Reverse Swept Radio - a cricket podcast

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

Reverse Swept Radio 174: French cricket's ghost leagues, Liam Dawson stops trying, Sonny Ramadhin is stopped

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: French cricket levels up, and Liam Dawsons resigns from trying to play test cricket

"The Ghost Cricket Leagues of France - a superb title for anything, really."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'50): The Unstoppable Sonny Ramadhin is stopped

"His 588 deliveries over 98 overs remain the most balls bowled in a first-class innings."

THE REVIEW (21'20): Cricket's Greatest Game (2022)

"We need more people who find Trevor Bayliss sexy."

Recorded 1 April 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 173: an English leggie in Zimbabwe, the first tied test, and an insider account of Aus vs India

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy reports back from the Logan Cup, and Toby enjoys the small (and futile) parts of Sunday cricket

"Clearly the Reverse Swept Radio coffers will be extensive enough to fly me back to Australia every three weeks to record the podcast?"

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'00): the Tied Test between Australia and India, 1960

"Richie Benaud walked onto the outfield as Australia begins their chase, and sees clover flowers all over the outfield."

THE REVIEW (24'30): The Miracle Makers: Indian Cricket's Greatest Epic, by  Bharat Sundaresan with Gaurav Joshi (2023)

"It was on trend to hear that Justin Langer screams "Warrior! Warrior!" to Steve Smith in the nets."

Recorded 3 March 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 172: cricket under the bedclothes, trying to save a painting for the nation, and Warne at Hampshire

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Reflecting on the West Indian victory against Australia

"So I woke up last Sunday morning in a Gothic temple, as you do."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'50): Benjamin West's The Cricketers, and the battle to take the painting to the US

"One bat is being leant on like a walking stick, the other has been discarded on the floor."

THE REVIEW (21'55): Shane Warne: A Hampshire Love Story (BBC Radio Solent, hosted by Robbie James) (2023)

"If you're doing a radio show about Warne, generally you talk to the people who like him of course."

Recorded 4 February 2024