The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Season 8, Ep 8: We've been wanting to speak to Megan Schutt on the pod for years. It was worth the wait. The world’s top-ranked seamer told us her story, from tough times in the schoolyard to reaching the top of the cricketing world and everything in between. She’s a gem. Also, in the news: Warnie’s mural and Monty’s couch - both welcome distractions as we try to work out what will be of this English summer. There’s happier news for Australia, with India now very much on track to visit later this year. Our Nerd Pledge numbers are:  5.66 – Michelle Garland 4.18 – Shane FitzGibbon 4.19 – Joe Lundy 2.84 – Michael Roder 2.37 – Mike Dunn 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 Learn more about the ZOLEO at zoleo.com 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

Another encore edition for your weekend listening during lockdown. It was quite the mission getting up to visit Ian Chappell in early 2019, but it was absolutely worth it for this extensive chat about his life in cricket. The former Australian captain, and acclaimed writer and commentator on the game, truly has seen it all. He was a joy to interview.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers in this episode are:   1.94 – Tom Stewart & Faraz Khan 3.60 – Nick O'Connell 3.30 – Alex Crampton Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.  Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword     Thanks to our friends at Future Talent. Grab 15% off their brilliant sports cards by dropping in TheFinalWord at the purchase bar.  Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au  Wisden Cricket Monthly discount is at bit.ly/wcmfinal  Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com  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

Season 8, Ep 7: More segments than a juicy Valencia orange this week. A new Statman chases the grandest cricket number of all. The Milk Round tests out new dairy abominations. Ever heard a man drink 1.8 litres of milk? Is this a cricket show or Who Dares Wins? Happy Birthday Sachin sees the Master back to doing what he does best. Nerd Pledge goes down a different tangent to usual.   Izzy Westbury joins the show to talk through English cricket cancelling The Hundred. Harbhajan Singh is chasing chemtrails. We’ll cover off the new Australian men’s and women’s contracts, and upheaval at Cricket Victoria. There’s everything you could want, all mixed into an audio heap.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers are:  2.13 – Laura Daw 2.61 – Patch Devereux Clapp 1.77 – Justin Gauder Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.  Why not buy a new bat? Visit our friends at BearCricket.co.uk and daydream of the next season, whenever it comes. Our listeners get 10% off with the code FINALWORD at checkout.   Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au  Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com  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

This is Calling the Shots, a six-part documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode two, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins go right back to the origins of cricket broadcasting, to the very first commentaries between the wars when radio was the only way to keep up and television is a pipe dream.  To help us tell that story, we have David Frith, the masterful Anglo-Australian historian and archivist, Jim Maxwell, the voice of cricket on the radio in Australia, and Peter Baxter, who spent four decades working as a producer and broadcaster on BBC’s Test Match Special 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. And to learn more about the Lord’s Taverners vital work in the community, take a look at 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

Season 8, Ep 6: It’s quiz time. Official brain genius J. Liew joins us from the Guardian for a proper dive into an overflowing heap of Nerd Pledge numbers. Before that we’ve got Daniel Brettig from Cricinfo for an update on Cricket Australia’s problems with its relationships and its money bin. We’ve got cricket up and running in Vanuatu with the mighty Mele Bulls taking a title over the Powerhouse Sharks. We’ve got the most special episode yet of Happy Birthday Sachin, a career farewell to Pakistan’s pioneering captain Sana Mir, the possibility of legalised ball tampering, the ethics and etiquette of when to share a Chupa Chup, and Pauly Shore setting up cricket’s own biodome. Our bumper Nerd Pledge round includes: 2.76 (from Slim Johns) 3.10 (Nick Dwyer) 2.13 (from Laura Daw) 2.36 (from Thilo Fob) 2.42 (from Mary Stevens) 1.05 (from Nick AMC) 2.25 (from Peta Dowling) 3.27 (from Tim Minchin, no, not that Tim Minchin) 2.17 (from Tim Andrews) 2.64 (from Clive Azavedo) Guess away. Our answers are in the episode. Sign up with a Nerd Pledge Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com 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

Another encore edition for your weekend listening during lockdown. And who better to return to than the patron saint of The Final Word? On the eve of last year’s World Cup, we spent some in Bristol with Glenn Maxwell taking stock of his life so far. Funny, generous, and thoughtful, this is a cricketer who everyone has watched, showing a side that not many people would have got to know. It was one of our most popular interviews.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers this week are:   7.12 – Joseph Brookshaw 1.02 – Kristian Karamfiles 3.76 – Seb Taylor Guess away. Our answers are in the episode.  Why not buy yourself a new bat? Pay a visit to our friends at bearcricket.co.uk and start daydreaming of the next season - whenever that comes. Our listeners receive 10% off by popping in the code FINALWORD at checkout.   Check out CBUS Super at cbussuper.com.au  Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com  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

Season 8, Ep 5: You thought cricket was safe in the south? Think again. CA is shutting down operations to avoid running out of cash. Questions and accusations abound. Are they broke yet? Will they stiff the players? Did they lose it all playing the stock market? We talk to newshound Peter Lalor to separate fact from misunderstanding.  Also: which of the Mighty Ducks actually deserved to play for Team USA? Will Glenn Maxwell captain Australia A in an unofficial Test against Steve Smith and company? Will the IPL take over the spot if the T20 World Cup leaves a vacancy? When can we watch a cricket match in Amsterdam? For an episode recorded on 4/20, we need to know.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers this week are:  2.63 – Pharsicle 6.19 – Joseph Brookshaw 3.62 – Matt Boland 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  Wisden Cricket Monthly discount is at bit.ly/wcmfinal  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

This is Calling the Shots, new documentary podcast telling the story of a century of cricket commentary. Welcome to episode one, where Daniel Norcross and Adam Collins begin to explore what makes a great broadcaster, and how they bring us the big defining moments that stay with us forever. For that, they are joined by Ian Smith and Alison Mitchell, two superb commentators who have both been behind the microphone calling some of the most celebrated moments in the modern history of the game.  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 the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for their support of Calling the Shots. To get the most out of the bible of the game, visit www.wisdenalmanack.com/subscribe. The excellent 2020 edition is on sale now (including in audiobook!) at www.wisdenalmanack.com/2020 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 if you are interested in having your brand partner with the show through the course of the series, please drop Adam a line. Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 8, Ep 4. With no cricket on, everyone in England watched replays of the Headingley Test over the weekend, so we look back at that day in our lives as well. Nathan Lyon has had to cancel a deal at Hampshire, and likes the idea of playing Virat Kohli in empty stadiums. Also this week, we talk to journalist Will Macpherson about how the current situation will hit English counties and the international season, and all countries in the Test Championship.  Winnie has started smiling. Yuvraj Singh is trying to do the same. The Nerd Pledge numbers are flowing in, and we do our best to answer them. Also this week, the STATMAN segment is back.  Our Nerd Pledge numbers this week are:  2.21 – Stephen Donohue, Sam Nemzer, & Thomas 2.07 – Harry Chapman 3.88 – Toby Miles) 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  Wisden Cricket Monthly discount is at bit.ly/wcmfinal  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

India's voice of cricket has a long relationship with Australia too, part of ABC radio since 1991. None of this happened by accident: Harsha Bhogle was the classic freelance pioneer, and still has the same attitude. For The Final Word 2018 Christmas special, Harsha settled  down for a long chat with Adam and Geoff about the hustle and grind, the need to improvise, and the story of how he turned it into an extraordinary life. This is the encore repeat of that interview.This is also the start of what eventually morphed into Story Time, our weekend show where we used Nerd Pledge numbers to journey through cricket history.Our Nerd Pledge numbers this show: 2.24 (Abhilash Singh) 2.41 (Sarah Vaile) Guess away. Our answers are in the episode. Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices