The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Season 2, Ep 9: It's February 2016. Brendon McCullum is playing his last Test match, and decides to sign off with the world record for the fastest century of all time. Up to the front of the Titanic with him, where he and Steve Smith can decide who gets to play Kate Winslet. Meanwhile, Joe Burns goes long, and Neil Wagner produces one of his inimitable bouncer marathons. The Final Word from the second Test of Australia's tour of New Zealand.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 8: To end the 2015-16 summer, Australia head to New Zealand. With the one-dayers done it's time for the first Test at Wellington. Would it be defined by the bat? By the ball? No, by the umpire's arm, calling Doug Bracewell for a no-ball that wasn't, and reprieving Adam Voges who would go on to a double century. It was the beginning of the eventual move to no-ball automation via the third umpire. Also, another Fake Green Mamba, some Trent Boult fun at No.11, Khawaja purrs with the bat and goes flair in the field, an argument about 'strangling' and the worst dismissals in cricket, the best return catch we've ever seen, Voges went past Bradman, Tim Southee kept hitting sixes, and we were puzzled by the notion of a two-Test series. Innocent times.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 7: Reloading lost episodes from the early Final Word.In its second season in early 2016, The Final Word got spicy - it covered white-ball cricket. Having only been about Test matches to this date, Australia's tour of New Zealand for Brendon McCullum's farewell series was enough to make us change our style. The Big Bash was at its peak, the first WBBL had been played, the World T20 was approaching, Shane Watson captained his country again, Virat Kohli had another crazy Australian tour, and a young leg-spinner named Adam Zampa made an impression. Meanwhile, Shane Warne was on reality TV complaining about Steve Waugh.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 6: In January 2016, we spend a wet Sydney Test match thinking of songs involving rain rather than watching cricket. West Indies refuse to cook up a run chase, concentrating instead on making 300 in an innings, while James Pattinson gets clobbered by Carlos Braithwaite - remember the name. Nathan Lyon has to go to India, and of historic importance is the moment Steve O'Keefe gets out the glowsticks. Not to mention another major achievement: the week when Geoff wins Dan of the Day in Melbourne pub cricket.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 5: It's the end of 2015! Cue the streamers. Australia have just beaten West Indies at the MCG. Usman Khawaja is making bulk runs, but not as bulk as Adam Voges: averaging 542 against West Indies, moving towards 20 innings batted, averaging 86, over a thousand runs in half a year since debut. Could James Pattinson survive injury? Can Peter Siddle get back in the team? Can Peter Nevill not bat through an entire series? Is this our first tilt at Nathan Lyon passing Murali's 800 wickets? Mitchell Marsh is bowling heat, carrying the burden of being the only Mitchell and the only Marsh in the team. Then it's the inaugural TFW Best & Worst of the year.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 4: It's December 2015. West Indies have just been blown off Bellerive Oval as Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh pile on 449, within a whisker of the record for the biggest Australian partnership. We have more mad stats for Voges, who has bettered Mike Hussey's first ten Tests. Also doing their thing were some up-and-coming bowlers named James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. There was Wobby's World versus Warner's World, with Little Davey close to becoming Australian captain. And Grace Harris made the first Women's Big Bash ton.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 3: Reloading lost episodes from the early Final Word. Proof of concept. That's what it was all about in 2015, when Australia hosted New Zealand in Adelaide for the very first day-night Test. The pink Kookaburra survived, then prospered, in a contest that was suffocatingly close from start to finish. The bowling was hot, the batters had to survive, and an all-time umpiring mistake had an outsized influence. Peter Siddle, Mitchell Santner, and a couple of Marshes were prominent. It was over in three days and nights, but it started something new. We also had time to discuss a bit of Olympic archery, the lost chance of a seven-Test summer, some top-level condescension, and even back then, the gold standard for opponents who annoy supporters was Stuart Broad.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 2: In 2015, the deadest WACA track in history made Mitchell Johnson retire on the spot. Dave Warner belted a million while wearing a WWII moustache, then Ross Taylor went back before WWI to take down the ancient record of Reginald Tip Foster. Kane Williamson was perfect, Brian Lara was in touch with Usman Khawaja, and if Mitchell Starc really bowled 161 kilometres an hour, does that mean Tim Southee clocked 146? Also... oh Christ... of course they announced bringing back Shaun Marsh.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 2, Ep 1: To start their visit in 2015, New Zealand got first use of a Gabba pitch against a new-look Australian batting order, and fluffed it. That Test also marked the start of the first home season for The Final Word podcast, after its debut season during that year's Ashes: this was a new show designed to review each Test the day after it ended. Born and bred in Brisbane, John Harms and Cate McGregor joined the show for a local view, taking us back to their early days of the old Gabba and early Queensland rugby league.This season was originally recorded for the ABC.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Season 1, Ep 6: At the end of Australia's 2015 tour of England, after the one-day series to follow the Ashes, it was great to be joined by our friends Jesse Hogan from the Fairfax papers and Stephan Shemilt from the BBC. At the top of the order - I can't stand it, I know you planned it - are there shenanigans afoot with Jason Roy and Alex Hales? Or will Moeen Ali get a Test job ahead of both? John Wayne Hastings was in the right place at the right time to make telling contributions with bat and ball. Plus we innocently speculate about Australia's upcoming Test tour of Bangladesh.This season was originally recorded for the ABC - this is the extended edition, restoring removed material.Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Find more episodes at finalwordcricket.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices