The Top Order Cricket Podcast

What a rollercoaster few months it has been for the Australian men's team! Justin Langer reportedly lost the dressing room, their World Cup build up was awful, David Warner couldn't get a game at the IPL and then they go and win the T20 World Cup but only a week or so later Tim Paine resigns from the Test captaincy because of a sexting scandal. Never a dull moment. We give our thoughts on the way...

Test cricket is back (almost)! After a heavy diet of T20 cricket over the past couple of months, the Black Caps are in India to begin their defence of the World Test Championship mace. In unfamiliar conditions, there's a spin-heavy look to the New Zealand squad, but who will make the starting XI? How much will the Black Caps miss Devon Conway? India has rested half their side, including Rohit Shar...

Is T20 the most important format in the game today? Recorded just prior to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup, this two-part episode charts the evolution of T20 cricket from novelty or experimental format to the present day, when big-money franchise tournaments have become a major part of the cricketing calendar. Was Martin Crowe's Cricket Max ahead of its time? Has there ever been a better...

Is T20 the most important format in the game today? Recorded just prior to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup, this two-part episode charts the evolution of T20 cricket from novelty or experimental format to the present day, when big-money franchise tournaments have become a major part of the cricketing calendar. Was Martin Crowe's Cricket Max ahead of its time? Has there ever been a better...

The T20 World Cup ended with Australia being crowned the champions of the world as New Zealand were heartbroken again in another white-ball tournament. We re-live the emotions of the final and some incredible batting from Kane Williamson, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Did the toss decide the game? Could the Black Caps have done anything differently? Did anyone see Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazelw...

Keen listeners of the show might be looking for our discussion about the evolution of T20 cricket, but two brilliant semi-finals had us buzzing with excitement so we decided to jump on the mics again for this extra episode to look back at these great games and then look forward to the big dance. Emotions were running high, but Binksy remained gracious in defeat in the face of Lippy's celebrations...

The T20 World Cup is the focus again this week with the semi-finalists now confirmed after New Zealand's win against Afghanistan booked them a date against England to compete for a place in the big dance. On the other side of the draw, the only unbeaten side left in the tournament, Pakistan, will face a resurgent David Warner and an Australian team who could well be hitting form at exactly the rig...

Baldy has birds on the mind during this edition of the Test Cricket Hall of Fame, as we count down from 70 to 66. There's pigeons, peacocks, ducks and geese, but best of all, there's a Kiwi. We discuss why Australia hasn't produced more great Test allrounders, as well as the evolution of the flipper and some brilliant batters from South Africa, Pakistan and England - including one who might be a l...

It's another case of World Cup fever this week and there's plenty to talk about, despite Pakistan and England having a jump on the field so far. We start the show by reflecting on an outstanding performance by the Black Caps against India, in a game so crucial that many described it as a World Cup quarter-final. Was Daryl Mitchell's promotion a happy accident? Ish Sodhi was man of the match, but d...

There's some outrageous claims on this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame as we explore the careers of five fantastic batters ranked from 75 to 71. Is it better to occupy the crease or score your runs quickly? Does a great player have to be a great leader? Is it a good idea to meet your heroes? And did Binksy really say that Baldy has ranked the best English batter of all time at #73?...

The T20 World Cup has reached the Super 12 stage and there's been some cracking games already. We start with a shout out to Namibia and Scotland for their superb efforts during the group stage, before reminding ourselves that we've pretty much got every prediction wrong so far in the tournament. That hasn't mattered a lick, though, because the cricket has been fascinating and there's a huge week a...

The Ashes are still six weeks away, but the boys, particularly Baldy and Binksy, couldn't resist taking a brief detour away from the T20 World Cup to discuss the lay of the land leading into a series that always provides plenty of talking points. Will the English players have to quarantine? What grounds will the games be played at? Which spots are up for grabs in the Australian line up? Are we enj...

Katey Martin has represented the White Ferns nearly 200 times across an almost 18-year international career, including a rare Test match in 2003. We’ve heard her dulcet tones as part of the Spark Sport commentary team and through the stump mics, and she joined us last week from MIQ after the UK tour. In this candid chat, Katey took us into the White Ferns camp to discuss events both on and off the...

Eighteen months ago it was hard to imagine we'd have the final of the IPL and the opening games of a T20 World Cup within the same week, but in this new-normal world that's exactly what happened. We talk the excellent turnaround from CSK, led by Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni, who powered to victory via the bats of Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali, and an excellent campaign from the ful...

It's World Cup time, which also means it's preview time! The show starts with an epic Baldwin explainer, before we each select a team to discuss in more detail (no prizes for guessing who we choose). With our biases out of the way, Raj poses four big questions to the group: Which player/s are you most excited to watch? Who is your dark horse team to lift the trophy? Which team will underwhelm? And...

Niall O'Brien's international career spanned well past a decade, and included more than 100 ODIs, 30 T20Is and Ireland's first Test match in 2018. He's now a player agent and commentator working all around the world, and joined us from the UAE to discuss the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup and take a stroll down memory lane. We talk Ireland's chances and T20 opportunities on the biggest stage for sid...

It's the same old Top Order, but a new episode structure, with more regular programming heading your way. And it all starts with an old favourite, This Week in Cricket, where we go around the cricketing world to discuss what's caught our eye. The Ashes are on (hopefully), and England have named a nearly full-strength squad, but does Joe Root have enough support to get a positive result? It's busin...

The Hall of Fame is back, and in this episode we discuss two spinners with very different styles, a pair of seamers that made life very uncomfortable for batters and one of the best sweepers the game has ever seen. Raj highlights a clash with The Don, Lippy makes the case for consistent spinners to get more respect, Binksy re-lives Headingley 1981 and Baldy hands out the first award at 'The Toppie...

We said in one of our recent podcasts that it was a buzz to discover we’ve got listeners in places as diverse as Spain, Singapore, Nepal and El Salvador, and although the Test playing nations - sometimes a select few - tend to dominate the media, we wanted to shine a light on some of the other cricket going on around the world. To that end, we were joined by Daniel Beswick, one of the founding mem...

It's another instalment of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, and in this episode wicketkeeping and captaincy take centre stage. You'll hear Binksy more animated than ever before, while we discuss his cricketing hero in an attempt to split two great wicketkeepers (it's not even close, he tells us!). Raj is impressed by a whippy Australian, Baldy starts second-guessing himself and suggesting vers...

We were planning to take a pause of our This Week in Cricket episodes to dive into our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, until the Black Caps tour of Pakistan was abandoned just hours before the first ODI was scheduled to begin. Then, the morning after we'd talked through our initial reactions to that news, more stories broke - the upcoming England Men's and Women's tours to Pakistan have also been...

This week on the show we start by trying to make sense of the cancellation/forfeiture/postponement (??) of the 5th England v India Test. What was the result of the series? Does that matter? Was this all about the IPL? Is this current fixture list actually sustainable for the players? We also look back at what was an entertaining series to discuss the impressive contributions from Rohit Sharma and...

The New Zealand teams are back in action, there's drama in Pakistan and Shardul Thakur has become the world's greatest allrounder - it's been a busy week! We start the show by discussing the news that Pakistan coaches Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis have resigned from their roles only hours after the T20 World Cup squad was announced, before celebrating wins for both the White Ferns and the Black C...

The Top Order Podcast Hall of Fame returns! We get the time machine out this week to discuss four of the best from the post-war era, plus an Aussie speedster from the 2000s who fans from other countries loved to hate. Binksy shares stories from English cricket folklore, Baldy brings the stats and talks up a hometown hero, there's a spinner for Lippy to rave about and Raj gets so excited his shirt...

It's another jam-packed lockdown episode with plenty going on as we cast our eyes around the world to discuss the week that was and look ahead with excitement. Are we in a special era of fast bowling? Will Shaheen Shah Afridi become one of Pakistan's greats? Are highlights packages getting worse? What impact has The Hundred had on the women's game? How much fun are the commentators having at the C...