Reverse Swept Radio - a cricket podcast

RSR 75 - A Cricket Podcast

TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Nostalgia and a steam train at All Star Series Cricket, the utter brilliance of Kane Williamson, the frustrating impossibility of an India v Pakistan test series and the pain of a rained off cricket game. 

 

"One of the most inglorious and inept cricket sides I've ever played for . . . I say that only with a great deal of love and the statistics to back it up."

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'11): Cricket in the Somme

 

"There is something inherently optimistic in the act of practising; if you're practising, you're saying that "I'm going to play this again, I will be back in England and play this sport"." 

 

THE REVIEW (18'56): The Wrong Line - Andrew Ramsey

 

"You're being paid to generate content even when no real news is forthcoming."

 

 

 

Recorded on 15/11/2015

 

RSR 74 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Early season excitement in Australia, a breakthrough victory for Afghanistan, the Chris Cairns perjury trial and Gloucestershire consider becoming Bristol. 

"Guns being fired in the streets - you don't get that in St John's Wood."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'30): Sarah Taylor - a quiet cricket revolutionary

"He would obviously have said this after a long lunch with lots of claret."

THE REVIEW (19'15): Netherland - Joseph O'Neill

"It's the dodgy entrepreneurs who have always played a role in spreading the game."

Recorded on 1/11/2015

RSR 73 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Saluting two country cricket stalwarts, Brad Haddin's dignity in retirement, farewell to the WACA and missing out on county cricket. 

"A pitch as legendary as any in cricket."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'27): "It's absolute chaos" - Pitch Invasions in Cricket

"His bat, helmet and gloves were all stolen."

THE REVIEW (20'45): Death of a Gentleman

"They perfectly capture the culture of impunity at the top of the game."

THE INTERVIEW (30'18): Sam Collins (cricket journalist and co-director of Death of a Gentleman)

"We are framing a moral scandal."

Recorded on 13/9/2015

RSR 72 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Explaining cricket to a newcomer at Lord's, how the struggles of Australia's men have been an inadvertent boost for Australia's women, not mentioning the Ashes to Australians and the football season getting in the way.

"I wonder if there's any other sport that can be enjoyed as much even when you have no knowledge of what's going on."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (8'30): Indigenous Australian Cricket - Part 2: 1870 to the Present Day

"Jack Marsh proved that he could bowl his fastest ball with his arm straight by strapping two bits of wood to his arm when he bowled . . . They still called him for no balls."

THE REVIEW (20'07): Kim Hughes and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket - Christian Ryan

"Amongst the sadness, Hughes did still leave a special legacy."

Recorded on 15/8/2015

RSR 71 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Zimbabwe win their first ever T20 against India, Toby is won over by Guerilla Cricket, England's defeat at Lords was many things but it wasn't "shameful" and IPL corruption. 

"There was a bitter sense of entitlement to a lot of the coverage."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'49): Indigenous Australian Cricket - Part 1: The 1868 Aboriginal Tour of England

"Genuine spears were being thrown at him from a few metres away."

THE REVIEW (24'16): 5 Live Sports Special: The Art of Captaincy

"A fluke that had some thought behind it."

THE LAST WORD (32'32): To Edgbaston

"Obviously if we reversed the first two tests, we'd all be bouncing with confidence."

Recorded on 26/6/2015

RSR 70 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT : Ben Stokes' improbable 100, Worcestershire's no wicketkeeper experiment, Chanderpaul's dropping by text message and Craig Kieswetter's retirement. 

 

"Is Kool-Aid something that Ben Stokes does?"

 

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'32): The art of knocking in a cricket bat

 

"I'm going to tell you a little bit about delamination."

 

THE REVIEW (17'27): The Captain and the Bookmaker (BBC 4 Documentary)

 

" The great motivator but also a great manipulator."   

 

THE LAST WORD (22'37): England v New Zealand ODIs

 

"Two test series just feel really odd, really half-baked."

 

 

Recorded on 6/6/2015

RSR 69 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: A surprise fifty, the joys of after work cricket, the County Championship's impressive foreign legion and life without Peter Moores.

"On the basis that I'll never score a hundred, I really should have taken my helmet off."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (7'52): When Cricket and Music collide. 

"She must be the only person for whom Don Bradman is not a hero because of his cricketing prowess but because of his LP collection."

THE REVIEW (16'21): The Promise of Endless Summer

"Now all I can think is why old lad, why?"

THE INTERVIEW (22'52): Dennis Freedman of Dennis Does Cricket

"I don't see how you can pick someone based on performance but also pick someone based on race."

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

THE LAST WORD (38'15)

"I think there's a fantastic chance New Zealand will turn England over."

Recorded on 10/5/2015

RSR 68 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Stuck in traffic with a taxi driver who played for the Austrian cricket team, the surprising pleasures of a Bangladesh v Pakistan ODI series, the trials and tribulations of Andy's ball-by-ball commentary debut and remembering Richie Benaud. 

"I've had very few conversations with taxi drivers that could be described as revelatory."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (12'39): Eric Ravilious and the Wisden woodcut

"I think it's wonderful that the man who gave Wisden its front cover loved the village game."

THE REVIEW (21'11): The Little Wonder: The Remarkable History of Wisden - Robert Winder

"Winder shows that Wisden has always been about the joy of browsing."

THE DEBATE (29'50): Is James Anderson overrated? 

"There was this angry looking almost-teenager with a red streak through his hair."

Recorded on 19/4/2015

RSR 67 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: The brilliant viciousness of Wahab Riaz, loud Afghan fans in the rain, the uselessness of the quarter-finals and non-stories about Alistair Cook.

"It was an awful game of cricket. It poured with rain and the beer was too expensive."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'32): Cricket and the ANZAC Spirit

"Cricket was used as a military tactic."

THE REVIEW (23'15) : Twirlymen - Amol Rajan

"Next to spin bowling, the linear simplicity of medium and fast pace has, I contend, all the romance of genital warts."

THE DEBATE (32'03): Which of the players retiring after this World Cup will the game miss most?

"Afridi's a bit of a Flintoff character - his legend, his force of personality go way beyond the averages."

Recorded on 29/3/2015

RSR 66 - A Cricket Podcast

FIVE MINUTE FORTNIGHT: The success of the BBL, the rantings of KP and three wishes for the World Cup.

"You can't stop gadding around!"

FROM THE ARCHIVES (8'01): The Hong Kong Sixes

"Where have all the fielders gone?"

THE REVIEW (14'20): Fred Trueman - Chris Waters

"His Dad says "That's good enough for me, son."

THE INTERVIEW (21'29): Tim Wigmore

"It's so hard to get perspective when you're told every match is the biggest match ever - to take a step back has never been more important."

You can buy 2nd XI: Cricket in its Outposts here

THE DEBATE (37'34): Is it time to regulate the size of bats?

"It disappoints me that we're going down the track where cricketers are supposed to be big muscly men."

Recorded on 8/2/2015