Reverse Swept Radio - a cricket podcast

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

Reverse Swept Radio 171: Aus v Pak at the SCG; the story of the fourth stump; and cricket in South America

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy ponders the lot of the groundstaff of waterlogged British pitches; Toby reports back from day 1 of the SCG test

"You presumably need a super super blotter, when it comes to a flood."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'50): When Cricket Added a Fourth Stump: the innovations of Cricket Max

"This is a niche question: where do you take guard when you've got four stumps?"

THE REVIEW (22'40): Evita Burned Down our Pavilion: A Cricketing Odyssey through Latin America by James Coyne and Timothy Abraham (2021)

"Pablo Escobar's son was sent to an English school, where as a wicket keeper he would put a match under the bails, attached to a piece of thread, which he would pull to claim a bowled."

Recorded 9 January 2024

Reverse Swept Radio 170: a walk-out after one ball, Mark Butcher on the history of Black English cricketers, and the most miserable innings

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy becomes a Middlesex member, and Toby finds himself hopelessly out of his depth

"We have a running joke that our shirts are our best player. This has come back to bite us in the arse: bonus points for wearing the same shirt got us promoted up a division."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'10): The One Ball Walkout: Transvaal vs the Rest of South Africa, 3 April 1971

"We create so many assorted reasons for play to stop, that you do become slightly immune as a spectator..."

THE REVIEW (20'35): You Guys are History: The Story of England's Black Cricketers (2021)

"Phil DeFreitas talks about getting ready to bowl and thinking about the sniper threatened by The National Front."

Recorded 10 December 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 169: a summer without cricket, the finest Australian you’ve never heard of, and a new Harry Pearson book

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy reflects on a rare summer without cricket, and Toby enjoys Mark Ramprakash's insights into England's woeful World Cup

"To lose me and Sir Alastair in just a few weeks would be a lot for the nation to take."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (13'48): The Greatest Australian Cricketer you've never heard of: Greg Mail

"Perhaps the secret to his success is not being quite good enough."

THE REVIEW (26'18): First of the Summer Wine by Harry Pearson (2022)

"A breeder of canaries and pigeons, and a champion clog dancer, as a keeper he often purred 'Well bowled, Honey' from behind the stumps."

Recorded 5 November 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 168: New Zealanders in Bristol, Warne vs Dravid and a Bodyline radio play

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy makes a first visit to Nevil Road and Toby reflects on post-captaincy careers

"In my head, Misbah-ul-Haq had to go for it. In reality, he could have done it in singles."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (12'10): When Warne and Dravid met by the Solent

"He is eventually undone by legspin - but not by Warne."

THE REVIEW (22'10): The Englishman Abroad - BBC radio play by Christopher Douglas

"Much like that Australian top order, I might have had enough of Bodyline by this point."

Recorded 24 September 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 167: Cricket in Japan, cricket in a field, and cricket in a timeless test

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy plays cricket in a field in Kent, and Toby enjoys Afghanistan v Pakistan 

"The other great advantage: compared to a proper game, the wait for a post-match pint is much shorter."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (07'50): A potted history of cricket in Japan

"And then the penny dropped, and I realised that all along he had been talking about croquet, while I had been talking about cricket."

THE REVIEW (17'15): Edging Towards Darkness: The Story of the Last Timeless Test by John Lazenby

"We were disappointed to be robbed of the opportunity [to win], but at the end of the day I'm afraid few of us cared what happened."

Recorded 27 August 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 166: The Lord’s Hum, rediscovering a Bazball innings from a century ago, and reviewing Stumped the play

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: For the third episode in a row, Andy visits Lord's, and Abdullah Shafique pulls off an impossible catch

"Maybe short legs around the world are cursing Shafique for resetting expectations for what short legs can be."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (11'20): Ted Alletson's 189 in 1911

"Play restarted at 2:15 and Alletson was out at 2:55. In those forty minutes, he scored 142 runs."

THE REVIEW (21'40): Stumped (2022) by Shomit Dutta

"We've all played in games of cricket that don't really matter, but they do matter to us. And so it's extraordinary to watch a Nobel prize winner anxious about scoring runs in an amateur village game."

Recorded 23 July 2023 

Reverse Swept Radio 165: a delightful Twitter story, the ”most exciting cricket match”, and cricket historical fiction

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Andy visits Lord's again, and a vintage cricket story on Twitter

"This is the most awful team I have ever had, the batting is awful and the bowling, my god. I have not got a bowler. . . . If anyone would like to take on my job they can have it. . .  I hope it rains for the rest of the season."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'00): Fowler's Match: Eton vs Harrow, 1910

"In the whole history of cricket, there has been nothing more sensational" - The Times

THE REVIEW (19'15): Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace, by Charlie Connelly (2015)

"It'll be a while until the next episode of Reverse Swept Radio, while Andy and I set about writing a new series of historical fiction novels to plug this gap in cricket literature."

Recorded 30 May 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 164: Andy visits the Lord’s pavilion, Ian Botham loses his teeth, and a match fixing investigation on film

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Visiting the Lord's pavilion and Leicestershire win a remarkable game

"You can't really have everyone wandering around with pints."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (10'20): Ian Botham v Andy Roberts in 1974: teenage Botham loses his teeth but wins the match

"I spat out the last fragments of teeth, took a few sips of water, and let the 12th man assess the damage."

THE REVIEW (19'20): Caught Out: Crime, Corruption, Cricket (Netflix documentary)

“Sport is meant to be unscripted. It’s the unexpectedness that makes it special. If it’s scripted, it takes away everything that sport stands for.”

Recorded 9 April 2023

Reverse Swept Radio 163: ICC TV, pissed at the wicket, and unlocking T20s secrets

THE TEN MINUTE FORTNIGHT: Discovering ICC TV, and rediscovering The Nightwatchman

"Watching Zimbabwe is pure nostalgia for me: in Harare I made a very elegant four."

FROM THE ARCHIVES (09'10): The Curious Case of the end of Bobby Peel's Career

"Pissed at the wicket? Most probably. Did he piss on the wicket? Probably not."

THE REVIEW (19'50): Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, by Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde (2019)

"There's a theme which could almost be used by businesses as an organisational psychology piece."

Recorded 25 March 2023