The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Bangladesh took on South Africa at the Oval in London on Day Four, with a massive crowd of supporters. We've been waiting a while for a close game, and we got one.  Not many people have tipped Bangladesh to go far in this tournament, but they might have a few more supporters now.  This episode of The World Cup Daily comes to you from Vauxhall Street.  Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinal...

Day 3 comes to you from the back of a car on the motorway from Bristol, after the first double header of the World Cup.  Australia had their first hit-out of the Cup against crowd favourites Afghanistan, while a Green Mamba arose for the contest, very short contest, in Cardiff between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.  Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

Pakistan and West Indies: two teams without a lot of backers, but that might change after this performance. Both needed to get their World Cup off to a good start.  Adam and Geoff can bring you the short and sweet version of a short and sweet game.  Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas...

England might have been nervous ahead of their home World Cup opener, but were trying not to show it as they headed to The Oval to face South Africa.  Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 6, Ep 1: At last. After years of distant admiration, the guiding star of the Final Word has visited earth. Glenn Maxwell, on the eve of a World Cup in which he's one of the brightest in the firmament, took a moment out to sit down with Adam and Geoff in a Bristol garden, take a breath, and take stock of his life so far. "You want to show people that you're a real person, and not just a 20-f...

Season 5, Ep 23: All ten World Cup captains gathered in a disused warehouse to announce their joint billing in a gritty new crime drama. Ben Stokes leapt around his own disused warehouse on an SAS cricket course. But the real attention this week went to Virat Kohli's musical crusade for clear skin, as he embarked on a public awareness campaign about the dangers of face spots. Geoff joins Adam in L...

Season 5, Ep 22: He had a dream start and some later struggles, but hasn't lost his head. Australia and Queensland opening batsman Matthew Renshaw is forthright about surviving the spotlight aged 20, filling gaps after the Cape Town debacle, and how to manage gastro in front of an international audience. Join in the Patreon community at patreon.com/thefinalword. Support the show: https://patreon.c...

Season 5, Ep 21: Well, maybe not quite. "It's very complex," he reckons. But Radio One's breakfast DJ will be doing his best to give airtime to the World Cup theme song. He speaks to the Final Word about cricket's chances of cutting through to a new audience in Britain, then we hear from Cricinfo's Daniel Brettig about his new book revealing the secret meeting between Don Bradman and Kerry Packer...

Season 5, Ep 20: Sexuality, drugs, gender politics and criminal convictions. It's been a heavy week in cricket. James Faulkner caused a stir when people thought he'd come out as gay. Australia's best women players became a casualty of negotiations over the men's team. County cricketer Alex Hepburn was sentenced to five years in prison, while England booted a player from their World Cup squad for d...

Season 5, Ep 19: Catalyst. Author. Agitator. Commentator. Antagonist. Ian Chappell led Australia during the Test team's most iconic era, that of Lillee and Thompson. He took on Don Bradman and blew up the establishment. He rejects being associated with on-field aggression, and his sense of compassion led him to some unexpected post-career political action. Never afraid to say exactly what's on his...

Season 5, Ep 18: The Big Three have launched their World Cup squads, and Geoff and Adam were in London for the England announcement. Cricket writer Vithushan Ehantharajah joins them to run the rule over that squad, including the nearly-there situation of Jofra Archer, and then sticks around for a game of Nerd Pledge. Then it's time to look at what Australia and India are planning. We promise other...

Season 5, Ep 17: Your hosts don't normally wear tuxedos to record – sorry to disappoint. But the black ties are on for the annual Wisden dinner to celebrate the launch of another mighty Almanack. For 156 years Wisden has been cricket's authority, and for the first of those years, editor Lawrence Booth sits down with Geoff and Adam to talk through the new issue, including the news that Geoff was aw...

Season 5, Ep 16: It's hard growing up in Gippsland with a country cricket legend for a dad. But Australian comedian Wil Anderson still adores the game regardless, a feeling that has only been strengthened by years in distant countries. Mainly because the timezones are good for cable. Wil joins the Final Word to talk about life on the road, keeping safe what you love, when cricket becomes an affair...

Season 5, Ep 15: Another day, another run-out of the non-striker causing worldwide debate. Geoff and Adam plough into the tale of the dismissal: where it comes from, how the Laws have evolved, and why it causes such a response, as well as Vinoo Mankad's place in history and how easily it gets obscured. Then we cover off the Sheffield Shield season, a year since the sandpaper saga, the historical v...

Season 5, Ep 14: Set off the ticker-tape parades. One-day cricket once again rules the land, as Australia's men complete a crazy comeback in India, and the women sweep New Zealand for the 20th year in a row. Adam and Geoff cover the 50-over action, World Cup ramifications, and whether there's space for batsmen returning from bans, as well as looking over Shane Warne's big ideas for the future from...

Season 5, Ep 13: In 2015 Urthboy released a song commemorating Phillip Hughes, in an unlikely crossover between cricket and hip-hop. A founding member of record label Elefant Traks and band The Herd, Urthboy has become one of Australia's most respected songwriters. His wide-ranging Final Word conversation looks at the crossover between sport and art: as conduits for grief, stages for coming of age...

Season 5, Ep 12: Ashes winner, World Cup champ, and lead broadcaster. Isa Guha has got a lot done in a short time. She sits down with Adam and Geoff to talk history, heritage, change and ambition, and the advantages of fast bowling at five-foot-one. We also cover off the Big Bash final, the Kusal Perera miracle, and who is on Mark Waugh's grudge list this week. Support the show: https://patreon.co...

Season 5, Ep 11: Canberra's inaugural Test is over, with some heartening performances for Australia against Sri Lanka, but what does it all mean? The Ashes are a long way away. In the meantime it's white-ball season, with the Australian men's team going to India and the women tackling New Zealand in the Rose Bowl. Oh, and England got smashed by the West Indies again. Thanks to our sponsor Kookabur...

Season 5, Ep 10: With Canberra about to become Australia's 11th venue for men's tests, Geoff and Adam visit the one forgotten cricket ground out of the other ten.  This week covers Australia's Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba, the WBBL final and a frankly bonkers West Indies win over England in Barbados.  Thanks to our sponsor Kookaburra Produced by Bad Producer Productions Support the show: ht...

Season 5, Ep 9: A special version of The Final Word recorded live at Fitzroy's Commercial Club Hotel on January 17, 2019. This episode features an oral history of Glenn Maxwell, an ode to Shaun Marsh and plenty of Q&A.  Thanks to Kookaburra.  Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

Season 5, Ep 8: After 71 years, India wins a Test series in Australia. Adam and Geoff are joined by writer Bharat Sundaresan to talk through how it happened and what it means.  Thanks to our sponsor Kookaburra Produced by Bad Producer Productions Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

Season 5, Ep 7: Geoff and Adam look back over the triumphs (and the odd disaster) of the year that was, as well as India's effort to go 2-1 up against Australia in the Boxing Day Test.  We'll have our first live recording of the Final Word Cricket Podcast on January 17, 2019 in Melbourne. Details to come.  Thanks for listening! Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!  Thanks to our sponsor Kookaburr...

Season 5, Ep 6: 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. This Christmas he settles 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 this into an extrao...

Season 5, Ep 5: India and Australia are 1-1, after a Perth Stadium pitch that was more WACA than the WACA. Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins review the bouncer barrage, some brilliant batting, and the chirp-off between Virat Kohli and Tim Paine. Then we look at cricket's new world of stats analysis that could reinvent the game, with Freddie Wilde and Ben Jones, the whiz-kids from CricViz. Thanks to our...

Season 5, Ep 4: A gripping end followed a spongy middle in the first Test of Australia's 2018-19 summer. Geoff and Adam take a close look at India's win and Australia's resistance, as well as investigating whether that was Peter Russell Clarke moonlighting in the Adelaide press box; the physics of tangled headphones; and how the hell to tackle a word spelled "bamBoosALL". Support the show: https:/...