Reverse Swept Radio - a cricket podcast

Reverse Swept Radio 184: farewell to the Gabba, a new documentary on Afghan's women, and a wallchart arrives

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: An announcement about the next chapter in the history of the Gabba (play Olympic cricket there, then knock it down); Andy's summer begins when his county wallchart arrives.

"My oldest daughter made a move for it, and while I am usually tolerant of her playing with my dearest property, in this case I had to say 'No, this is sacred stuff.'."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'45): The India vs Pakistan bowl out - Kingsmead Oval, September 2007, inaugural T20 World Cup

"It's a world cup match between two great rivals, but this whole bowl out has the air of a beer match."

THE REVIEW (18'45): Cricket's Forgotten Team (2025)

"When the Taliban took power, they had to find and destroy their scorebooks. No longer were these books a proud way of memorialising achievements of the past; they were incriminating documents that would lead to punishment."

Recorded 25 March 2025

Reverse Swept Radio 183: a cricketing kidnap, a delicious memoir, and a new father gets back into the game

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy's brother revives a promising career, and Toby wonders whether cricket and politics can ever be entirely separated.

"It may astonish you, but he's actually better than me."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'04): The Curious Tale of Billy Midwinter - The Kidnapped Cricketer

"WG Grace dragged him bodily out of the Lord's pavilion and over town to the Oval."

THE REVIEW (19'52): Cricket Calling by Roland Ryder (1995)

"Has the modern crowd got the skill to Sardine a Jardine?"

Recorded 16 Feb 2025

Reverse Swept Radio 182: Frank Worrell, bespoke girls' kit, and the last day of the 2010 County Championship

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Maiden's new female cricket kit, and encounters with the game in Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy

“I will absolutely be selling my daughters on the idea that cricket is the finest way to waste a large chunk of one's life, but it's far better when that message is being communicated by their peers ."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'10): The final day of the 2010 County Championship

“Notts were presented with an imitation trophy - which apparently was lost later that night in a nightclub"

THE REVIEW (19'30): The Documentary: Sir Frank Worrell (BBC World Service)

“Initially I thought we needed a bit more on Worrell - but eventually I realised that this lands him as a historical figure."

Recorded 19 Jan 2025

Reverse Swept Radio 181: innovative methods to dry cricket pitches, and Darren Lehmann's move to county cricket

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Darren Lehmann embarks on a County Cricket chapter, and Toby attempts to pass on the flame to a new generation

“We’re recording 60 years to the day since possibly the most one-sided match in first class cricket history: a victory by an innings and 851 runs."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'15): The strange beginnings of the super sopper

“Does it just make a huge mess? That’s actually a really good question."

THE REVIEW (20'10): Bowler’s Turn by Ian Peebles (1960)

“‘What matter if it doesn’t land quite in the right place? So long as it bursts like a bomb in a beehive. This is art for art’s sake.’"

Recorded 4 Dec 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 180: a touching message, green-washing cricket, Karachi 2000, and a Sandpapergate documentary

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy receives a message from a listener, and Toby ponders whether cricket's efforts to reduce carbon emissions may have some unintended consequences

"As a podcast host, it makes you feel very differently about the whole enterprise."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (12'00): England's victory in the dark: Karachi 2000

"England would later celebrate in the dressing room with a chorus of “Who let the dogs out?”,  Duncan Fletcher reportedly woofing along."

THE REVIEW (22'00): Crossing the Line (2018, SuperSport)

"Warne has the immortal line “Steve Smith is not Pablo Escobar.”"

Recorded 27 September 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 179: fantasy cricket, the Canterbury Lime, and a delightful slice of nostalgia

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy plays fantasy cricket, and Toby comes across some retro technology on the train 

"I went to take out my headphones, and then my ear was caught by the message coming out of his phone."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'15): The Canterbury Lime: Cricket's most famous tree

"That particular rule is completely rational, but something of a shame."

THE REVIEW (22'40): Herbert Farjeon's Cricket Bag, published 1944

"'Is there a grown man in the grandstand whose maturity isn't a little saddened that after all, he is just a grandstand man?"

Recorded 29 September 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 178: cricket in Larkin, an Indian cricket scam, and donating Cricketers to a good cause

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy donates his Cricketers to a good cause, and Toby ponders the Shakib al Hasan scandal.

"There's a bandaged batsman sitting in hospital leafing through my old magazines."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'54): Cricket in the poetry of Philip Larkin

"'...an Odeon went past, a cooling tower, and someone running up to bowl...'"

THE REVIEW (19'00): The Great Cricket Con (BBC Radio 4 / BBC Sounds), 2024

"When you step back, you're talking about organised crime, people smuggling..."

Recorded 6 September 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 177: banning left-handers, overhearing discipline in action, and Duncan Hamilton's latest book

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy overhears a conversation about cricket discipline; Toby plays in a family grudge match

"The pavilion had the most perfectly positioned loo."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'00): When Left-Handers were in danger of being banned from the game

"Most things you Google, you get pages and pages of results. For the Academy of Statistical Studies, you get just three hits."

THE REVIEW (21'50): One Long and Beautiful Summer: A Short Elegy for Red Ball Cricket by Duncan Hamilton (2020)

"At its best, it makes you think about how *you* watch cricket."

Recorded 12 August 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 176: a day in the Lord's pavilion, Derek Underwood's finest moment, and a T20 hitman

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy and Toby spend a day in the Lord's pavilion

"We can't let this go without talking about the picnic provision."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (08'30): Underwood triumphs in the nick of time - 5th Ashes Test at The Oval, 1968

"There were apparently knitting needles being used to dig holes for drainage."

THE REVIEW (19'20): Hitman for Hire: A Year in the Life of a Franchise Cricketer (2024)

"He wins the Pakistani T20 competition, and has ten minutes to celebrate the victory before he heads to the airport, so that he can see his family for four days before going to the IPL."

Recorded 28 June 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 175: the Lord's long room, Felix White's cricketing memoir, and the precursor to DLS

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy makes his debut in the Long Room, and Toby reflects on Jimmy Anderson's retirement

"Harry Brook came past joking about handwarmers. This was an April day much more winter than spring."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'28): The Precursor to DLS: the Average Run Rate Method

"Under the Average Run Rate Method, the target was 61. If DLS had been used, it would have been 131: more than double the number of runs required."

THE REVIEW (21'51): It's Always Sunny Somewhere by Felix White (2021)

"A particular gem was Ashley Giles reminiscing about his days in a Shell garage, and a rude customer making him think 'I'd better get the cricket going again'."

Recorded 20 May 2024