Reverse Swept Radio - a cricket podcast

Reverse Swept Radio 187: Ajit Agarkar's unlikely century, Andy's new mug, and Benaud's shoes

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy has a new mug - with a deep cricket backstory, and Toby plays an unconventional game of T20

"If at any point you see me, I'll likely be drinking or making tea."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'20): Ajit Agarkar's debut century - England vs India, Lord's, 2002

"Agarkar had recently returned from an Australian tour where he had been taunted as Bombay Duck after recording seven consecutive wicketless innings."

THE REVIEW (23'40): Richie Benaud's Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts (2024)

"A drunk Walter Robins, former all rounder and England selector, came into the dressing room and commanded England to play a certain way - and Peter May, to get rid of him, agreed."

Recorded 22 June 2025

Reverse Swept Radio 186: the annual RSR away day at Lord's, Alex Tudor's nightwatchman heroics, and reviewing Cape Summer

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy and Toby head to Lord's for the annual Reverse Swept Radio day in the Pavilion

"You gave me false advice with just the right amount of confidence to truly screw me."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'33): Alex Tudor's Nightwatchman Heroics - July 1999 

"Thorpe comes back to the dressing room, fresh from being abused by the crowd, to the abuse of his team-mates."

THE REVIEW (20'40): Cape Summer (2009)

"What part of the touring life would resonate? Well, there's a trip to the gold and uranium mine."

Recorded 1 June 2025

Reverse Swept Radio 185: the greatest English keeper, re-discovering memorabilia, and Stump Cricket

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy puzzles over a forgotten childhood poster, and Toby applauds Wisden taking the gloves off.

"Mind you he wasn't massive, so you could probably print him on A3."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (09'20): Stump Cricket, or Podex

"At its core this is an issue with the length of time you spent pulling out tree roots."

THE REVIEW (19'00): Godfrey Evans: A Biography by Christopher Sandford (1990)

"After getting hit by a car, Evans gets up, shrugs it off and walks off. And I thought 'this is a book I need to read.'"

Recorded 28 April 2025

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