“In terms of mental maturity, these are two batting line ups with a long way to go”

FROM THE ARCHIVES (8′20 onwards): Nasser Hussain and the 2002 Brisbane toss

“By the end of day one, all optimism has gone.”

THE REVIEW (17′10 onwards): The Nightwatchman, Wisden’s new quarterly

“Neither magazine nor book, but somewhere in between”

THE INTERVIEW (23′45 onwards): Nishant Joshi, editor of Alternative Cricket Almanac

“There’s nowhere else on earth that you can experience that kind of thing… except sometimes in the Big Bash League”

THE DEBATE (44′55 onwards): Can dropping yourself ever be a sign of true leadership?

“If Ricky Ponting came and played for my club side, it wouldn’t make us perform any better”

Recorded on 1/5/2013

“I challenge any cricket fan not to be excited by the sight of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting going out to bat together.”

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Wisden at 150

“Nowhere else in the world are you going to find the top scorers of the English public schools sitting side by side with the top scorers in the IPL.”

THE REVIEW: Pundits from Pakistan - Rahul Bhattacharya

“”Laxman poked, missed, bent over and generally responded like a man whom knives were being thrown at” - It’s genius.”

THE DEBATE: Is it possible to select a player on talent even when performance isn’t there?

“We risk descending into a massive argument about semantics.”

Recorded on 14/4/2013

“It’s been nice for Shane Shillingford.”

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The (pre-WW2) race for Test Cricket’s highest score

“Hammond and Bradman set their records through flair . . . Hutton took it through sheer attrition.”

THE REVIEW: Viv Richards - King of Cricket (documentary)

“He’s a guy worth eulogising”

THE DEBATE: Did Duncan Fletcher deserve his new contract as India coach?

“It’s a bit like the Lib Dems in the coalition. They keep saying “if we weren’t here, even worse things would happening.  You sort of wonder about that with Indian cricket and Duncan Fletcher.”

Recorded on 23/3/2013

(”You are basically rewarding mediocrity”)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A Brief History of New Zealand Cricket

(”I’m going to quote from Charles Darwin’s “The Voyage of the Beagle”")

THE REVIEW: Not Dark Yet - Mike Harfield

(”You get half way through an over and then there’s a discussion on the Falklands War”)

THE DEBATE: Does cricket needs to do more to address the issue of recreational drug use?

(”There’s always been an unwritten pact that the players do what they want as long as it doesn’t affect them on the field”)

Recorded on 9/3/2013

“I’ve never seen anything which is quite this bold and extraordinary”

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The curious tale of the International 20:20 Championship

“Having 3 bowl-outs in Leicestershire’s indoor cricket school must have been a fairly miserable start to this tournament”

THE REVIEW: The Chinaman - Shehan Karunatilaka

“Pradeep Matthews can bowl both left-handed and right-handed”

THE DEBATE: Was England women’s cricket team acting within the Spirit of Cricket in their game against West Indies?

“Commentators didn’t quite know what to say”

Recorded on 7/2/2013

“It was a fairly casual toss but still”

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Cricket in the Snow

“Gower went back to where his car was and there was a massive hole in the ice”

THE REVIEW: End of An Innings - Denis Compton

How a glass of whisky helped Compton to FA Cup final glory

THE INTERVIEW: Philip Brown, Cricket Photographer

“I thought I was going to take a nice picture of a monkey. Didn’t happen.”

THE DEBATE: “Sarah Taylor playing professional men’s cricket would be good for the women’s game.”

“Have you not taken a greater interest in dancing girls since T20 arrived?

Recorded on 19/1/2013

(TIP: Easiest to listen to us on ITunes, website can be slow)

THE 5 MINUTE YEAR: Why England not being number 1 any more is actually ok, how Pakistan were amazing but then barely got to play and how rain ruins lives.

(Including watching Darren Sammy getting rained on in Hove)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The boxing cricketers

(Freddy isn’t the first)

THE REVIEW: Glorious Summers and Discontents - Michael Atherton

(Atherton getting it right again and again)

THE DEBATE: “England fans should be optimistic about 2013″

(”It’s extraordinary how many times England fans are going to have to watch England play New Zealand”)

Recorded on 14/12/2012 and 23/12/2012 (don’t ask)

(Give the man a hug!)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Ricky Ponting in a nightclub and other off-field incidents which have changed careers

(Including a barmaid from Leicester and a certain pedalo)

THE REVIEW: Out of the Blue - Aakash Chopra

(Would you practice for 16 hours a day?)

THE INTERVIEW: Samir Chopra - writer of Cricinfo’s The Pitch, author of The Brave New Pitch and Professor of Philosophy.

(”The length of the encounter makes it such a fertile place for us to exercise our imagination”)

THE DEBATE: “The rise of the millionaire cricketer should be celebrated.”

Recorded on 2/12/2012

(When was the last time you saw a rugby player warm down with a quick net session?)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The curious tale of Mark Ravin Ramprakash.

(Nasser Hussain: “He was a world-class player - or should have been”)

THE REVIEW: Behind the Boundary - Graeme Wright

(With all the money they make through Coldplay and Take That concerts, it’s odd that Lancashire bother to play cricket at all)

THE INTERVIEW: Jon Hotten of The Old Batsman

(”50 over cricket should have ended with MS Dhoni’s six to win the World Cup for India”)

THE DEBATE: “Twitter enriches the cricket viewing experience.”

(”On the first day of the test, I read “Monty should have been picked” phrased in maybe 250 different ways”)

Recorded on 17/11/2012

(Is there a worse name than the Sydeny Sixers?)

From the archives: The eternal relationship between cricket and food.

(Why don’t players drink port before batting any more?)

The Review: “Sport and the British” Radio Show

(Are you a Hobbesian or Gracian?)

The Debate: “After an annus horribilis, England are in need of a dramatic rethink.”

(What’s an annus horribilis?)

Recorded on 27/10/2012

(Who needs the Olympics any way?)

From the Archives: The astonishing tale of Lashings CC

(Would you enjoy watching Lou Vincent score 243 against your club side?)

The Book Review: The Fast Men - David Frith

(”Small boys were forgiven for thinking that Spofforth had horns coming out of his head.”)

The Debate: “England have only themselves to blame for the Kevin Pietersen situation”

(Toby - “Genuine emotion, that’s what you tune in for!”)

Recorded on 13/8/2012

(Hamilton Masakadza is back. . . )

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A journey through the different breeds of number 11

(Devon Malcolm really could hit a cricket ball)

THE BOOK REVIEW: Rain Men - Marcus Berkmann

(Has village cricket ever sounded so painful?)

THE DEBATE: Should the ICC force India to adopt DRS?

Recorded on 29/6/2012

Reflections on Zimbabwe’s improbable tri-series triumph

Review of Marcus Berkmann’s Rain Men (has village cricket ever sounded so addictive and so painful?)

And debate over India’s fraught relationship with DRS

Recorded on 29/6/2012

Interview with Rohan Mascarenhas of Ducking Beamers (how twitter changed the world of blogging and much much more)

Debate - “A cricketer should never lose his temper on the field of play” (Toby - “Why don’t you go and watch Eastenders?)

The extraordinary renaissance of Marlon Samuels

The West Indies’ first ever test victory (barely a year after their first test . . .)

APOLOGIES - Some of this section was lost due to an entirely inexplicable glitch

Recorded on 1/6/2012

Interview with Oliver Brett (on the state of cricket journalism and more)

Review of Mihir Bose’s Cricket Voices (where even the the groundsmen get listened to)

The history of short leg (the wondrous tale of Eknath Solkar)

Raucous Debate - “Batting is about style over substance”

(Andy - “Ultimately cricket is all about watching Chanderpaul bat for 4 days

Recorded on 12/5/2012

Review of Cricinfo (how ball-by-ball commentary changed the world)

Raucous debate - “Should counties consider England when they sign overseas players?”

(Toby - “I think you’ve fundamentally misthought this”)

And why KP should talk less

Recorded on 14/4/2012

Remembering the debacle of Sabina Park 1998

Review of Jack Fingleton’s Cricket Crisis (Bodyline and all that)

Raucous debate over an American T20 League

Recorded on 17/3/2012

The pain of New Zealand and the Commonwealth Bank Series

Remembering Richie Benaud’s breakthrough game (the man could bowl!)

Review of Richie Benaud’s “Over but Not Out” (the man loves T20!)

Passionate debate over whether you need to have played Test cricket in order to write about it (A lot of head shaking from Toby)

Recorded on 25/2/2012

Review of Geoff Boycott’s autobiography (axe-grinding galore)

Afghanistan against Pakistan

And why the IPL auction is both insane and irritating

Recorded on 12/2/2012