

The Final Word Cricket Podcast
Adam Collins, Geoff Lemon
Cricket for everyone – your friendly guide to the world's strangest sport. Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins combine match analysis with irreverence, politics, interviews and history as they follow the game they love around the world. You can support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword.Get your big NordVPN discount: https://nordvpn.com/tfw
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 17, 2020 • 1h 26min
Exit Kevin Roberts, pursued by a bear
Season 8, Ep 14: That happened fast. At the start of the corona crisis, all looked rosy at Cricket Australia with the women winning the World Cup in front of a packed MCG and the men’s Test team getting back to the top of the world. But was this always destined to be the new CEO's fate given the baggage he brought to the role? And how did he misread the room so badly over the last couple of months? Chris Barrett, the senior news hound from the Sydney Morning Herald – who broke the news of the chief executive’s demise – joins The Final Word to work out what happened. On the same day, the great cricket archivist Robelinda2 was saved from an unjust copyright shutdown.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
11.07 – Gusey K
4.79 – Andrew Wilson
3.61 – Sean Barry & Damien McLean
2.70 – Christopher Weinberg & Matt Gaynor
3.93 – Kerry O’Brien
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Check out the latest copy of The Pinch Hitter here.
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 12, 2020 • 1h 34min
Commentary with Mark Nicholas - Part II
Season 8, Ep 13:Geoff is back with Adam for a little bit of Nerd Pledge before hopping into the second part of the extensive Calling the Shots interview with Mark Nicholas. The discussion this time focuses on the era where Mark was the front man for Channel Four’s innovative coverage before becoming a permanent member of the Nine team. He also gives his impression of how commentary has evolved since the India’s massive television presence changed the game forever.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
2.27 – Jon Tucker.
5.13 – Liam Dalton.
2.11 – Simon McInerney & Patrick Rodgers.
2.32 – Ravine Chandrapala, Samuel Therkelsen & Sam Littlejohn.
3.36 – Jessica Currie & Dane Hansted.
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Call in from around the world with SatPhoneShop.com
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Podcast Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 9, 2020 • 1h 37min
Commentary with Mark Nicholas - Part I
Season 8, Ep 12:Daniel Norcross steps in for Geoff this week, reflecting with Adam on the Calling the Shots documentary project they have been working on through the lockdown period. As part of that research, they have recorded a number of long interviews – none more detailed than their conversation with Mark Nicholas; too good not to release in full. The extensive chat, broken over two parts, begins with Mark’s childhood fascination with commentary before moving through his own varied and celebrated career behind the microphone across the cricketing world over the last 25 years.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
2.45 - David.
3.24 - Julian Campbell
6.40 - Alex Brown
2.39 - Glenn Shepherd & Byron Cooper-Fogarty
2.83 - Laura Daw
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Call in from around the world with SatPhoneShop.com
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Podcast Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 6, 2020 • 1h 23min
Story Time 5, with Jason Gillespie encore
This interview with Jason Gillespie, recorded on the Adelaide Oval boundary edge at the day after the Ashes Test in 2017, was a turning point for show. Until then, we would talk to the occasional guest but only ever briefly. Because this conversation coincided with a rain delay, and Dizzy didn’t fancy helping with the covers in the game where he was playing in, we kept the tape running. It was well worth it, touching on topics that normally wouldn’t have otherwise made the show. It was really well received at the time, so we made it the model for The Final Word ever since.
Enjoy.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
7.08 - Jeremy Brown
11.96 - Elia Andrews
1.68 - Andrew Turner
3.03 - James Scambler.
3.77 - Laksmi Govindasamy
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Podcast Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jun 3, 2020 • 1h 34min
CrickiLeaks
Season 8, Ep 11: The BCCI is fuming after some sensitive correspondence found its way to the Times of India newspaper. Things the BCCI don’t want you to Be See(ing) with your See(ing) Eye. What got leaked, and why are they mad? Plans for the T20 World Cup still haven’t been finalised after an ICC meeting got cancelled in the aftermath. The detectives are on the case. Want to know more? Join us in this darkened underground car park.
Also this week we’ll look at the WACA cracking it, the newly released Australian schedule and the likelihood of it going ahead, the odds of seeing South Africa in 2021, back to the 1920s to visit a man who could have been one of the greats, Happy Birthday Sachin, a review of cricketing doctors, and all the Nerd Pledge history you can handle. Ted Dexter freaks get ready.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
1.80 – Bernhard Sayer.
3.07 – Nicky Young.
3.82 – Marianne Webb.
3.85 – Joey McGahan & Cameron Allen.
2.05 – Craig McGowen & Tom.
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Podcast Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 29, 2020 • 1h 2min
Calling the Shots: On TV
This is Calling the Shots, a six-part documentary podcast with Adam Collins and Daniel Norcross telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Over the last two episodes, our attention was squarely on the development of radio commentary. Here, in part four, we shift gears to explore the television revolution in England, Australia and India.
To help tell that story, we have with us four guests.
Mark Nicholas, who for the last 25 years has been broadcasting international cricket around the world
Dan Waddell, prolific author and historian who wrote ‘And Welcome To The Highlights’
Jim Maxwell, who has called more than 300 Test Matches across 43 years.
And Harsha Bhogle, the definitive voice of Indian cricket.
Calling the Shots is produced in partnership with The Pinch Hitter, a fabulous new initiative from the same people who bring you The Nightwatchman. The digital mag comes out once a fortnight, chock-full of contributions from some of the best freelance writers in the world. It is being made on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis, with all financial contributions going back into commissioning more brilliant cricket writing. Subscribe at thenightwatchman.net.
Thanks to Jay Mueller at Bad Producer Productions for making this show possible. Calling the Shots is another proud member of the Bad Producer family. For more of their shows, jump on badproducerproductions.com.
And thank you to our partners. To subscribe to the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, visit www.wisdenalmanack.com/subscribe. The excellent 2020 edition is on sale now (including in audiobook!) at www.wisdenalmanack.com/2020.
Why not buy a new bat? Visit our friends Bear Cricket and daydream of the next season, whenever it comes. Our listeners get 10% off with the code CALLINGTHESHOTS at checkout - BearCricket.co.uk
To learn more about the Lord’s Taverners vital work in the community, visit www.lordstaverners.org.
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 26, 2020 • 1h 45min
The World Cup, One Year On
Season 8, Ep 10: It is one year since the start of the 2019 World Cup – the time of our cricketing lives. To mark the anniversary, we talk to a funny man we spent a lot of time with each Monday morning of the tournament, RadioX’s Toby Tarrant. Back in the present day, momentum continues to build for international cricket to return midyear and might even see Australia touring England again in September. Oh, and last week we hit ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS since moving to the Bad Producer Productions network. Thanks to all of you for being part of that remarkable ride.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
3.81 – Jack Quigley
3.06 – Patch Clapp & David Peterson
7.70 – Callum McLeod
6.18 – Chris Unwin
4.32 – Ryan Africa & Brendan Legg
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Get your Wisden Cricket Monthly discount at bit.ly/wcmfinal
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Podcast Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 22, 2020 • 1h 8min
Story Time 4, with Isa Guha encore
Our fourth encore edition, to enjoy through another socially-distanced weekend. Isa Guha is one of our favourite people in the game with one the best stories to tell as an acclaimed broadcaster and an outstanding England seamer, along with a PhD and a rich family background in India. We discussed all of this with her at Adelaide Oval back in January 2019.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
4.35 – Dink Wingleman
5.02 – Claire Daniel
4.16 – Jeames Withers
2.38 – Mark / Nicholas Tewson
1.89 – Andy Slee
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their brilliant sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at the purchase bar. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller, edited by Dave Collins and is part of the Bad Producer Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 20, 2020 • 1h 36min
Spit, sweat and Steve Waugh’s shrugs
Season 8, Ep 9: We shouldn’t, but we couldn’t help ourselves. Somehow we all keep getting sucked in by Shane Warne being an old man yelling at a cloud shaped like Steve Waugh. There are numbers though, and reality checks. On things that matter, we bring back our old friend Bharat Sundaresan to give us the detail on what the world’s problems will mean for India, the IPL and the BCCI.
Nerd Pledge returns along with Happy Birthday Sachin, then we get the lowdown on how the hell schools have kept teaching kids in Australia, thanks to a chat with devoted teacher and longtime Final Word supporter Matthew Beggs.
Your Nerd Pledge numbers are:
4.41 - Nick Beaver & Simon
1.84 - Anthony Bienak
4.07 - Ben White & Archie Hood
4.16 - Dave Brown & Dechlan Brennan
2.58 - Timothy O’Meara
Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.
Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword
Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com
Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au
Our friends at Future Talent can give you 15% off their sports cards with the code TheFinalWord at purchase. You can also win $300 worth of cards for your club by visiting futuretalent.com.au/competition
The Final Word is produced by Jay Mueller on the Bad Producer Network
Title track by Urthboy
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 14, 2020 • 1h 2min
Calling the Shots: Test Match Special
This is Calling the Shots, a six-part documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode three, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins take you on a helter-skelter journey through the second half of the 20th Century as we pick up the story in the 1950s with the launch of the most successful and enduring brand radio sport has ever produced: Test Match Special.
To help us tell that story, we have three guests.
Jonathan Agnew. the BBC's Cricket correspondent and voice of TMS for the last 29 years;
Vic Marks, former England spinner, the cricket correspondent for The Guardian and a summariser on the programme since 1984; and
Peter Baxter, who steered the ship with distinction between 1973 and 2009.
Calling the Shots is produced in partnership with The Pinch Hitter, a fabulous new initiative from the same people who bring you The Nightwatchman. The digital mag comes out once a fortnight, chock-full of contributions from some of the best freelance writers in the world. It is being made on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis, with all financial contributions going back into commissioning more brilliant cricket writing. Subscribe at thenightwatchman.net.
Thanks to Jay Mueller at Bad Producer Productions for making this show possible. Calling the Shots is another proud member of the Bad Producer family. For more of their shows, jump on badproducerproductions.com.
And thank you to our partners. To subscribe to the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, visit www.wisdenalmanack.com/subscribe. The excellent 2020 edition is on sale now (including in audiobook!) at www.wisdenalmanack.com/2020.
Why not buy a new bat? Visit our friends Bear Cricket and daydream of the next season, whenever it comes. Our listeners get 10% off with the code CALLINGTHESHOTS at checkout - BearCricket.co.uk
To learn more about the Lord’s Taverners vital work in the community, visit www.lordstaverners.org.
Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


