The Top Order Cricket Podcast

In this episode of the show, we speak with Australian Cricket legend and current CSK batting coach Mike Hussey. Mike takes us from his early days battling against David in the backyard, right through his outstanding career as a player and now coach and commentator. He takes us on an amazing journey: from being dropped by WA to winning the Ashes, the World Cup and the IPL, and finishing his playing...

In this episode of the Top Order Podcast, we talk Test Championship, Caribbean Premier League, NZ's home summer and Binksy compares Raj to MS Dhoni in This Week in Cricket (15.00). We then deep dive into the recently concluded England v Pakistan Test series, including tributes to Jimmy Anderson's 600th Test wicket, Jos Buttler's plus/minus, Mohammad Rizwan, Dom Bess, Yasir Shah's field placement,...

In this episode, we speak with Black Caps speedster, Lockie Ferguson. We talk about Machineroad, the app he's developing with his brother that's designed to help aspiring cricketers as well as 'weekend wounders' measure their speeds and generate pitch maps. Then we move to Lockie's own career to discuss fast bowling, taking it easy on tailenders, injuries, the Black Caps fast bowling group, what P...

This week on the show we get some clarity on the scheduling of the Men's ICC T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, as well as the Women's 50-over World Cup. We discuss Ireland's win against England in the 3rd ODI, before unpacking the first England v Pakistan Test (12.10), which saw England sneak home courtesy of an outstanding partnership between Jos Buttler and the best beard-and-hair combo in the bu...

The cricket calendar is filling up again and in this episode the panel discuss potential T20 league clashes for both the women and the men, the impact of Covid on the CPL and IPL, plus the first two England/Ireland ODIs in This Week in Cricket. We then wrap up the England/West Indies Test series (16.20) before looking forward to the Pakistan tour (33.50) and our predictions for the three Tests. If...

With no guest this week, it's back to the banter, and finally there's plenty to talk about. We discuss the BBL, the IPL and the prospect of T20 cricket leagues all summer long. We ask what cricket has been like without fans, address reports about 'healthy conflict' between Gary Stead and Kane Williamson, Jofra Archer's bubble mistake and touch on a few highlights from the first two England v West...

In this episode, we welcome another international spinner to the show, Canterbury Cricket’s leading wicket-taker and Black Cap in all formats of the game, Todd Astle. Todd speaks openly about his early days as an opening batsman, the U-19 World Cup, his emergence as a spinner, the challenges and highlights of his international career to date, breaking records, World Cup heartbreak, red-ball retire...

In this episode of the show we speak with incumbent Black Caps Test spinner Ajaz Patel. You'll hear about his journey from Auckland age-group seamer to international spinner in a relatively short amount of time, the hard work he put in with Dipak Patel and others to make that happen, his move to Central Districts, his dream debut against Pakistan and how he navigates the variety of roles a spinner...

With the return of international cricket on the horizon, we discuss This Week in Cricket (24.00) before we're joined by ESPN Cricinfo's George Dobell to discuss the upcoming England v West Indies series. We talk the bubble, England's conservative selections, the West Indies pace attack and series predictions, plus we turn our attention to worrying times for county cricket despite the imminent retu...

We celebrate a half-century of episodes with a real treat. Jeetan Patel played almost 80 matches for New Zealand across all formats during a 20-year first-class career for Wellington and Warwickshire. If that’s not impressive enough for you, he was the leading wicket-taker across the domestic and international game in the 2010s - spinning his way to a mammoth 1075 wickets at an average of 29 with...

Dipak Patel had a first-class career spanning more than 20 years, including over a decade for Worcestershire before moving to NZ and playing 37 Tests and 75 ODIs for his adopted country. Perhaps best known for opening the bowling in the 1992 World Cup, Dipak repeated the dose in 1993 to help spin NZ to a rare Test victory against Australia. Since his playing days, Dipak stayed in the game as a coa...

In this episode of the show, we speak with one of England's greatest batsmen of the modern era and current England assistant coach, Graham Thorpe. Graham talks about scoring 100 on debut, learning to be a better player of pace bowling by studying others, his double-hundred in Christchurch that also featured Nathan Astle's memorable innings, the challenges of performing on the field when things are...

In a short aside from the interviews, we discuss the upcoming biosecure West Indies tour to England and how it might be a test run for getting international cricket up and running again. Then we respond to a listener question about the potential for Australia to host the IPL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neil Maxwell has had a life in cricket like no other. As a player, he represented Victoria, New South Wales, Canterbury, Australia A and his country of birth, Fiji. If that's not enough variety for you, off the field Neil has worked for New South Wales and New Zealand Cricket, he's a player agent for the likes of Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood to name a few, and was the...

This week on the podcast, we're all reunited in the same room once again and we celebrate with a wide-ranging chat about what international cricket might look like when it returns. We cover saliva, sweat, ball maintenance, Covid substitutes, the IPL, T20 World Cup and what it could mean for domestic cricket around the world. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please remember to subscri...

Rob Moody (aka robelinda2) is a hero to cricket fans all around the world. His archive entertains us at the best of times, but during the Covid-19 shutdowns, it has been an absolute lifesaver. We talk about Rob's favourite clips from his staggering collection, the recent Shane Warne/Steve Waugh controversy, recreating The 12th Man and dealing with trolls, before Rob makes Lippy's day by rememberin...

Shane Deitz joins the show to discuss his journey from the Sheffield Shield to Vanuatu Cricket, and what's next for one of the only live cricket destinations in the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. We chat about becoming an online sensation, the unique challenges faced by Vanuatu Cricket, cricket tourism, World Cup ambitions, seeing off the new ball for Darren Lehmann, keeping to Shaun Tait, hi...

In this episode, the panel speaks with current Black Caps' head coach Gary Stead. We chat about his impressive playing career, which included over 200 games for Canterbury and five Tests for New Zealand, plus Gary's love for Riccarton Cricket Club. We discuss the move into coaching from an early age, progressing to the highest level, first with the White Ferns and now in his current role with the...

This week on the show, the panel take a break from the interviews to discuss This Lockdown in Cricket, covering the NZ Cricket Awards, what international cricket might look like when it returns, the cancellation of The Hundred, Australia's contract list and Baldy's Sheffield Shield team of the year. (27.00)Then we return to a favourite segment: Cricketing Mt Rushmore, this time debating (heartily...

Wasim Khan’s cricketing career has taken a pathway of transitions. From being one of the first British-born Pakistanis to play professional county cricket in the UK (for Warwickshire), where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Dermot Reeve, Brian Lara and Allan Donald, to name but a few, he then became CEO of the cricketing charity Chance to Shine. After taking up the reins as CEO of Leicestersh...

In a golden era for Australian test cricket, Colin Miller was a standout in more ways than one. A stellar Shield career spanning more than a decade finally earned him an international breakthrough at the tender age of 34. But don’t worry, he more than made up for lost time, amassing 69 wickets in just 18 tests at a superb average of 26. Whether you’re a seamer or a spinner, that’s an impressive av...

On this episode of The Top Order Podcast, we speak with Joe Scuderi. Formerly from Ingham, North Queensland, Joe was a member of the inaugural intake at the Australian cricket academy, making an immediate impact on Shield cricket. At one point on the verge of international selection in the green and gold, he went on to have a successful career at first class level both in Australia and England, be...

In this bonus episode we speak with Andre Adams, Andre had a playing career that spanned almost 20 years. He took over 1000 wickets, represented the Black Caps in all three formats, played in the 2003 World Cup, joined the ICL and was a star of the English county cricket circuit. Once his playing days were over, Andre moved to coaching, where he spent time with Auckland before accepting his curren...

In this bonus episode, if you listen very carefully you can hear the Top Order boys pinching themselves throughout this awesome trip down memory lane with Barry Richards, one of the finest batsmen to ever play the game. In an era when South Africa were unable to play test cricket, Barry Richards dominated first-class attacks for over 10 years in both his native South Africa and the UK, scoring nea...

In this episode of the Top Order Podcast, we speak with former Black Cap Dion Nash. Across a 10-year international career, Dion took 150 international wickets for NZ in addition to a number of handy knocks with the bat. He captained his country in both Tests and ODIs, was involved in two World Cups and plenty of other memorable moments along the way. After his playing days ended, he served as a se...