The Final Word Daily for the 2021 T20 World Cup from the UAE, with Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon. They’re top of the group and have seen off their two biggest rivals: Pakistan are on the surge. Meanwhile, new jobs for Aiden Markram make a difference for South Africa, but have the West Indies tanked? Low scores might become the norm of this World Cup,...