The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Our fourth encore edition, to enjoy through another socially-distanced weekend. Isa Guha is one of our favourite people in the game with one the best stories to tell as an acclaimed broadcaster and an outstanding England seamer, along with a PhD and a rich family background in India. We discussed all of this with her at Adelaide Oval back in January 2019.   Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:   4.35 – D...

Season 8, Ep 9: We shouldn’t, but we couldn’t help ourselves. Somehow we all keep getting sucked in by Shane Warne being an old man yelling at a cloud shaped like Steve Waugh. There are numbers though, and reality checks. On things that matter, we bring back our old friend Bharat Sundaresan to give us the detail on what the world’s problems will mean for India, the IPL and the BCCI.   Nerd Pledge...

This is Calling the Shots, a six-part documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode three, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins take you on a helter-skelter journey through the second half of the 20th Century as we pick up the story in the 1950s with the launch of the most successful and enduring brand radio sport has ever produced: Test Match Speci...

Season 8, Ep 8: We've been wanting to speak to Megan Schutt on the pod for years. It was worth the wait. The world’s top-ranked seamer told us her story, from tough times in the schoolyard to reaching the top of the cricketing world and everything in between. She’s a gem. Also, in the news: Warnie’s mural and Monty’s couch - both welcome distractions as we try to work out what will be of this Engl...

Another encore edition for your weekend listening during lockdown. It was quite the mission getting up to visit Ian Chappell in early 2019, but it was absolutely worth it for this extensive chat about his life in cricket. The former Australian captain, and acclaimed writer and commentator on the game, truly has seen it all. He was a joy to interview.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers in this episode are:  ...

Season 8, Ep 7: More segments than a juicy Valencia orange this week. A new Statman chases the grandest cricket number of all. The Milk Round tests out new dairy abominations. Ever heard a man drink 1.8 litres of milk? Is this a cricket show or Who Dares Wins? Happy Birthday Sachin sees the Master back to doing what he does best. Nerd Pledge goes down a different tangent to usual.   Izzy Westbury...

This is Calling the Shots, a six-part documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode two, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins go right back to the origins of cricket broadcasting, to the very first commentaries between the wars when radio was the only way to keep up and television is a pipe dream.  To help us tell that story, we have David Frith, th...

Season 8, Ep 6: It’s quiz time. Official brain genius J. Liew joins us from the Guardian for a proper dive into an overflowing heap of Nerd Pledge numbers. Before that we’ve got Daniel Brettig from Cricinfo for an update on Cricket Australia’s problems with its relationships and its money bin. We’ve got cricket up and running in Vanuatu with the mighty Mele Bulls taking a title over the Powerhouse...

Another encore edition for your weekend listening during lockdown. And who better to return to than the patron saint of The Final Word? On the eve of last year’s World Cup, we spent some in Bristol with Glenn Maxwell taking stock of his life so far. Funny, generous, and thoughtful, this is a cricketer who everyone has watched, showing a side that not many people would have got to know. It was one...

Season 8, Ep 5: You thought cricket was safe in the south? Think again. CA is shutting down operations to avoid running out of cash. Questions and accusations abound. Are they broke yet? Will they stiff the players? Did they lose it all playing the stock market? We talk to newshound Peter Lalor to separate fact from misunderstanding.  Also: which of the Mighty Ducks actually deserved to play for T...

This is Calling the Shots, new documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode one, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins begin to explore what makes a great broadcaster, and how they bring us the big defining moments that stay with us forever. For that, they are joined by Ian Smith and Alison Mitchell, two superb commentators who have both been behind...

Season 8, Ep 4. With no cricket on, everyone in England watched replays of the Headingley Test over the weekend, so we look back at that day in our lives as well. Nathan Lyon has had to cancel a deal at Hampshire, and likes the idea of playing Virat Kohli in empty stadiums. Also this week, we talk to journalist Will Macpherson about how the current situation will hit English counties and the inter...

India's voice of cricket has a long relationship with Australia too, part of ABC radio since 1991. None of this happened by accident: Harsha Bhogle was the classic freelance pioneer, and still has the same attitude. For The Final Word 2018 Christmas special, Harsha settled  down for a long chat with Adam and Geoff about the hustle and grind, the need to improvise, and the story of how he turned it...

Season 8, Ep 3: The year of cricket ahead might look sparse, but the year before was one of the busiest. For 157 years the Wisden Almanack has been recording all things cricket, and the latest edition of the biggest small book in the game is out this week. As last year, we talk through the contents with editor Lawrence Booth.  Also on the show this week: Steve O’Keefe has to hang up his glowsticks...

Season 8, Episode 2: Nasser Hussain. He’s known for Karachi in the dark, for the toss at Brisbane, for Hansie’s leather jacket, so we talked about none of these things. For over an hour we sat down and talked about everything else: about the boy who played in India’s Chepauk stadium but went on to captain England, about the teenage leg-spinner who was forced to change arts, about the young hothead...

Season 8, Ep 1: That’s right, it’s time for a new Final Word season. A season in which very little cricket may be played, but much cricket will be played in our hearts. A season in which the real cricket will be the friends we make along the way.  Thanks so much to everyone who has joined in to support the show in the last week. We’ll keep doing it.  One of the best pastimes in isolation has been...

Season 7, Ep 24. With COVID-19 stopping the world of sport, Dr Peter Brukner is who you want to hear from: having been the doctor for Australia’s cricket and football teams, Olympic athletics and swimming squads, AFL and Premier League clubs. The doc joins The Final Word to give us the answers, and to tell us when those answers don’t exist.  Season 7, Ep 24: We’d also like you all to know that we’...

Season 7, Ep 23: World Cup finals do have that special sauce. A few years ago you could barely have assembled a dodgeball game out of the attendance at most women's international matches. This time they aimed to fill the MCG, and pretty well did. Alyssa Healy provided the fireworks, Katy Perry provided Firework. It was a night of joy. Geoff and Adam have covered a lot of those less celebrated game...

Season 7, Ep 22: The T20 World Cup pool (party) stage is done, and the usual suspects are through to the semi-finals. But the last two pool matches in Sydney have been rained out, and the semi-finals might be too. Geoff and Adam run the ruler over the Cup so far, the teams that have made it to the knockouts, and those who missed out. Also this week: Dan Norcross sends a double WWII update, Sunny M...

Season 7, Ep 21: It's Thai time! And the first bilingual Final Word. People have wondered how Thailand made it to the World Cup, and we've got the full story in English and in Thai, with three of the women who have been on the journey for over a decade, and the man who designed the program from day one. Sornnarin Tippoch, Nattakan Chantam and Naruemol Chaiwai are three of Thailand's longest-servin...

Season 7, Ep 20: Pardon the Caps Lock, but it's worth it. We've all been waiting for a long time, and now Winifred Mae Collins is with us thanks to some stellar work from Rachel. If you've ever wanted to hear a person newly suffused with the joy of parenthood be questioned by someone who is definitely not that, then your two hosts can supply your needs. Also this week, the Women's T20 World Cup is...

The Women's T20 World Cup is about to start, and we've been wanting to do a few extra things for the lovely people on our Patreon page who make our show possible. So we're combining those two things, sending some extras and some Easter eggs to the Patreon-only part of our site. If you're already part of it, or you want to be, listen on for the details in 7 minutes. Support the show: https://patreo...

Season 7, Ep 19: The Allan Border Medal really made some people mad this week, as David Warner snaffled it by one vote from Steve Smith. More cheerfully – they're from Tigerland. The mighty Bangladesh Tigers have won the kiddy World Cup, and we've got Bangladexpert correspondent Mohammad Isam on the phone from a Dhaka freeway to tell us what it means. There's also Naseem Shah's hat-trick, a WWII u...

Season 7, Ep 18: Ebony could have played a dozen sports. Cricket got her by chance. Now she's a popular commentator on Test Match Special, on the Surrey board, and is championing opportunities for black English kids in the game. She sits down with the Final Word for one of the most open and meaningful conversations we've had. Also this week: a Vinoo Mankad Appreciation Ten Minutes (bless the Under...

Season 7, Ep 17: Less than two years ago South Africa crushed Australia 3-1. Since then they've had a dire World Cup and consistent Test losses, while the national administration has fallen into chaos. With England having just polished off a series 1-3 in Johannesburg, the show this week features Neil Manthorp to explain the situation in the Rainbow Nation. Also Geoff is back from holiday, Daniel...