The Last Wicket

Special guest David Paynter - founder of Payntr footwear brand and great-grandson of England Ashes Legend Eddie Paynter - joins us to chat about his cricketing heritage, his journey from player to entrepreneur, the challenges associated with running a cricket-themed business, and much more.  Links PAYNTR | Cricket Shoes, Golf Shoes, Trainers - Performance Multiplied PAYNTR™ (@payntr) • Instagram p...

Former India captain and current coach Mamatha Maben joins us for a chat about her playing career, coaching assignments with China, Bangladesh and now Karnataka, the evolution of Mithali Raj as leader, development of leadership within the younger crop of women cricketers, and player-journalist dynamics.  Also features some thoughts on the new IPL format and the Indian test squad for the Sri Lanka...

It is a no-guest episode, as hosts Benny and Mayank discuss the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup that resulted in yet another Indian win. We talk about what the tournament tells us about the future of men's cricket, if these World Cups have really helped young cricketers take a step up to the next level, the players we enjoyed watching, and the reasons why India are consistently good at t...

South African team physio Craig Govender joins in for a free-flowing chat on his work in both the domestic and national setup, his thoughts on modern techniques in fitness trainings, juggling individualized approaches for different formats of the game, and much more.  Links Craig Govender (@Craig_gov) / Twitter How New Zealand beat the heat in the UAE | Cricbuzz.com --- Send in a voice message: ht...

ESPNCricinfo USA correspondent Peter Della Penna joins us to discuss all things cricket in the United States. We explore the unique challenges the game faces, as well as possible ways cricket can make inroads among the American sporting public. Can cricket displace any of the existing big four sports in the country? Could any of the athletes among these sports be remolded to cricketers in a bid to...

We were joined by Saqib Ali, host of the Cricket with an Accent podcast to discuss our love of cricket - how we got into it, what we love about the game and what we dislike about it, how our Indian cricket fandom has evolved over the years, and what we hope to see in the future of the game.  Links Azhar caught and bowled Cricket with an Accent Podcast | a podcast by Saqib Ali (podbean.com) Saqib (...

Dr. Habib Noorbhai is back to discuss the paper he authored in 2020 - "Attending boys-only schools: Is it an incidental or a strategic contributing factor to South African cricket development and success?". We discuss the quintile system in South African schools and how it relates to wealth disparity, the stark difference between co-ed and boys-only schools in yielding future cricket capta...

Returning guest Dan Weston chats with The Last Wicket to give some perspective on what ails English cricket at the moment. We discuss the structure of county cricket, role of private schools in developing cricketers, the effect of limited overs success, the Azeem Rafiq saga and much more. Darren Stevens gets mentioned a lot. Links Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) / Twitter 'Stevo's gonna get ya&#...

Cricket history buff Abhishek Chopra joins The Last Wicket for a special episode on the historic 'Bodyline' series of 1932-33. We talk about how the epic Ashes series upended the cricket world, created tensions between Australia and England, and inspired one of the first known debates over the spirit of the game. More importantly, we revisit some of the lesser-known incidents and anecdotes...

Senior Sub-editor at CricInfo - Shashank Kishore joins The Last Wicket to talk coaching - specifically, the evolving role of coaching in international and franchise cricket. We talk about the balance of strategy inputs and man management, how we evaluate their performances, the challenges of coaching across formats, and of course the tenure of outgoing Indian men's coach Ravi Shastri. Follow S...

Former India and current Rajasthan Royals physiotherapist John Gloster joins us to share his thoughts on the evolution of fitness training in cricket over the last two decades, the pandemic's impact on athlete health, why sleep is the next frontier in body conditioning, and much more. Links How do batters train for the demands of T20? Rajasthan Royals physio John Gloster says recovery and spee...

Author Trinanjan Chakraborty joins The Last Wicket for a conversation about his book - "The Forgotten Sons: Untold Stories of Indian Cricket". We chat about our shared love of cricket nostalgia, and the impact of lesser known Indian cricketers from history which served to inspire Trinanjan to write the aforementioned book. The select group of yesteryear cricketers we discuss in this episod...

All Over Cricket's founder Jay Dansinghani joins The Last Wicket to chat about the associate teams who are making waves in the 2021 T20 World Cup. We talk unsatisfying formats, significance of Scotland and Namibia making it to the Super 12 stage, the disappointing performances from Ireland and Netherlands, and much more. Links Follow Jay Dansinghani on Twitter  All Over Cricket on Twitter All...

Ananya Upendran (Managing Editor, Women's CricZone) and Laura Jolly (Women's Cricket Editor, Cricket Australia) join us for a chat about the recently concluded tour of Australia by the Indian Women and what the performances say about both teams' prospects for the upcoming World Cup. We also talk about the participation of the Indian stars in the WBBL, the ongoing debate over 5-day test...

Former Australian cricketer Colin Miller joins us for a conversation about his professional career, the story behind his "colorful" persona, his coaching aspirations, and his thoughts on how cricket can break into the mainstream in the United States. Links Colin Miller profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos (espncricinfo.com) ------- Please answer our survey to...

Writer and digital presenter Anam Nadeem drops in to discuss the state of the game as Pakistan cricket faces another crisis. We explore the impacts of the withdrawals of the New Zealand and England squads from their tours to Pakistan, and what this means for the future of the game. We also talk about what current events mean for Afghanistan cricket, the MCC's announcement of adoption of gender...

Coach and former cricketer Malolan Rangarajan joins The Last Wicket podcast for a conversation about his work with the CPL-winning SKN Patriots, the importance of planning strategy before the start of a T20 season, his experiences with the Caribbean stars, the transition from player to coach, and much more. Links Malolan Rangarajan on Twitter Malolan's CricInfo profile ------- Please answer ou...

Returning guest Karthikeya Manchala joins us to talk about the nuances of T20 bowling as exhibited through the likes of Sunil Narine and Mustafizur Rahman, the value of wide yorkers, construction of death bowling and much more. Links Karthikeya on Twitter Sunil Narine - The King of T20 spin bowling - by Karthikeya Manchala - Caribbean Cricket News (substack.com) ------- Please answer our survey to...

Sports scientist Dr. Habib Noorbhai joins The Last Wicket gang for a chat on his PhD on the backlift technique, the unique training bat he helped develop, the future of biomechanics in cricket, and much more. Links Habib Noorbhai on Twitter Training bat with racquet shaped toe-end Kohli-Root-Smith comparison Use of coaching cricket bat aligned with long term athlete development Website The batting...

Australian radio show host and former cricketer Kieran "Beefy" Blake joins us for a chat about the current state of Australian cricket, the role sports can play in other areas of life, and his "365 Days of Sport" project which led to him being crowned as the official "World's Biggest Sports Fan".  Links 365 Days of Sport - Facebook page 365 Days of Sport - Instagram To...

The Last Wicket gang (sans Himanish) reflect on the dramatic finish to the Lord's game, and revisit other memorable instances in recent times where emotions got the better of calmer heads on a cricket field.  Links England collapse to a shock defeat - by Freehit - Freehit's Blog (substack.com) Free hits for no-balls would have stopped Jasprit Bumrah's attack on James Anderson (telegrap...

Former Sussex player Lewis Hatchett drops in to chat about his professional career, his Poland Syndrome diagnosis, the physical and mental challenges he had to face after an early retirement, and the current work he does with athletes in the areas of mindfulness and discovering inner purpose. Links Lewis Hatchett website Podcast Twitter Instagram YouTube Sport Yogi --- Send in a voice message: htt...

Host of the Sticky Wicket podcast and Trent Rockets content creator Toby Reynolds joins The Last Wicket to talk about the England-India test series and the immediate impact of the new Hundred competition.  Links Toby Reynolds on Twitter Sticky Wicket on Twitter Sticky Wicket on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/message Support this podcast: h...

Live cricket director and producer extraordinaire Hemant Buch joins The Last Wicket to talk about the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka by India, his career in television broadcasting, and the challenges faced by behind-the-scenes personnel in a post-COVID world.  Links Hemant Buch on Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/message Support this po...

Clive ( _vanillawallah ) is back to talk Pakistan cricket and T20....specifically Pakistan in T20 cricket. We talk about batting approaches, assigned roles in the playing XI, Misbah's impact on the team's performances, Pakistan's chances in the upcoming World T20 championship, and much more. Links Clive on Twitter Clive's article on Pakistan's T20 side --- Send in a voice messa...