The Last Wicket

Freelance journalist and founder of She Talks Ball - Radha Lath Gupta joins The Last Wicket to break down the inaugural Women's Premier League. We talk about the historic occasion and resulting fan engagement throughout the tournament, the contrasting fortunes of the Indian players and the overseas stars, the lessons learned by rising domestic talents, what the future holds for the WPL, and mu...

Host Mayank is joined by Kartik Kannan (contributor at Cricket.com) to discuss former India fielding coach R Sridhar's recent book - Coaching Beyond. They discuss fascinating anecdotes from Sridhar, his impact on India's fielding during his tenure, the team-up with Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun, and what the book will be remembered for in the years to come. Links Kartik Kannan (@kartik_kann...

Assad Hasnain joins The Last Wicket to discuss Wasim Akram's new book - Sultan. We discuss if the book has had any impact on Akram's legacy and Pakistan cricket, the revelations from it - both surprising and unsurprising, what the dynamics between Akram and his contemporaries tells us about the challenges that the Pakistani team of that era had to overcome, both internal and external. Link...

Veteran writer and journalist Ayaz Memon joins The Last Wicket to talk about two legends of Indian cricket: Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni. We discuss the imprint they left on the teams they led, their journeys from humble beginnings to World Cup winning captains, the personal traits that set them apart and what their tenures can advise current and future captains of the Indian teams.  Links Cricketwallah...

Writer and story-teller CS Chiwanza joins host Mayank to discuss cricket in South Africa - the talent pool in the country, varying performances across formats, the role of the cricket administration in improving team performance, and the latest T20 league in South Africa. Links C. S Chiwanza (@CSChiwanza) / Twitter Stumped! | C. S Chiwanza | Substack --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters...

Cover Drive podcast's Assad Jaffer joins The Last Wicket hosts to talk Pakistan cricket. We spoke about Pakistan's recent struggles in test cricket, the rollercoaster experience that is being a Pakistan fan, the return of Sarfaraz Ahmed (and Shahid Afridi), and of course the epic duel between Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi. Links Assad (@CoverDriveCric) / Twitter Cover Drive Podcast - YouTube...

Daniel Beswick - Co-Founder of Emerging Cricket, and Digital and Editorial content contributor for the ICC - joins The Last Wicket to talk all things Under 19 Women's Cricket. We discuss why we should be excited about the first edition of the ongoing under 19 women's World Cup, the emerging cricketing talent in Indonesia and Rwanda, the participation of senior cricketers in the under 19 Wo...

Highly acclaimed international batting coach Toby Radford joins Mayank for a batting workshop to discuss his transition from player to coach, coaching approach specialized for youngsters compared to experienced hands, mixing net sessions with skills training, his work with the 2012 T20 World Cup winning West Indies team and much more.  Links Toby Radford (@TobyRadford1) / Twitter Toby Radford'...

Former Australian cricketer Shane Lee joins The Last Wicket to chat about his new podcast series "Lunch with Lee", the evolution of mental health awareness in cricket over the years, Australia's T20 woes and much more.  Links Shane Lee (@atlunchwithlee) / Twitter Welcome to Lunch with Lee SIX AND OUT- Can't Bowl Can't Throw - YouTube --- Send in a voice message: https://podcast...

The Last Wicket team is joined by the multi-talented Jamie Alter (journalist, writer, actor, YouTuber, anchor and so on) for an in-depth conversation on the structure of cricket in India. We discuss the pathways from clubs and academies to domestic teams, the structure of school cricket in various regions of the country, how the IPL has changed the landscape for budding cricketers, and so much mor...

Former player and fast bowling coach Ian Pont joins Mayank take a deep dive into the art of fast bowling and discuss the 4-tent peg approach that Pont pioneered, it's effect on speed and reducing the rate of injuries, and the evolution of technique in fast bowling. Pont also discusses his experience of working with all types of bowlers, ranging from Shoaib Akhtar to Harshal Patel, including hi...

Human Movement specialist and Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics - Dr. Paul Felton joins host Mayank for a freewheeling discussion on the role of biomechanics in cricket. Paul talks about how he got hooked into cricket, the difference in biomechanics between the men’s and women’s game, the acceptance of cricket biomechanics at the international level, and much more. Links The Cricket Biomechanist (@T...

ECB Level 3 Advanced Coach Josh Sivier joins host Mayank for a deep dive on all things related to wicket keeping. We discuss the importance of feet movement for keepers, grabbing takes down the leg side, what the best wicket keepers do on a consistent basis, and much more. Follow Josh on Twitter! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/message Support this p...

BBC-TMS and ABC broadcaster Prakash Wakankar joins The Last Wicket to share his thoughts on the future of the game as we know it, including the sustainability of specialist teams for multiple formats, the resulting impact on quality of the cricket itself, the future of ODIs, feasibility of a franchise-based test league, and much more.  Follow Prakash on Twitter. --- Send in a voice message: https:...

Indian cricket 'superfan' Johns Benny aka @CricCrazyJohns joined The Last Wicket pod to share his experience of watching cricket in the Caribbean recently. Along with co-host Mayank, Johns talks about the difference between watching cricket in India and watching the game abroad, interacting with players and other fans, and how the Indian team is shaping up ahead of the upcoming T20 World C...

Freelance cricket writer and broadcaster Gaurav Joshi joins host Mayank for a chat on his journalistic ethos, and what other sports can teach cricket. We also discuss what ails Indian test cricket at the moment, whether it's time for more youngsters to be groomed in the long format, key differences between Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid as coach, and of course what the pesky "Bazball" i...

Benny of The Last Wicket and Jay Dansinghani of All Over Cricket team up to chat with London-based lawyer and vice-captain of the Hong Kong women's cricket team - Yasmin Daswani. We discuss Yasmin's journey to become a cricketer, balancing law and her love for the game, the ongoing challenges faced by women in cricket, her platform "Associate Women in Cricket" among many other thin...

Sports agent and former Derbyshire captain Luke Sutton joins The Last Wicket to talk about his book - "Welcome to the Wonderful World of Wicket Keeping". We talk about the intricacies of wicket keeping, how it has evolved over the years, and the keepers who have redefined the role. We also discuss the role of a sports agent in modern cricket, as well as Luke's journey in dealing with m...

Rajan Shah (@momocricket) joins The Last Wicket to talk all things Nepal cricket. We discuss the structure of domestic cricket in Nepal, the case for longer format competitions, the scope for improved administration of the game, rising stars to look out for and much more. Links Rajan Shah (@momocricket) / Twitter Home - Momocricket --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh...

Amit Sinha (@RandomCricketP1) joins The Last Wicket to talk about his passion behind unearthing stories related to random cricket photos. We talk about how his understanding of the game has evolved through researching the stories, how teams are more strategic in their use of social media, his interaction with some of the rising stars of Indian cricket, and much more. Amit shares a lot of fascinati...

Returning guest Gurkirat Singh Gill joins The Last Wicket at the midway stage of IPL 2022 to discuss ongoing travails of the Indian cricketing stars - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. We share our thoughts on the calls for Kohli to take a break, if Rohit needs to step away from IPL captaincy, and if expectations need to be reevaluated for Jadeja the T20 cricketer. Also, we discuss ho...

Abhishek Mukherjee (Editor-in-Chief of Cricketnews.com) drops in to talk about a select group of cricketers whose international careers didn't quite pan out the way they were widely expected to. We spoke about Venkatesh Prasad, Nikhil Chopra, David Hussey, Vinod Kambli, Maninder Singh and Grame Hick among a few others. Links Abhishek Mukherjee on Twitter Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town: Indian a...

Cricket's own jack-of-all-trades (writer, analyst, podcaster, author, broadcaster, etc.) Jarrod Kimber joins The Last Wicket for a free-wheeling chat on his unconventional journey from amateur blogger to one of the more prominent voices in cricket media today. We talk about if his trajectory is replicable, the sustainability of freelance content creation in cricket, and if this content can bri...

Deputy Sports Editor at Scroll.in - Vinayakk Mohanarangan joins The Last Wicket to talk about the ongoing Women's World Cup in New Zealand and what it tells us about the talent and future of the women's game. We also touched upon India's performance, the role of social media engagement, and of course the pesky topic of a full-fledged Women's IPL. Links Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) / Twitt...

Host of the first established cricket podcast in Australia, The Cricket Library Podcast, and author of the new book - "For The Love Of Cricket: Haiku Poems Inspired By The Summer Game" - Matt Ellis joins The Last Wicket podcast to pay tribute to Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne, talk about the ongoing tour of Pakistan by the Australian team, and share how he fell in love with Australia's f...