The Top Order Cricket Podcast (The Top Order Podcast)

In this episode of the show, we look back at the latest four games of the Super 8 stage at the Men's T20 World Cup, which saw India all but book a semi-final berth while all other sides fight for their tournament lives. We start the show by discussing Afghanistan's historic win against Australia. Captain Cummins got another hat trick, but it was first Gurbaz and Ibrahim and then Gulbadin who flexed their muscle and secured a famous victory. Was it a mistake to leave out Mitchell Starc? And could this win propel Afghanistan all the way to the title? From there we move to India's game against Bangladesh, which resulted in a fairly comfortable win and India putting one foot in the next round. There were positive signs for Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shivam Dube, wickets for Kuldeep Yadav and even positives for Bangladesh to take from the performance of Rishad Hossain throughout this tournament. Third up in our match review was South Africa's win against England. Quinton de Kock looked like he was batting on a different pitch than everyone else, but it was a game that went right down to the wire and looked like it could go either way when Ottniel Baartman was bowling full tosses and Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook were hitting them over the rope. In the fourth and final game covered, we discuss the impact of the West Indies' big win against the USA, and how it has set up a potential knockout game against South Africa in the final round of the Super 8. There's also praise for both Shai Hope and Darren Sammy as this comprehensive victory rounds out the show. We are planning to record regularly throughout the next phases of the tournament, so expect to be in your feed every few days through to the final match - our next show will be a preview of the semi-finals, on Tuesday night NZ time. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:50 Australia v Afghanistan - Gulbadin flexes his muscles 16:10 India v Bangladesh - positive signs for Rohit and Virat? 24:05 England v South Africa - South Africa win a close one AGAIN! 35:20 West Indies v USA - Run rate boost as Shai Hope goes boom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we look back at the T20 World Cup final at the MCG, which saw England add another white-ball trophy to their cabinet. Binksy takes us through the game-day experience, then we break down the key moments of the match, featuring Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi. In the second half of the episode, we bring India and New Zealand into the conversation to discuss a number of questions in the aftermath of this tournament: Are England the best all-format team in the world? Are they the greatest white-ball team of all-time? Do India and NZ need to rethink their T20 strategy? Have India underachieved? And is it time for the Black Caps to hit the reset button? We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss matches from all around the world, as well as our Hall of Fame series. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with Luke Wright, Dean Foxcroft and Jeet Raval, plus chats with Ajaz Patel, Sophie Devine, Dion Nash, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the Day 25 match between India and England. The home side are unbeaten, with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and co looking unstoppable so far in this tournament, but they face an England squad who came to India as one of the tournament favourites. England began like it's 2019 and for a while there Willey and Woakes had England fans believing they'd found the fun again. But all that is old is new again for Indian captain Rohit Sharma who put away the swashbuckling starts he's been treating us with to steer his side to 229. A total that proved just too much for England to compete with. In the second half it was all praise for Japsrit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami - two excellent spells left England with too big a mountain to climb. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Hall of Fame is back, and in this episode we discuss two spinners with very different styles, a pair of seamers that made life very uncomfortable for batters and one of the best sweepers the game has ever seen. Raj highlights a clash with The Don, Lippy makes the case for consistent spinners to get more respect, Binksy re-lives Headingley 1981 and Baldy hands out the first award at 'The Toppies'. Are any of this group ranked too low? Or are they lucky to be here? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to call us out via email or on social media to share your views - or give us some praise if we've got things spot on! SPOILER ALERT This episode features players from 80-76 in the following order: 80 - Bill O'Reilly 79 - Rangana Herath 78 - Makhaya Ntini 77 - Bob Willis 76 - Andy Flower For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. Of course, regular programming will continue. We'll be interspersing episodes revealing players with our This Week in Cricket shows and interviews as the IPL comes to a conclusion and we head towards the ICC T20 World Cup. And if you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Daniel Beswick from Emerging Cricket, Jarrod Kimber, Bharat Sundaresan and many more. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels(@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We love a World Cup at the Top Order Podcast and after a year’s delay, the 2021 Women’s ODI World Cup is about to begin. So to help us look ahead to the next month of action, we’re joined by contributing writer at Locker Room, Canterbury Magician and World Cup Operations Coordinator (among many other things!) Kristy Havill. How much should we read into the White Ferns' 4-1 ODI series win against India? Is it serious that teams could contest a game with only 9 fit players? Have the White Ferns settled on a starting XI? Is Amelia Kerr's incredible run of form a sign of things to come? Which teams will make the semi-finals? Who are the players to watch? And can anyone beat Australia? If you want to hear or read more from Kristy Havill, the link below is a great place to start: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/lockerroom/profile/Kristyhavill/posts. It includes her brave and brilliant story with Amelia Kerr, regular World Cup coverage and interviews with key players involved in the tournament. We'll be back in your feed again next week with a preview of the upcoming Australia v Pakistan Test series, a wrap of the second Black Caps v South Africa Test and plenty more cricket from around the world. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Georgia Wareham, Matt Henry, Mike Hussey, Frankie Mackay, Melinda Farrell, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of the show, we look ahead to one of the most anticipated Ashes series in a while, as the recently crowned World Test Champions look to become the first team to win a series against England in the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era. We start by discussing why this particular series feels different - and more exciting - than in recent years, before working our way through the big questions of the series. Who are the potential game-changers? Has Scott Boland done enough to be selected ahead of Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc? Can Travis Head maintain his red-hot form? After being a shining light of an otherwise disappointing Ashes series for England in 2021, do we expect a repeat performance from Mark Wood? What role will spin play? Will Zak Crawley last the series? Who will win and why? Plus Jonny Bairstow, Marnus Labuschagne, bold predictions and much more! We'll have plenty of Ashes coverage throughout the course of this series, with reviews of every Test match and hopefully some special guests along the way. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and our recent episodes (plus a few from the backlist) are available on YouTube for anyone who would like to watch along as you listen. You can also dip back into our conversations with special guests - including Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Luke Wright, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Daniel Brettig and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The boys are back together again to round up the cricketing week that was. There's high praise for BJ Watling after he announces he'll retire after the World Test Championship Final, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips get Black Caps contracts and we debate where that leaves Ajaz Patel's prospects on the international stage. Baldy takes us through an Australian summer schedule dominated by the men's and women's Ashes, the evergreen Darren Stevens and Sandpaper Gate get shout-outs, and should we start making bats from bamboo? We finish the show with an extended chat about the upcoming England v New Zealand Tests. Can the Black Caps find a spot for a spinner? Who will slot in at 7? Can England's batters secure themselves an Ashes spot? Will anyone make their Test debut? And, of course, who will win the series? Keep an eye out in the coming weeks as we build towards the World Test Championship final. We'll have crossover episodes with podcasts from around the world, and there's more interviews on the way as well, with Ken Rutherford the next in line. If you're a new listener to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been another busy week in the world of cricket and we start the show in Aotearoa to discuss the series of Conway and two impressive performances from the Black Caps. We praise Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham, discuss Kyle Jamieson's struggles for the first time in his international career and Baldy is left with more questions than answers when looking at this Australian T20 squad. As we move to the White Ferns v England ODI series, we ponder what changed from games 1-2 to game 3 and Lippy highlights the impressive debut of Brooke Halliday and a match-winning partnership as reason for optimism heading into the T20 fixtures despite a 2-1 series loss. We finish the New Zealand segment of the show with the Ford Trophy, where hundreds galore find Canterbury and Wellington in finals contention once again. After Raj's favourite noise, we head to Ahmedabad to debate the pitch and the ball, Binksy talks about bikinis and eventually we even talk about the cricket that was played during a Test that didn't last much longer than the podcast. Keep an eye on your feed over the coming days, as we'll have a few extra episodes this week, in which we discuss potential rule changes to our great game. If you enjoyed the show, one way you can support us is to check out http://manscaped.com/. As a listener of the show, you'll get 20% off + free shipping with the code: TOPORDER. Please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find us. And you're new to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, we continue our tour around the New Zealand provinces as Stu catches up with Canterbury Cricket wicketkeeper/batter Cam Fletcher. The show starts with some BazBall chat, before looking back at an impressive 12 months for Cam, which saw him called into the Black Caps Test squad in addition to a tour to India with NZ A. Cam talks about his experiences in the international environment, how his game has developed over the past few years and the 'finisher' role in T20 cricket. Stu also asks for some insight into Chad Bowes and Henry Shipley, tries to understand why everyone wants to beat Canterbury and there's even an East Coast Bays reference in there for good measure. Plenty more episodes on the way over the holiday season, with a Black Caps v Pakistan Test series preview coming soon, plus the boys are hoping to get together again to review the week that was in other parts of the world. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Tim Southee, Sophie Devine, Wasim Khan, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Ish Sodhi, Katey Martin, Shane Bond, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The cricket world was rocked this week by the news that Shane Warne had passed away at the age of 52. Since then, there's been an outpouring of tributes from family, friends, teammates, opponents and many others from all around the world. And, to be honest, it's hit us harder than we thought, considering three out of four of us spent most of his career cheering against him. So we thought the best way we could pay tribute was to make him an early entrant into our Test Cricket Hall of Fame and discuss what made him such an icon of the game. We talk about our first memories of the King of Spin, his impact on the art of legspin and the consistency he showed throughout his career. We discuss what made him such an outstanding bowler, ponder some unanswerable questions and generally marvel at the feats of one of the best cricketers we've ever seen. We'll be back in your feed in about 24 hours to discuss the Women's World Cup, India v Sri Lanka, Pakistan v Australia and more in our regular This Week in Cricket show. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - Ken Rutherford and Mike Hussey stand out as a couple of guests who shared stories about Shane Warne. We'd love to hear your own memories of Shane Warne bowl, so don't hesitate to contact us on social media or via email at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com and we'll happily share your stories next week. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, the boys look back at an entertaining ODI series between the Black Caps and Pakistan, as well as some news and notes from the New Zealand domestic circuit. There are questions about Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell and Finn Allen, as well as discussion around some of the newer members of the white-ball squads for the upcoming series against India. As we return closer to home, Stu highlights a former East Coast Bays representative who is enjoying an excellent domestic season, the Wellington Blaze break their own record and Baldy gives a shout out to a talented young Australian after an impressive debut. We'll be back in your feed in the coming days with the next episode of our Hall of Fame series. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our most recent conversation with Canterbury Kings keeper/batter Cam Fletcher, plus chats with Ish Sodhi, Dion Nash, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Katey Martin, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the a day of contrasts that saw Bangladesh take on Afghanistan and South Africa against Sri Lanka. In game one, Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz combined for 6 wickets as Bangladesh restricted Afghanistan to 156 all out. The second match saw 754 runs across both innings, as hundreds to Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram - his 49-ball effort breaking a men's World Cup record - helped South Africa to a record-breaking, and match-winning 428-5. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the second episode of our 2022 journey around the New Zealand domestic provinces, we speak to Jeet Raval, fresh off leading the Northern Brave to a Super Smash title in 2021/22. Jeet and Stu discuss the ND preseason, look back at Jeet's time with the Black Caps and examine the NZ domestic scene as a platform for developing players for international level. And with the Plunket Shield set to begin next week, Jeet takes us behind the scenes for a closer look at the Northern squad both on and off the field, and outlines the team's goals for the upcoming season. Keep an eye out for plenty more episodes in the coming weeks - we're planning to catch up with a number of cricketers and coaches from around the New Zealand domestic scene. You'll also hear our thoughts on the Men's T20 World Cup throughout the tournament, plus more instalments of our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, which has now reached the top 10. We'd really appreciate it if you take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - including this one - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our conversations with the likes of Shane Bond, Ajaz Patel, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Jarrod Kimber, Katey Martin and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions, guest suggestions or your predictions for the T20 World Cup, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or via any of our social channels. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Jamie, Baldy and Stu kick off the IPL 2025 coverage by previewing the fortunes of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. We start with a Baldy explainer, and a quick chat about the impact of the mega auction, before moving straight into the team previews. We discuss what excites us about our chosen teams, whether that's particular players or team storylines, and whether they'll be in title contention come the business end of the tournament. First up is KKR, in which Binksy asks why they aren't favourites with the betting agencies, highlights the importance of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine again, as well as the talented Indian bowling core featuring the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora. There's also a word on Ajinkya Rahane taking over as captain. Next is Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which Stu gets excited about songs, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, the power-packed batting lineup and bowling reinforcements, before asking whether this team can go one better in 2025. For the Rajasthan Royals, the absence of Jos Buttler is the question on our minds. Without him and others, they look weaker and the betting agencies have written them off. But can Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and co. make those odds look silly when the winners medals are handed out at the end of May? The Mumbai Indians are up fourth, and Baldy proceeds with caution when discussing their favouritism with the bookmakers. Will the star-studded batting lineup featuring Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya and friends deliver in 2025? Or will the absence of Jasprit Bumrah - for how long? - be too difficult to overcome with the ball in hand? To round out part one of our preview, Jamie takes a look at CSK, highlighting the plethora of options their allrounder-packed squad provides them. What role will Rachin Ravindra play? Will MS Dhoni continue his six-hitting exploits? And when the team does settle on a best XI, will it be strong enough to take them to the final? We'll be back in your feed again at the end of the week with the second episode of our IPL 2025 Preview. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 4:20 Impact of mega-auction on overseas fans 7:00 Kolkata Knight Riders 14:05 Sunrisers Hyderabad 21:30 Rajasthan Royals 28:50 Mumbai Indians 37:30 Chennai Super Kings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we discuss the Black Caps postponed tour to Australia and what might have been had the tour gone ahead. We debate which players had their flights cancelled, whether Colin de Grandhomme's return to form in the Super Smash and Ford Trophy will be enough to return him to the international stage, and highlight two moments of absolute genius from Amelia Kerr. As the show continues, Baldy takes a look to the future by introducing us to a potential star at the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, before we review South Africa's highly entertaining Test series victory over India. There were disputes, disrepute, retirements and, best of all, three quality matches. Who will succeed Virat Kohli as Indian Test captain? How worried should NZ be about this South African side? And how good is Keegan Petersen? We'll be back in your feed later this week for an in-depth look at The Ashes, but in the meantime please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. If you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes - including our latest with rising star Rachin Ravindra. There are also conversations with history-maker Ajaz Patel, Mike Hussey, Graham Thorpe, Katey Martin, Bharat Sundaresan, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And check out our Hall of Fame series, in which we countdown the 100 greatest Men's Test cricketers of all time. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’ve only gone and released an impromptu Cricketmas wrap up of England and Pakistan's epic 3-0 series and misquoted Christmas lyrics in an all-time low for TTOP! (You can tell our usual wordsmith didn't write the show notes for this one...) Bazball/Stokesball continues apace and we at TTOP can barely keep up. Binksy and Baldy have done their best to keep abreast of all the goings on in Pakistan as England move to 9-1 under Stokes/McCullum. Harry Brook, the Ahmeds (Abrar and Rehan) get a rap in this segment, as well as the underrated England bowling attack, and we pay tribute to the retiring Azhar Ali. To Australia we go in the second half of the show, for the blink-and-you'll-miss-it first Test between the Australians and the Proteas at the Gabba. Was the wicket dangerously under-par? Was it good bowling or poor batting? Or was it all three? The Goldilocks analogy gets a run early doors as we dissect the shortest of Tests and look forward to Melbourne on Boxing Day. Could Australia really do the unthinkable and drop Scott Boland for the second Test? Spin fans might not like Baldy's tongue-in-cheek solution. We’ll be back again soon to wrap up the Boxing Day Tests from around the world. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversation with Abdullah Haider previewing the upcoming New Zealand in Pakistan Test series starting on December 26th. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the Day 30 match between Afghanistan and the Netherlands, which saw Afghanistan win their third consecutive game to keep their semi-final dreams alive. Baldy and Stu discuss the lack of close games throughout the tournament, unforced errors from the Netherlands and the unsung heroes of Afghanistan's campaign - Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi. There's also talk about the big weekend ahead, with New Zealand's game against Pakistan shaping up as a potential quarterfinal and the verbal jousting between Australia and England about to play out on the field. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our most recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we look back at another busy week at IPL 2023, the white-ball series between the Black Caps and Pakistan, and discuss reports that The Hundred might be coming to an end in the not-so-distant future. Right when we thought the IPL playoff picture was becoming clearer, Punjab beat CSK in a thriller and the Mumbai Indians came from the clouds to beat Rajasthan thanks to Tim David and his long levers. Then LSG followed up their mammoth 257 with 108, which RCB and particularly Virat Kohli enjoyed quite a lot. KL Rahul got injured, Devon Conway remained awesome, Harry Brook watched a lot of videos of himself, Mitchell Marsh listened to the podcast, Kyle Mayers hit it to the moon and MS Dhoni is still hitting sixes - just another week at the IPL. Over in Pakistan, Daryl Mitchell has emerged as the front-runner for Kane Williamson's number-three spot in the Black Caps' ODI squad thanks to back-to-back centuries, Mark Chapman's historic T20 series encouraged the selectors to change his return ticket home, but it's been the home side who has had the better week - thanks in large part to the Mumbai Cements Player of the Week: Fakhar Zaman. We round out the episode with a discussion about The Hundred, which started with a lot of fanfare, but, if you believe recent reports, may not have much longer to run. Has it been a failure? Or has it been the injection of life that English cricket needed? And now that all this talk of franchise contracts is clearly here to stay, do we all need to take a moment to think about what we want our great game to look like in five, ten, twenty years' time? *Note: apologies for the technical difficulties with Binksy’s microphone - back to normal service next episode. We'll be back next week with more from the IPL, the Black Caps' tour to Pakistan and other news from around the world. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and our recent episodes (plus a few from the backlist) are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our conversations with special guests - including Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Dean Foxcroft, Shane Bond, Katey Martin, Barry Richards, Matt Henry, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have the Black Caps and the IPL disrespected Ross Taylor and the Netherlands? Did England disrespect the West Indies? And did Baldy disrespect Nathan Lyon? We cover all this and much more as we look back at another busy week on the cricket calendar. There's reward for Michael Bracewell and Dane Cleaver in the Black Caps squad, but no George Worker despite his stellar season for the Aces. We've got a logjam at the Women's World Cup, with a crucial few days ahead for the White Ferns - but are Australia simply too good? Plus we discuss the first West Indies vs England Test match, in which we realised Joe Root is still very good at batting, and react live to Babar Azam's heroics during the final stages of the Pakistan fightback against Australia to debate whether Pat Cummins should have enforced the follow-on, and whether Nathan Lyon's GOAT status is under threat. We'll be back in your feed later in the week to preview the upcoming IPL - we went team by team during an overview of the tournament that's set to dominate the cricket calendar from the end of March to the end of May. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel, and hope to release the video version of our upcoming IPL preview. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversation with Kristy Havill previewing the Women's World Cup, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Graham Thorpe, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Finn Allen, Frankie Mackay, George Dobell and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. You can also hear our memories of Shane Warne in our latest Hall of Fame episode. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Stu and Raj react to Australia's win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, as well as South Africa's win against Pakistan that makes them the first team to qualify for the World Test Championship final. We start with some initial reaction to the Day 5 action in Melbourne as Australia secured victory against India. Was the decision to bowl Travis Head after tea a masterstroke? Did India get their tactics wrong? And what's going on with Rohit Sharma? Next there's praise for the young stars who shone brightly - Sam Konstas, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Yashasvi Jaiswal - as well as the old heads like Pat Cummins, Steve Smith & Marnus Labuschagne who provided the backbone for Australia's win. We also discuss Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance, whether he's getting enough support from the other bowlers, what India need to do to turn this around, and whether the Aussies need to consider changing a winning side for the Sydney test. We finish up with a discussion about South Africa's win against Pakistan, which books them a spot in the World Test Championship final. Is it great for the game? Does their path to the final justify their inclusion? Are they massively under-rated? And how do we process the fact that they played a second-string side against NZ and still qualified with a test in hand?! If you enjoy our content, please vote for us as the Best Cricket Podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards. We’re delighted to be shortlisted and really appreciate your support: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-cricket-podcast/ We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Black Caps v Sri Lanka series and more. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Introduction 1:20 Australia v India Day 5 instant reaction - Travis Head turns the game 6:30 India's tactics 10:20 Rohit Sharma's frustration 15:35 Young stars shine - Sam Konstas 24:20 Is Mitchell Marsh under pressure? 27:15 Nitish Kumar Reddy's breakout hundred 31:30 Yashasvi Jaiswal continues to impress 36:45 Australia's experienced players stand up 45:00 Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance 50:15 How can India turn things around in Sydney? 57:00 South Africa make the World Test Championship Final Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 35 to 31 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). There's a thirst for runs, a dislike for batters and a bit of confusion as we welcome entrants from Australia, England and Sri Lanka. And for those of you looking for the YouTube link we reference in the episode, here it is. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Ajaz Patel, Frankie Mackay, Dion Nash, Graham Thorpe and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 35-31 in the following order. 35 - Ken Barrington 34 - Herbert Sutcliffe 33 - Dennis Lillee 32 - Mahela Jayawardene 31 - Fred Trueman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Stu and Raj preview the IPL tournament in two parts, starting with CSK, DC, GT, KKR and LSG. Wall-to-wall T20 cricket is about to begin, with the IPL followed by the T20 World Cup and in this episode (part 1 of 2) we focus on the first five teams (by alphabetical order) to discuss squad news, why each team can win, potential weaknesses, key players and predicted finishing order. Teams covered are: Chennai Super Kings: New Zealand eyes are focused on the fortunes of new Black Caps' recruits Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra - will they become CSK fan favourites? We also debate how damaging Devon Conway's injury will be and, of course, whether MS Dhoni will lead #WhistlePodu to another title. Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant's return is filling all the headlines, but is it fair to put so much expectation on his shoulders? There's also talk about the Australian connection, the spin strength of Kuldeep and Axar, and whether young players like Kumar Kushagra and Yash Dhull will have a positive impact. Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya is gone, but there's still plenty of experience in this squad as they look to return to a third consecutive final. We discuss the impact of Mohammad Shami's injury, try to figure out which overseas players will best balance the side and whether Spencer Johnson has a big role to play. Kolkata Knight Riders: Binksy's old favourite Andre Russell is back for another campaign, but can they improve on last year's 7th placed finish? We're excited to watch another Rinku Singh season, and there's excitement about a spin attack that could include Suyash Sharma alongside Varun Chakaravarthy, but what about the seamers? Lucknow Super Giants: The not-just-regular giants have made the playoffs in both of their two seasons, but there are plenty of questions leading into this upcoming campaign. How fit is KL Rahul? Can Shamar Joseph light up the tournament? And can Deepak Hooda get back to the form that saw him earn an international call up? Look out for part 2, which will release in 24 hours' time, in which we'll discuss the Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. We'll also predict our semi-finalists, winners and leading wicket-taker and runscorer. We'll be back again regularly during the tournament with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 2:00 CSK Preview 12:50 Delhi Capitals Preview 23:40 Gujarat Titans Preview 33:45 KKR Preview 44:00 LSG Preview 54:20 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the first semi-final, between India and the Black Caps. The hours before the game were filled with social media controversy about the pitch, but out in the middle it was a run-fest as India piled on nearly 400 at the Wankhede. From Rohit’s fast start to fantastic innings from Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer that will be overshadowed by Virat Kohli’s 50th ODI century, it was a brilliant display of batting from the home side. Was there anything the Black Caps could have done to slow down India? But even with that mammoth score, New Zealand’s chase gave India a scare thanks to a Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson partnership that put them in within striking distance before Mohammad Shami put an end to that with a remarkable 7 wicket haul that sent India to the final. We'll be back again tomorrow to review the second semifinal between Australia and South Africa, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Note: Bit of a problem with Stu's audio for the final 5-6 minutes of the episode. Recording remotely is presenting a few challenges, but we'll get there in the end! The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the Day 16 match between Australia and Pakistan. David Warner and Mitchell Marsh set the platform for Australia with big hundreds after Warner was dropped early in his innings by Usama Mir, and the Aussies made 367 - but should it have been even more? Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul-Haq then did the same for Pakistan, combining for a century opening stand and it seemed like we were set for a classic run chase, but wickets fell too regularly and when Adam Zampa dismissed Babar Azam and then Iftikhar Ahmed, the total proved out of reach to give Australia a much needed win. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The World Cup is over but the cricket rolls on and we're back to review the week that was and look forward to what's to come. In this episode of the show, we discuss the India v Australia T20 series, in which we've seen Steve Smith at the top of the order, Rinku Singh making a big impact from a small number of deliveries and the talent of Yashasvi Jaiswal on full display. The IPL is fast becoming a year-round enterprise, and the most recent news has been all about retentions, releases and trades, with Cameron Green and Hardik Pandya on the move before the auction on December 19. By the time you're listening to or watching this episode, the first Test between the Black Caps and Bangladesh will be well underway, but Binksy, Stu and Raj took a wider look at the New Zealand draw for the World Test Championship cycle to talk through realistic goals and where the team needs to evolve over the next few years. We finish the show with a whizz around a number of different topics, including Babar Azam stepping down from the Pakistan captaincy, Uganda's big win at the African T20 qualifiers, the stop clock, Georgia Plimmer's hundred and the eye-catching nature of every Zak Foulkes highlight. We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is almost here, and what better way to celebrate than a two-part bonanza of cricket content. In this first episode, we take a close look at the four sides that we feel most aligned with - India, Australia, England and the Black Caps. For each team, we discuss: Why will things go well? What are the potential weaknesses? Key players? Any injury concerns? Potential best XI? There's chat about Jasprit Bumrah's swing, Mitchell Marsh's hot form, Joe Root's form dip and why New Zealand always make the semi-finals, even when it seems like they aren't one of the best four squads. The second part of this preview covers the other six teams, plus booms/busts and our predictions, so check that out as well for the full preview experience. During the tournament, we're planning to provide regular game reviews, so let us know on our socials or in the comments section on YouTube what you'd most like to see from us during the World Cup. Please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Finn Allen, Sophie Devine and Matt Henry, coaches such as Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Jamie and Stu look back at the opening game of IPL 2025, before diving into team by team previews of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants. Recorded on Sunday 23 March, we start by discussing game 1 of the tournament, which saw RCB record an impressive victory against the defending champions KKR. New recruit Josh Hazlewood was excellent, as well as Krunal Pandya, as RCB restricted Kolkata from 100-1 to 174-8. Then it was Virat Kohli, Phil Salt and Rajit Patidar who took charge as the away side cruised to a comfortable victory in the end. Was that the perfect formula for RCB? Will they be able to repeat it enough times to make the playoffs in 2025? For the Delhi Capitals, there were questions around how much Harry Brook's decision to withdraw has left them short on options, plus a chat about the potential impact of spin duo Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. Gujarat on the other hand have a big-name Englishman in the squad in the form of Jos Buttler, but do he and Shubman Gill have enough batting support to help out their well-balanced bowling attack? Punjab have completely overhauled their roster, with Ricky Ponting bringing in a host of his fellow countrymen to join Arshdeep, Prabhsimran and Shashank Singh, plus a new captain in Shreyas Iyer. Will the overseas matchwinners bring enough consistency to lead this team to the knockout stages? And will the young Indian talent like Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge and Nehal Wadhera perform well enough to give Punjab a wide range of options for their bowling attack? For Lucknow's not-just-regular giants, their strategy seems to have been to stack the batting with overseas talent and rely on a quality local group of seamers to assist Ravi Bishnoi with the ball. But have injuries to Mayank Yadav and co. already crushed their title dreams? To round out the show, the boys do their best to predict some playoff teams and give their pick for who will be lifting the trophy at the end of May. We'll be back in your feed at least a couple of times a week for the duration of IPL 2025. So if you're enjoying our content then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:15 RCB's win against KKR - a template for future success? 13:45 DC: Has Harry Brook's withdraw set them back? 23:15 GT: Do they have enough batting quality? 33:05 PBKS: A talented side, but what will it look like in reality? 44:30 LSG: Have injuries already curtailed their chances? 50:20 Prediction time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the Day 21 match between Australia and the Netherlands. The Netherlands have equipped themselves well in this tournament so far, but it was all about Australia today as they improved their chances no end with a record-breaking performance led by the fastest century ever in a men's World Cup by Glenn Maxwell and a second consecutive hundred from David Warner. There was also runs for Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, while Adam Zampa's slight dip in form seems to be over as he cleaned up the tail to bring Australia home. Baldy, Binksy and Stu broke down all that and more, including an exciting few days ahead for the tournament. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our most recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's our first episode back in 2022 and there's been plenty of action over the holiday season. We start the show by discussing the Black Caps v Bangladesh series, which started with a win for the Tigers but finished with a fitting Test farewell for Ross Taylor and milestones for Trent Boult, Devon Conway and Tom Latham. There's praise for Litton Das as well as discussion about NZ players under pressure over the rest of the home summer and some eye-catching performances in the Super Smash and the BBL. After confirming that Devon Conway is indeed the best batter the world has ever seen, we move to Australia to chat about the greatest bowler of all time, Scott Boland, hundreds for Jonny Bairstow and Usman Khawaja, the evergreen Jimmy Anderson, whether England is actually as terrible as everyone is suggesting and plenty more that's happened in The Ashes since we last recorded. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. We'll be back next week to discuss the cricketing week that was, including the South Africa v India Test decider, but if you can't wait that long then dip back into our guest episodes, including our latest with rising star Rachin Ravindra. There are also conversations with history-maker Ajaz Patel, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Graham Thorpe, Katey Martin, Bharat Sundaresan, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And check out our Hall of Fame series, in which we countdown the 100 greatest Men's Test cricketers of all time. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A busy week for the Top Order crew has meant this episode is a little delayed (recorded evening of Monday 16 May), but on the show we discuss: The sad news about Andrew Symonds Brendon McCullum's appointment as the England men's Test coach Kiwis winning the Fairbreak Invitational Black Caps' central contracts and what that might mean for upcoming tours and the T20 and ODI World Cups. And some news from the IPL We'll be back early next week with another This Week in Cricket, covering the England Test squad, Katey Martin's retirement, IPL semi finals and plenty more. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Wasim Khan, Barry Richards, Dion Nash, Matt Henry, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam predicted an upset in the IPl this week, it just wasn't the one that we thought it would be! Baldy takes us through four games in this IPL wrap, quickfire style with 90 seconds on the clock to wrap up each match, and a bit of extra time to talk who's trending up and down in DreamXI fantasy cricket. [1:35] - RCB and AB flex big time in a huge win over KKR [4:35] - CSK change up the order and get their season back on track against Sunrisers [8:16] - Injury concerns for Delhi's batting, and more scrutiny for the Royals [11:21] - The return of the Universe Boss as KingsXI do it the hard way in the last over to deliver a banana skin for RCB as consistency concerns persist for the Challengers. Let us know what you think of the shorter format on twitter @toporderpod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is almost here, and what better way to celebrate than a two-part bonanza of cricket content. We recommend you listen to part 1 first, but in this second episode, we take a look at South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Netherlands, before looking at tournament booms and busts and our predictions. For each team, we discuss: Why will things go well? What are the potential weaknesses? Key players? Any injury concerns? Potential best XI? We ponder whether South Africa are good or not, how much the Naseem Shah injury could hurt Pakistan's chances, delight over the host of spin options for Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in particular, highlight why the Netherlands should be every Kiwi's second-favourite team and debate whether Shakib al Hasan can lead Bangladesh to an unexpected semi-final berth. To round out the preview, we make our predictions for the semi-finalists, finalists and tournament winner, plus the player of the tournament. Bring on the games! During the tournament, we're planning to provide regular game reviews, so let us know on our socials or in the comments section on YouTube what you'd most like to see from us during the World Cup. Please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Finn Allen, Sophie Devine and Matt Henry, coaches such as Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversation with Kristy Havill previewing the Women's World Cup, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Ken Rutherford, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Katey Martin, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. You can also hear our memories of Shane Warne in our latest Hall of Fame episode. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Jamie and Stu look back at week 1 of IPL 2025 through a stock market lens. Who are we buying? Who are we selling? And what are we watching with our fingers poised ready to pounce in the coming weeks? We start on a positive note, highlighting a balanced RCB side unbeaten at the time of recording thanks to a bowling attack featuring the quality of Josh Hazlewood and a top order that's firing thanks to Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajit Patidar and co. In the Buy section of the show there's also praise for Sai Sudharsan, MS Dhoni and wicketkeepers in general. We're watching the impact player performances and how that's impacting games and batting lineups. We're selling a star-studded Mumbai Indians batting lineup featuring Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya and friends because we can't understand why they're continuing to struggle, and watching closely to see how much tinkering do with their teamsheet, tactics and batting lineup with the likes of Curran, Dhoni, Jadeja and Ashwin who could all slide up and down the middle order. To round out the show, there's chat about whether teams will score 300, how home ground advantage could play a role and if it is too early to be worried about Pat Cummins and his SRH bowling attack. We'll be back in your feed later in the week with more of a game review style show. If you're enjoying our content then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 2:00 Buy - RCB top of the table thanks to Hazlewood, Salt, Patidar & co. 5:05 Buy - Wicketkeepers: MS Dhoni, Jurel, Kishan, Buttler, De Kock, Pooran 7:05 Buy - Sai Sudharsan & GT's batting lineup 9:00 Watch - Impact player performances 17:50 Sell - Mumbai Indians - Why are they struggling with the bat? 24:05 Sell - Umpire review of wides 26:20 Sell - Do seam bowlers need more craft? 33:20 Sell/Watch - CSK's batting order Ashwin/Jadeja/Curran/Dhoni 37:45 Watch - Will we see 300 scored this season? 41:55 Watch - Is SRH's bowling lineup a concern? 45:05 Watch - Variation across venues Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 20 to 16 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). We've got three seamers with the epic combination of skill and pace, plus two batters who rarely played the flashiest innings on show but so often played the most important one. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Sophie Devine, Ish Sodhi, Mike Hussey, Barry Richards, Jacob Oram, Gary Stead and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 20-16 in the following order. 20 - Waqar Younis 19 - Wasim Akram 18 - Dale Steyn 17 - Alistair Cook 16 - Rahul Dravid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we discuss the Black Caps' Test squad for the upcoming UK tour, which landed with very little fanfare and a lot of familiar names. At first glance, the expected lineup for the first Test starting on 2 June picks itself, but should Matt Henry be in the conversation? Can they find room for Ajaz Patel? And will Trent Boult and Daryl Mitchell still be at the IPL? (Since we recorded the episode, Henry Nicholls has had scans on a calf injury suffered in training, so watch out for news on that.) As the conversation turns to England, we examine recent comments made by Ben Stokes - most notably that he plans to bat at 6 and Joe Root will bat at 4 - as he starts to make his mark on the Test side. We finish the show with a quick summary of the IPL as it draws closer to the playoffs. Lippy gets excited about Devon Conway's three 50s on the bounce, but it looks like it will be too late for CSK, with Gujarat, Lucknow, Rajasthan and RCB firming as top 4 favourites. This episode is our 200th release, and as we raise the bat again we want to say another big thank you to everyone who has supported the show in any way, whether it be downloading and listening, joining the podcast as a guest or simply spreading the word to family and friends. We love recording the shows, and connecting with cricket fans and characters from all over the world has made the past few years extra special. We'll be back later in the week with the next instalment of the Top Order Podcast Hall of Fame. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Kristy Havill, Barry Richards, Rachin Ravindra, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the opening match of the tournament, between England and the Black Caps, in which a sublime partnership between Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway secured a dominant victory for New Zealand. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Binksy, Raj and Stu review the week that was in IPL 2024 with another instalment of the power rankings. Recorded on Monday 8 April, we discuss all 10 teams and the key questions facing all of them as we pass the 20-game mark of the tournament. Can anyone stop this Rajasthan Royals side? Is the KKR bowling lineup, led by Mitchell Starc, strong enough to win at the business end of the tournament? LSG building nicely in all three facets of the game - so why don't we trust them? Abhishek Sharma's impact at the top of the order for Sunrisers Hyderabad Shashank Singh's heroics for the Punjab Kings CSK's challenges without Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana Have the Mumbai Indians found a better balance with Romario Shepherd and Mohammad Nabi in the lineup? How damaging will David Miller's injury be for the Gujarat Titans? With Mitchell Marsh out for a while, are the Delhi Capitals' semi-final hopes all but gone? Virat Kohli has been outstanding to start the season, but where's the help from the rest of his RCB teammates? We'll be back again later in the week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:40 Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler's 100, do they have any weaknesses at all? 7:40 Kolkata Knight Riders - So much batting firepower, but what about the bowling? 14:15 Lucknow Super Giants - Marcus Stoinis's responsible knock 20:55 Sunrisers Hyderabad - Abhishek Sharma's ball-striking and positive signs for the bowling attack 30:05 Punjab Kings - Shashank Singh to the rescue 36:45 Chennai Super Kings - Is their bowling in trouble without Pathirana and Mustafizur? 44:25 Mumbai Indians - Is Romario Shepherd the answer to balancing this MI lineup? 51:30 Gujarat Titans - Runs for Shubman Gill, but David Miller's injury news takes their week from bad to worse 58:00 Delhi Capitals - Has Mitchell Marsh's hamstring strain put an end to their playoff chances? 61:40 Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Virat Kohli scoring runs for fun, but where's the help? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 40 to 36 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). Some very esteemed guests feature in this edition, including our first Lord and some of the more impressive Test batting averages you're likely to find as we welcome entrants from Australia, England, the West Indies and South Africa. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Shane Bond, Joe Scuderi, Ajaz Patel, Frankie Mackay, Daniel Beswick, Graham Thorpe and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 40-36 in the following order. 40 - Keith Miller 39 - Ian Botham 38 - Jack Hobbs 37 - George Headley 36 - Graeme Pollock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 7 to 5 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). Now that we're at the business end of the list, we couldn't resist throwing a few extra minutes on the clock to discuss these legends of the game. Baldy reveals the algorithm's best allrounder, Binksy and Raj disagree about another allrounder and we all marvel at the coolest cricketer ever. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Barry Richards, Gary Stead, Michael and David Hussey, Lesley Murdoch, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 7-5 in the following order. 7 - Sir Vivian Richards 6 - Jacques Kallis 5 - Sir Garfield Sobers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode of the show finds us still struggling to get our heads around the Australia v India Test in Adelaide, so we call in one of the best cricket writers in the business to help us make sense of it all. Formerly with the Indian Express and now with CricBuzz, Bharat Sundaresan is also a Penguin Random House author, publishing The Dhoni Touch in 2018. Bharat describes the mad scramble for pads on Day 3 as we process India's shocking collapse and discuss how they can move forward and still compete for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the departure of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, plus journalists and fans alike calling for wholesale changes, we shine the spotlight on Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant and other contenders, before an extended chat about 'Spin Scientist' Ravi Ashwin and the fascinating Cheteshwar Pujara v Nathan Lyon battle. There's breaking news about Rohit Sharma and Bharat reluctantly offers up his prediction for the remainder of the series. Before we finish the show, we dip into Bharat's back catalogue to ask what it was like to write a book about MS Dhoni, and what makes MS one of the most fascinating characters of the modern era. We also discuss Bharat's search for West Indian fast bowler Patrick Patterson, and how that mission became so much more than just another piece of copy. If you'd like to check out more of Bharat's work, you can find his archive at CricBuzz: https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/author/bharat-sundaresan/235 His brilliant article about Patrick Patterson can be found here: https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/patrick-patterson-an-unquiet-mind-4762590/ And more info on The Dhoni Touch: Unravelling the Enigma That Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni is available at:https://penguin.co.in/book/the-dhoni-touch/If you're a new listener to the podcast, check out our back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Champions Trophy is on and popping! India beat Bangladesh overnight, and Shubman Gill's hundred has Baldy happy. Shami gets a five-for, and Hridoy gets a hundred in a losing cause. India look strong, but are there trends emerging in the pitches that are important going forward? Raj and Baldy then preview the upcoming match between South Africa and Afghanistan. In the battle of spin, who will emerge stronger in a crucial group? We'll be back in your feed again tomorrow with more Champions Trophy news and views. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, we take a break from the live cricket to discuss the most influential cricketers of the 21st century. In Part 1 of this two-part discussion, we outline our definition of 'influential', and throw out a bunch of candidates for the Top Order Podcast's Mount Rushmore. We talk about T20 influencers like Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, Indian powerhouse figureheads like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, culture setters like Brendon McCullum and Andrew Strauss, outliers like Ellyse Perry and Lasith Malinga, plus a host of other names as we consider how the game of cricket got to where it is today and who has had the biggest impact. Who did we forget? What do you agree with/disagree with? We've love to get your thoughts and continue the discussion. Part 2, in which we narrow down the debate and each decide on our top 4 cricketers to etch into stone, will be available 24 hours from the release of this episode, so keep an eye out for that. We'll then be back again about a week later with our regular This Week in Cricket programming. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro - Define influential 4:35 Virat Kohli 7:50 Chris Gayle 10:45 Andrew Strauss 14:00 MS Dhoni 17:20 Kevin Pietersen 22:35 Brendon McCullum 31:15 Lasith Malinga 34:45 Rashid Khan 37:30 Ellyse Perry 40:40 Adam Gilchrist 43:55 Honourable mentions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Order Podcast it’s a Black Caps focused show as Raj and Stu look back at New Zealand's performances in 2024 take stock of where the side is at heading into a relatively quiet 2025. We open the show by reviewing the 2024 results, which paint a picture of a middling side that had a big gap between their best performances and their worst ones, before discussing a bowling attack that saw some big changes over the past 12 months with the retirements of Neil Wagner and Tim Southee, plus the emergence of the likes of Will O'Rourke and Ben Sears. We also discuss the spin stocks and whether this is an area of concern. As we move to the batting department, there's plenty to discuss - primarily the lack of runs by the majority of the core group of players. We talk about Devon Conway, Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson and many others, plus the central contracting system and how New Zealand Cricket are managing the competing pull of franchise leagues. To round out the show, we look ahead to a 2025 fixture list that looks quite bare after the Champions Trophy to consider where we'd like the side to be by the end of the year.. We'll be back in your feed again later in the week or early next with our regular This Week in Cricket show. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro: Black Caps' 2024 results 2:55 Thoughts on 2024 as a whole 6:20 NZ's pace-bowling refresh 10:50 Are the spin-bowling stocks a concern? 20:30 Batting depth 22:25 Devon Conway - are we still optimistic about his international future? 25:30 Tom Blundell & wicketkeeping position moving forward 29:55 Casual and central contracts 38:20 Will Young - can he cement a spot in 2025? 42:25 Glenn Phillips - what should his role be in this NZ side? 45:40 Rachin Ravindra's development 51:10 Kane Williamson's form and future 55:20 NZ's fixtures in 2025 and hopes for the year 1:07:22 Coaching situation and ideal potential candidates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy and Baldy look back at 2 epic test matches. Starting at The Gabba we discuss Shamar Joseph’s heroics in an historic win for the West Indies, which brought both Baldy and Brian Lara to tears but for different reasons. We then crossover to Hyderabad to review an amazing 1st test between India and England, which saw England’s debut spinner Tom Hartley go from zero to hero with his 1st ball disappearing for 6 off the bat of Yashasvi Jaiswal but his final ball winning the game and seeing him finish with figures of 7-62. We also discuss selection permutations for the 2nd Test. Who will replace KL Rahul and Ravi Jadeja and will England hand a debut to Shoaib Bashir to replace the injured Jack Leach? Will we also see a return for Jimmy Anderson and when will Virat Kohli be back? Finally, in true Top Order Podcast fashion, we make our predictions for the 2nd Test, which will be out of date at the hint of a tweaked hamstring. We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels  on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for watching 0:00 Intro 5:14 How big is the hole that David Warner leaves? 10:30 Introducing Shamar Joseph 17:07 Are Aussie carrying Cam Green? 21:00 India V England 24:00 Were Abu Dhabi preparations vindicated? 29:25 Should India have batted England out of the game in 1st Innings? 30:52 Tom, Jack, Joe and Rehan, England's spin quartet 39:20 India changes for 2nd test? 43:40 England changes for 2nd test? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Raj and Stu look back at the second Test between England and the West Indies, as well as Gautam Gambhir taking over as Indian men's team coach and England's clean sweep of the White Ferns. The first three days of the Trent Bridge Test were very competitive - the West Indies took the lead thanks to runs from Kavem Hodge, Alick Athanaze and Joshua Da Silva, but a Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir-inspired collapse helped England to a convincing win in the end. We talk about the impact of Ben Duckett at the top for the home side, Ollie Pope's freneticness, Bashir's ceiling and much more. After a 4-1 T20 series win in Zimbabwe, the Gautam Gambhir era is about to begin for India and there's plenty to discuss. SKY over Hardik as T20 captain? What role will Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play going forward? And Washington Sundar not just back in the mix, but thriving? We round out the show with England's 8-0 domination of the White Ferns across the recent ODI and T20 series. Are there any positives at all for New Zealand? And can England make a run at the T20 World Cup title in Bangladesh in October? We'll be back again next week to wrap up the England v West Indies series, as well as any other news that catches our eyes. Until then, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:20 England win big again, but positives for the West Indies 7:50 Ben Duckett setting a great platform 11:30 Luck for Ollie Pope, but he made it count. 16:35 Chris Woakes the caretaker 22:25 Harry Brook's ceiling 24:35 Shoaib Bashir's courage 32:20 The Gambhir era begins 34:15 Captain SKY 37:30 Virat and Rohit selected for the Sri Lanka ODIs 39:35 Washington Sundar back in the side 41:35 India's depth is scary 43:35 Not good news for the White Ferns 48:00 Confidence boost for England building towards T20 World Cup 50:45 Further reading Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a rollercoaster few months it has been for the Australian men's team! Justin Langer reportedly lost the dressing room, their World Cup build up was awful, David Warner couldn't get a game at the IPL and then they go and win the T20 World Cup but only a week or so later Tim Paine resigns from the Test captaincy because of a sexting scandal. Never a dull moment. We give our thoughts on the way Cricket Australia has handled the situation and look ahead to what might happen on the field with a new captain and potentially a new wicketkeeper for The Ashes. The Black Caps start their World Test Championship title defence in India tomorrow afternoon (check out our full preview on an earlier episode), but first we look back at the three T20s that did pose some interesting questions: Has Martin Guptill done enough over the past 6-12 months to get himself another IPL contract? Should Kyle Jamieson become a Test specialist at international level? And should Black Caps' fans be insulted that the likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant elected to play three meaningless T20s but are resting in the Test series? There are also shout outs to Sophie Devine and her Perth Scorchers in the WBBL, AB de Villiers on his incredible career and some confusing dialogue in Bangladesh involving Mushfiqur Rahim. If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We'd love to hear if you're enjoying the change to the format of our shows and the more regular releases. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. There'll be another Hall of Fame episode (introducing entrants 65 to 61) dropping in a few days. If you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Ajaz Patel, Michael and David Hussey, Jeetan Patel, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Stu and Baldy journey from Hyderabad to Adelaide and East London before we return to Aotearoa New Zealand while we review the week that was and look ahead to a full schedule of Test cricket just around the corner. We start the show with the recent news from the India v England series, which has seen the withdrawal of both Virat Kohli and Harry Brook from at least the first two Tests, and the visa concerns for Shoaib Bashir, which may well have cost him a Test debut. We also discuss reports suggesting England might line up at Hyderabad with Mark Wood as the only seamer in the side. It's off to Australia after that, to discuss the home side's victory in the first Test against the West Indies. We saw runs for Travis Head, wickets for Josh Hazlewood and a comprehensive win for Australia, but it was a West Indian debutant, Shamar Joseph, who earned at least some of the limelight after his performance in Adelaide. There's also a nod to Jake Fraser-McGurk's selection for the upcoming ODIs, plus praise for Josh Brown and his exploits for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL. After a quick detour to South Africa to talk about Matt Rowe, Mankads and the under-19 World Cup, we return to New Zealand to talk through selection options for the Black Caps as they prepare for the Proteas' Test tour. How much does South Africa's squad diminish the interest levels? Who should keep wicket for New Zealand if Tom Blundell isn't fit for the first Test? Should the Black Caps also give opportunities to fringe players? Is Devon Conway human after all? And is this a big series for Neil Wagner? We'll be back again next week with more news and views, including recaps of the India v England and Australia v West Indies Tests, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Finn Allen, Sophie Devine and Rachin Ravindra, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Cricketmas time again on the Top Order Podcast! This week we have a very special episode* wrapping up recent Tests in Brisbane and Hamilton. Firstly to the Brisbane Test between Australia and India [0:00]. With both top orders struggling, we try to decipher which team has more rocks or diamonds. In amongst all the analysis and breakdown is the shock retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin that broke just minutes before we recorded on Wednesday 18 December. We pay tribute to a true great of the game and lament his non-availability for what promises to be two exciting Tests in Melbourne and Sydney with the series on a knife-edge at 1-1. Then it's time to wrap up both the England v New Zealand series from Hamilton [33:56] and the retirement of the great Tim Southee. Raj wants to maximise the remainder of Kane Williamson's career (don't we all) and we contemplate if Will Young has done enough to hold his spot going forward. On the England side, our northern hemisphere analysts discuss whether Ollie Pope has done enough to keep his spot, and how good Jacob Bethell could be going forward. From all of us at the Top Order Podcast, have a wonderful and safe holiday season! If you enjoy our content, please vote for us as the Best Cricket Podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards. We’re delighted to be shortlisted and really appreciate your support: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-cricket-podcast/ We'll be back in your feed again next week with more news and views from the cricket world. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. * We're not sure how it's special. It's special like all Christmas episodes are special we suppose. Except we don't sing. We truly value our listeners too much to do that... 0:00 Introduction 1:20 India v Australia - questions for the Aussies after rain disrupts play 21:55 Questions for India 27:40 Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement 34:00 Black Caps v England - NZ win the third Test 46:20 England's tactics and approach Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is over, with Australia securing their sixth title, beating a fantastic Indian side in the final. In this episode of the show, we bounce around a range of topics to review the tournament as a whole, including: Was this Australia's most unexpected white-ball title? How will this win change Pat Cummins' legacy? What does the future hold in white-ball cricket for the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli? Is the 10-team round robin the best format for an ODI World Cup? Is ODI cricket broken? What changes would we make? We also discuss our individual highlights from the World Cup, and attempt to pick a tournament team that includes at least one player from each squad, which inevitably leads to further discussion about the performance of each country against the expectations we had prior to the tournament. We'll be back again next with more news and views as the cricket calendar rolls on, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy and Stu review the first Test of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which saw India start slowly but then roar back to dominate Australia and make a number of significant statements at Optus Stadium. We talk about Jasprit Bumrah's leadership (and his magnificent bowling), the patience and application shown by KL Rahul & Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli's return to form. There are questions about where it all went wrong for Australia, what to do with Marnus Labuschagne, as well as praise for their bowlers - Josh Hazlewood in particular - along with declarations, DRS decisions, debutants and much more as we unpack this fascinating game. We'll be back in your feed again in the next 24 hours with our initial reaction to the IPL mega auction, and then at the conclusion of the first Test in the Black Caps v England series. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.   Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro and Australia's great start to the match 4:30 Jasprit Bumrah's leadership and his influence with ball in hand 12:40 Mohammed Siraj's strong performance 14:40 Yashasvi Jaiswal's patience and skill combine 20:50 KL Rahul ground Australia down 23:50 Virat Kohli's hundred 27:40 India's declaration paid off! 29:40 Are Australia in crisis? And what to do with Marnus Labuschagne? 35:40 What's happened to Australia's batting depth? 48:15 Final comments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Binksy and Stu look back at the Australia v Pakistan Test series, as well as the Black Caps white ball squad to face Pakistan with one eye on the T20 World Cup later in the year. David Warner's long farewell to Test cricket came to a conclusion with at least some parts of the fairytale playing out as scripted at the SCG, but what now? Baldy's fired up about the decision to move Steve Smith to the top of the order and the omission of Cameron Bancroft, but aren't we headed for another Test series sweep as the West Indies begin their Australian tour? There's praise for Aamer Jamal, Shan Masood and the Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, plus we try to unpack why the Aussies are so dominant on home soil. As we return to New Zealand, we discuss the Black Caps' T20 squad to face Pakistan, which has a much more experienced look to it than the recent series against Bangladesh. Will that lead to more convincing performances on the field? And what questions are still to be answered in the coming months as Gary Stead and the selectors look ahead to the T20 World Cup in June? There's mentions for Super Smash standouts like Nathan Smith and Tim Robinson, discussion about where Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra currently fit in the Black Caps' T20 plans, plus Binksy's food and beverage recommendations for Eden Park. We'll be back again next week with more news and views, as well as a preview of the England v India Test series, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with the likes of Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Andre Adams, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Raj and Stu share some extra thoughts on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final, plus the tournament as a whole, including pitches, the 20-team format & scheduling. We also look ahead to the upcoming Test series between England and the West Indies, and the first game in particular, which will be Jimmy Anderson's final Test. We start the show by getting Raj's thoughts on the final, since he missed our previous episode, and all wonder in hindsight why none of us predicted India as the champions before the tournament started. There's discussion about Axar Patel and Virat Kohli, India's team-first mentality, and of course praise for Jasprit Bumrah's special talents. As we move to the tournament overview, we share our thoughts on the pitches, whether we liked the 20-team format, how we might tweak the Super 8 phase and what we'd change about the scheduling and pre-tournament rankings going forward. In the second half of the show, we return to the white clothing, looking ahead to the West Indies' Test tour to England. We talk about new names in both squads, potential mixed messaging coming out of the BazBall camp and a few Jimmy Anderson thoughts as the realisation hits that we might be about to watch him for the final time. Unless something unexpected happens in the cricket world that we can't wait to talk about, we'll be back again after the conclusion of the first England v West Indies Test. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro - let's move on from the controversy about SKY's catch 2:50 Extra thoughts on the T20 World Cup final 6:55 Why didn't we predict India would win this a month ago? 11:25 Rohit, Virat and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from T20s - what's next for India? 14:40 Tournament overview: Were the pitches up to standard? 20:25 20-team format and the scheduling 33:05 England v West Indies Test series - squad news 37:05 Making sense of England's squad 46:25 Jimmy Anderson's final Test 52:15 Thoughts on the West Indies' squad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's episode starts with us trying to makes sense of this Ashes series, which now looks all but over with three Tests still to go. We talk Joe Root's after-match comments, Ollie Robinson bowling spin, England's woes, Australia's joy for Michael Neser, Steve Smith's kitbag and whether there's any chance this series remains interesting as we head to the MCG. As we move back to New Zealand, we discuss the Covid disruptions for the Bangladesh squad, how the Black Caps will line up without Kane Williamson for this series and the rescheduled tour to Pakistan. If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. We'd love to hear from you on any of our platforms. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. We'll be back before the end of the year to look back at our favourite moments of 2021, but if you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, including our latest with rising star Rachin Ravindra. There are also conversations with history-maker Ajaz Patel, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Graham Thorpe, Katey Martin, George Dobell, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And check out our Hall of Fame series, in which we countdown the 100 greatest Men's Test cricketers of all time. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Stu and Baldy look ahead to the five-test series between India and England, which starts on 25 Jan and takes us right through to March. We open the show by discussing how much has changed since the previous series between these two sides in India in 2021, when a struggling England side won the first Test convincingly, before the hosts bounced back in a big way to secure the Anthony de Mello Trophy. We analyse the squads and the biggest selection questions - Bairstow or Foakes? Bharat or KL Rahul? - plus outline the key battles that could determine the series. Can Joe Root improve his already impressive numbers in India? Will Axar Patel destroy England once again? How will Rohit Sharma react to Bazball? [Note: This was recorded before the news broke that Harry Brook and Virat Kohli would miss at least part of the series for personal reasons] Finally, in true Top Order Podcast fashion, we make our predictions for the series result and individual performances. We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's some outrageous claims on this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame as we explore the careers of five fantastic batters ranked from 75 to 71. Is it better to occupy the crease or score your runs quickly? Does a great player have to be a great leader? Is it a good idea to meet your heroes? And did Binksy really say that Baldy has ranked the best English batter of all time at #73? Are any of this group ranked too low? Or are they lucky to be here? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to call us out via email or on social media to share your views - or give us some praise if we've got things spot on! SPOILER ALERT This episode features players from 75-71 in the following order: 75 - Michael Clarke 74 - Geoffrey Boycott 73 - Kevin Pietersen 72 - Michael Hussey 71 - Virender Sehwag For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. Of course, our upcoming This Week in Cricket show will feature a heavy dose of the ICC T20 World Cup, but if you can't wait for that, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Daniel Beswick from Emerging Cricket, Jarrod Kimber, Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin and many more fantastic characters. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, we look ahead to preview the upcoming Test series between India and Australia. We talk home records, legacies and the wider significance of the series for teams, players and world cricket, before diving into more specific questions. What will Australia's bowling lineup look like? Are their batters, outside of Steve Smith, equipped to deal with India's quality lineup of spinners? Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav have been in great form, but will they play in the first Test? India's recent home record is amazing, but are there areas of concern this time around? Are Australia as good as their recent home record suggests? Will Virat Kohli and Steve Smith rise to the occasion? And who will win the series? If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. Dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with the likes of Jeet Raval, Cam Fletcher and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Shane Bond, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Ish Sodhi, Sophie Devine, Bharat Sundaresan, Melinda Farrell and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy daily review, Baldy and Stu review the Group A clash between India and Pakistan, and look ahead to the Black Caps' upcoming match against Bangladesh. It was a fairly comfortable Indian victory in the end in what shaped as an important fixture for both sides. Babar Azam flashed his quality early on, but Hardik Pandya and the Indian spin trio chipped out wickets whenever they were needed. Despite a couple of quality deliveries to dismiss Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, once Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer built a partnership, it became clear the 240 was never going to be enough, with Kohli sealing his hundred, the win and India's spot in the semi-finals with the last shot of the match. We'll be back in your feed tomorrow to review the Black Caps v Bangladesh. If you've enjoyed listening and/or watching, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Raj, Baldy, Binksy, Jamie and Stu look back at week 4 of IPL 2025, which saw a host of close matches, a few low scores, highlights from Jos Buttler, Mitchell Starc, Yuzvendra Chahal, a debut for 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi and plenty more. We start this week by talking about the remarkable debut of Vaibhav Suryavanshi for the Rajasthan Royals. There's talk about what we were doing at 14 and the confidence of youth, but also about what a missed opportunity this week was for RR to get themselves back into the tournament now that Yashasvi Jaiswal is firing. From there, we bounce around from the chances of the Mumbai Indians to go on a winning streak, CSK doubts, super overs and close games, Mitchell Starc yorkers and RCB's Josh Hazlewood tactics. There's also praise for Jos Buttler and the way he's adjusted to life at the Gujarat Titans, excitement from the Auckland studio about wrist-spinners and Yuzvendra Chahal in particular, before we start yelling at clouds about robot dogs, obscure applications of the laws of cricket involving Heinrich Klaasen's wicketkeeping gloves and we update our tournament winner predictions as the tournament passes the halfway mark. We'll be back in your feed again soon with more IPL coverage. If you're enjoying our content then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:15 Vaibhav Suryavanshi's debut at 14 years old 8:30 Rajasthan's missed opportunities 12:05 Mumbai Indians poised to swoop 15:15 CSK's win papered over the cracks 17:25 Close games, super overs and the 180-run sweet spot 22:20 Mitchell Starc & Josh Hazlewood bowling well 25:40 Gujarat Titans - Jos Buttler & co. continue to impress 33:55 Wrist spinners starting to shine - Chahal, Varun, Kuldeep 41:15 Robot dogs, rulebook badgers & Heinrich Klaasen's wicketkeeping gloves 47:15 Tournament predictions at the halfway point Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 65 to 61 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you like spoilers). It's another fun group, including some of the most recognisable players that the game has ever seen and heard. There are wickets galore, so many happy memories and some of the best nicknames you could ask for as we reminisce while we examine Baldy's rankings. Is legacy more important than stats? Do average and strike rate matter more than total wickets? Have the Black Caps ever played in Cape Town? Who is the greatest commentator of all time? And who is Joe Mennie? Are any of this group ranked too low? Or are they lucky to be here? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media - or give us some praise if you think we've got things spot on! For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. Our next This Week in Cricket show will look back at the first Ashes Test, but if you can't wait for that, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Daniel Beswick from Emerging Cricket, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fantastic characters from around the world. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We've also made a few of our episodes available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 65-61 in the following order. 65 - WG Grace 64 - Richie Benaud 63 - Vernon Philander 62 - Michael Holding 61 - Anil Kumble Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy and Stu look back at the final week of the IPL 2024 regular season before previewing the upcoming knockout fixtures. Recorded on 20 May, we talk about a week that saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru storm into the playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad snatch second place, Kolkata Knight Riders watch some rain fall, Rajasthan Royals extend their losing streak and missed opportunities for Lucknow Super Giants and the Chennai Super Kings. We discuss the epic match between RCB and CSK, which essentially became a quarterfinal thanks to LSG's slip up earlier in the week, and then take a closer look at all four playoff teams as we move to the business end of the season. KKR have been superb all season, but will Phil Salt's absence and consecutive washouts leave them vulnerable? The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack has improved throughout the season, but are their chances tied heavily to the success of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head at the top of the order? With the Rajasthan Royals in a slump and Jos Buttler gone - is Ravichandran Ashwin at 5 really the answer? Virat Kohli's form has been immense all season for RCB, but have they become an all-round threat during this six-game win streak? Plus predictions and much more! We might be back again later in the week with more news and views if there's an incredible game we can't wait to talk about, but if not we'll be in your feed again about this time next week to wrap up the final and also look ahead to the T20 World Cup. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:30 RCB beat CSK to roar into the playoffs 5:20 Rachin Ravindra's contribution 7:45 Virat Kohli's fantastic season 10:50 RCB's all-round game 14:50 Rajasthan's losing streak - can they turn it around? 21:15 Rajasthan's middle order struggles 24:05 KKR fully deserve their number-one spot 29:20 Potential for KKR v SRH to be a run-fest 31:30 Do the Sunrisers chances rest solely on whether Head and Sharma fire? 36.50 Predictions 40:30 Final general thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy daily review, Binksy and Baldy reflect on a command performance by India as they cruise past Australia on their way to the ICC Champions Trophy final. Mohammed Shami set the early tone for India, and despite Australia trying to match India's strength by also selecting four spinners, the slow bowlers dominated Australia's batting efforts. Crucial chances cost Australia, but did they get the selection wrong? Baldy dissects some possible alternatives. India's batters come in for some praise from both Baldy and Binksy. What can stop India from picking up the silverware? Looking ahead to NZ and South Africa, Mitchell Santner's captaincy comes in for some praise, and the lads discuss where the second semi-final could be won or lost. Will Binksy and Baldy agree on the prediction for the semi-final? We'll be back in your feed tomorrow to recap the second semi-final. If you've enjoyed listening and/or watching, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's plenty to talk about this week and we start the show with a bang, reliving Kieron Pollard's six sixes off an Akila Dananjaya over. South Africa named new captains, Cameron Green scored some runs and Canterbury added another trophy to their cabinet thanks to a hundred from Henry Nicholls and some big bombs from Ken McClure. After New Zealand sealed the T20 series against Australia with an impressive turnaround in Game 5 (17.45), we discuss Devon Conway's elevation to open, Aaron Finch's return to form, what both teams have learned and how they might line up at the T20 World Cup later this year. Binksy gets a chance to highlight more impressive English performances against the White Ferns (39.50), but when it comes to the men, Joe Root might be the only one to come out unscathed as we look back on the 4th Test between India and England (42.50). There's stats galore, Axar Patel is the greatest bowler to have played the game, Ravi Ashwin took 400 wickets in the series, Rishabh Pant gets a rap for his work behind the stumps and we look ahead to the World Test Championship Final at Lord's. If you enjoyed the show, one way you can support us is to check out http://manscaped.com/. As a listener of the show, you'll get 20% off + free shipping with the code: TOPORDER. Please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find us. And you're new to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we take stock of IPL 2022 as the games tick past the halfway mark of the competition. We talk about the biggest surprises so far, try to figure out what's gone wrong for Mumbai and CSK, plus discuss the no-ball drama featuring Rishabh Pant and what that means for his long-term leadership outlook. There's also Dale Steyn's hair; Lippy singing a song; praise for Jos Buttler, KL Rahul and T Natarajan; and plenty of humble pie as we reflect on our preview as well as looking forward to what's still to come as the tournament moves closer to the business end. We'll be back later in the week with another instalment of our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Jacob Oram, Wasim Khan, Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, the team are all in the same room to preview the ICC T20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies and USA. We discuss the 20-team format, what overall tournament success looks like for the ICC, the quick turnaround from the IPL and the type of cricket we might see played throughout the month of June. We then look at the 4 groups in more detail - will India and their star-studded line-up cruise through Group A? How much pressure is there on England to bounce back from their ODI World Cup disappointment? Will the Black Caps make it to the knockout stages yet again? Is this South Africa's moment? Or is a home win for the West Indies written in the stars? Which teams hold the biggest upset potential? And prediction time! We won't be doing daily updates of this World Cup, but are hoping to record regularly throughout the tournament, particularly as we approach the Super 8 and knockout stages. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro - when and where? 3:29 Do we like the 20-team format? 7:10 What does success look like for the ICC? 10:07 Short turnaround from the IPL 14:43 Expectations for pitches and scores? 19:00 Group A preview - India, Pakistan, Ireland, USA, Canada 29:15 Group B preview - Australia, England, Namibia, Scotland, Oman 41:15 Group C preview - West Indies, New Zealand, Afghanistan, PNG, Uganda 52:50 Group D preview - South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Nepal 1:01:55 Predictions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's that time of year again - the Indian Premier League is set to begin at 3am New Zealand time on 1 April and fill the cricket calendar for the following two months. We cast our eyes over all the squads and make our tournament predictions in this jam-packed episode. We start the show with a shout out to the Mumbai Indians for winning the WPL - Nat Sciver-Brunt starred in the final, alongside Hayley Matthews, New Zealand's own Amelia Kerr and many more in a tournament that felt like a huge success and a fantastic advertisement for our great game. As our attention turns to the men's edition, we run through each of the 10 teams in alphabetical order to answer questions like: Will the Chennai Super Kings spin their way to another trophy? How will the Delhi Capitals overcome the absence of Rishabh Pant? Can Hardik Pandya lead the Gujarat Titans to back-to-back titles? Is it a case of no Brendon McCullum, no chance for the Kolkata Knight Riders? How angry will Lucknow Super Giants fans be about KL Rahul's strike rate this season? Has Suryakumar Yadav forgotten how to bat, and what does that mean for the chances of the Mumbai Indians? Can super Sam Curran propel the Punjab Kings to their first playoff appearance since 2014? Do the Rajasthan Royals have any weaknesses? Will a happy Virat Kohli be the star of an RCB side that's stacked with stars? Are the Sunrisers Hyderabad the sleeping (or singing) giants of this competition, even despite the departure of Kane Williamson? And who will win it all? If you enjoyed the episode and the work we do on the podcast, we'd love it if you could take the time to visit www.sportspodcastgroup.com and vote for us as the Cricket Podcast of the Year. We're delighted to have made the shortlist, and honestly wouldn't be still recording these episodes if it wasn't for all the support and kind words we've received from listeners over the past few years. We'll be back again next week to discuss the white-ball series between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka and discuss the early stages of the IPL. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel, including adding our latest episodes, like this one! You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including recent conversations with Cam Fletcher, Luke Wright and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Shane Bond, Finn Allen, Katey Martin, David Hussey, Ajaz Patel, Sophie Devine, Barry Richards, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, there's plenty of ground to cover as the cricket calendar continues apace. We recap India's big win against England in the third Test and look back at the Black Caps' first-ever series win against South Africa - with one eye on the upcoming Tests against Australia. There were many impressive performances during the third Test between India and England: Yashasvi Jaiswal's second double-century in as many Tests (including a record-equaling 12 sixes!) Hundreds to Rohit Sharma and Ben Duckett A hundred AND a 5-wicket haul for Ravindra Jadeja Entertaining debuts from Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel Which all led to a big win for India as they defeated England by a record margin. We discuss the key moments and the aftermath and reaction to Bazball's biggest defeat, as well as potential changes for the 4th Test, which will see Jasprit Bumrah left on the sidelines. In the second half of the show, we return to New Zealand to look back at a historic Test series for the Black Caps, which saw them win the Tangiwai Shield and secure a series win against South Africa for the first time in their 92 years of trying. There was a record-breaking debut for Will O'Rourke, Kane Williamson gave us another demonstration of his greatness, while Dane Piedt and David Bedingham combined to make it a much tougher assignment than many people predicted. To round out the show, we touch briefly on a last-ball thriller in Wellington, which saw Tim David steal the show, as well as an Annabel Sutherland masterclass against South Africa. We'll be back again next week with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 0:48 India v England 3rd Test review 1:31 Yashasvi Jaiswal breaks records on his way to another double century 5:55 The topsy turvy nature of the game 8:07 Does Joe Root need to dial back the gears? 11:55 Was the backlash to Bazball justified after this heavy defeat? 16:00 England's batting collapses - can Jonny Bairstow return to form? 18:00 Ben Duckett's highlight-filled hundred 21:35 Sarfaraz Khan's impressive debut 26:45 Should substitutes be allowed during a Test? 29:22 4th Test Preview: Will the pitch spin big from ball one? 30:40 Any changes to the two sides? 32:22 Binksy's breaking news: England names their XI 34:05 How can England bounce back? 36:35 Black Caps v South Africa Test series review 39:32 Worries for New Zealand: are Tom Latham and Devon Conway under pressure? 46:35 What will the Black Caps do at 5/6/7/8? 50:00 Will O'Rourke's record-breaking debut in the shadow of Kyle Jamieson's injury 52:50 Is Kane Williamson NZ's GOAT? 59:55 Dane Piedt and David Bedingham shine for South Africa 1.02:05 Australia win the first T20i against the Black Caps 1.04:25 Tim David's heroics 1.06:20 Black Caps to watch in games 2 and 3 1.09:05 Annabel Sutherland shines in Australia's big Test win against South Africa 1.13:00 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the match between India and Bangladesh. With Shakib al Hasan out injured, this match was always going to be tough for Bangladesh, but their openers made a great start to put India under pressure. Enter Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja, who took wickets and slowed the run rate as India took a firm grip on the game that they never released. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill played their part, but Virat Kohli's unbeaten hundred guided India to another comfortable win. Do they have any weaknesses? Can anyone stop them in this World Cup? We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Part B of our bumper 100th episode, the discussions get heated as we look back at the second Test between India and England. Binksy questions the value of the ICC pitch guidelines, while Raj questions the English tactics and praises Lippy for messages he sent to Virat Kohli and the India squad in our previous podcast. There's spin chat from Baldy, Binksy gets very very excited about Ben Foakes, we talk the Moeen Ali situation, there's praise for Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma, and much more as we deep dive into this fascinating series before looking ahead to the pink-ball Test. Later in the show, we weigh in on the IPL vs country debate and run through the notable points of the IPL auction, including a life-changing moment for Kyle Jamieson and a few curious absentees. Long-time listeners of the show will remember our podcast partnerships with prestigious products such as Sticky Hands and Rain Card. In this episode, you'll also hear Baldy back on the ad reads, discussing more quality products from the team at Manscaped. As a listener of The Top Order, go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: TOPORDER If you enjoyed the show, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find us. And you're new to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels. Finally, a massive thanks to you as a listener - it's been a real treat for us to put these 100 episodes together and it certainly means a lot to raise the bat with all your support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A huuuuuuuuge episode of the Top Order Cricket Podcast this week with plenty to talk about as the action ramps up all around the world. We begin by hitting as many topics as we can in This Week in Cricket. The board of Cricket South Africa steps down en masse just weeks before their summer international schedule kicks off - what does this mean for the game in the rainbow nation? A lot has been happening in the bubbles this week, we recap the latest from the players and tease our upcoming interview with Dr. Jamie Barker on mental health and life in the bubble. Stay tuned for that one. We talk about why the current Pakistan/Zimbabwe ODI series has implications for the 2023 World Cup, and debate whether cricket should be an Olympic sport. After the swish we launch into the shields, both Plunket (NZ) and Sheffield (Aus) as several fringe cricketers are putting their hands up for national selection early in the season. Is Kyle Jamieson a lock in the first NZ test side of the summer? When will Devon Conway get his chance? Should Will Pucovski open the battting for Australia? We get a little excited about the breakouts, but how many spots are actually up for debate in the Black Caps and Australian sides at the moment? Finally, in act three, it's climax of the round-robin matches in the IPL. Recorded Sunday night we run through (almost) all the permutations, and put our predictions on the line for how we think the playoffs will shape up. Will we be wrong? Almost certainly - in fact, some of us already will be by the time this podcast goes to air, but it's an enjoyable chat nonetheless. One thing we do know - Mumbai will take some beating this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show we review a great week for both the Black Caps and the White Ferns, as well as a host of other topics as we look back at the week that was. We start by discussing the amazing performance from Matt Henry, which saw him record the third-best bowling figures in a Test innings for New Zealand, as well as smashing a quick 50 at #11. There's praise for Tim Southee, Tom Blundell and Colin de Grandhomme as well as Gary Stead for his decision to promote Neil Wagner to #5 in the absence of Kane Williamson. But will South Africa bounce back in the second Test? We remain in Aotearoa to chat about the White Ferns, who have looked more and more impressive with every game of their series against India, highlighted by contributions from many different players within the squad. Then it's a quick look at the domestic scene, with the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield and the Ford Trophy up for grabs this weekend. As we venture offshore, we discuss a changing of the guard for the Indian Test team, with Pujara, Rahane, Saha and Ishant all left out. There are questions around the Australian white ball team, despite winning their T20 series 4-1 against a Sri Lankan side that showed a lot of promise. Will Aaron Finch make it to the next T20 World Cup? And how much is the IPL going to impact international tours for both Australia and New Zealand? We'll be back in your feed again later this week with a special guest to preview the Women's World Cup. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Frankie Mackay, Firdose Moonda, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A little series called The Ashes is on the horizon, there's drama everywhere and Melinda Farrell joins the show to chat through the storylines before the action gets underway. How will Tim Paine's resignation impact Australia? Can Ollie Robinson be a difference-maker for England? Patrick Cummins - Test captain Will Stuart Broad get the better of David Warner once again? Who is the real Marnus Labuschagne? What impact will the return of Ben Stokes have on the rest of the England lineup? And who will lift the urn? As we mentioned on the show, Melinda Farrell is an all-round cricket personality who produces brilliant content across a number of different platforms. You can find her written work here, view her YouTube channel here (including The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous with Bharat Sundaresan) or find her on Twitter. If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We'd love to hear from you on any of our platforms. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. Next up, we'll have our This Week in Cricket show to discuss the India v Black Caps series, followed by another Hall of Fame episode (introducing entrants 65 to 61). If you can't wait that long, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of history-maker Ajaz Patel, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Tim Southee, Frankie Mackay, Jarrod Kimber, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 15 to 11 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). We've got four of the most rhythmical bowlers you could ever hope to see, plus a batter who won more Test matches than anyone in the history of the game. There's two Australians, a West Indian, an Englishman and even a Kiwi (!) so you won't be surprised to hear there was a bit of debate as we discussed these entrants. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Sophie Devine, Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Barry Richards, Dion Nash and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 15-11 in the following order. 15 - James Anderson 14 - Glenn McGrath 13 - Malcolm Marshall 12 - Sir Richard Hadlee 11 - Ricky Ponting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

*Note Raj’s audio isn’t great in this episode, but given the daily nature of these shows, we’ve decided to release. Should be fixed for tomorrow’s episode! The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the Day 13 match between South Africa and the Netherlands. The Proteas made a brilliant start to the tournament, but the Netherlands knocked them out of the T20 World Cup in 2022 - could they pull off another upset? Yes, they can! In a case of Double Dutch Delight, The Netherlands pulled off another remarkable upset, made more remarkable by the dire straits they were in three-quarters of the way through their innings. Raj and Baldy were fulsome in their praise for the Netherlands, but had to put the hard question out there. Which South African side is 'real'? The tournament is well and truly wide open... We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No Raj this week but Binksy and Baldy are together in the studio as Lippy dials in from the boot of his car (it's a long story, but the resulting audio quality is great!) to review another eventful week. We start in New Zealand, where Finn Allen and Devon Conway have been on fire to propel Wellington into the Super Smash final. On the women's side of the draw, it's the Canterbury Magicians who are one win away from glory. Lippy squeezes in a shout out to the Nelson Griffins after they lift Hawke Cup, then we move across the Tasman to discuss the Sydney Sixers' BBL win, James Vince, player name pronunciation and the Aussie T20 squad. Things take on a serious tone as we chat through the Covid postponement of the South Africa v Australia series and the implications for the World Test Championship. No permutations this week, but all eyes are on India v England as we wait to see who will face the Black Caps in the final. Binksy gives us a live update from Chennai and reminds us all that Joe Root is quite good at batting, before we finish the show by discussing Justin Langer in light of recent comments from Steve Smith. We'll be back in your feed again shortly to talk Test cricket - India v England, Pakistan v South Africa and West Indies v Bangladesh. If you're new to the show and can't wait that long, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Raj and Stu look back at the two white-ball series between New Zealand and Pakistan, which the Black Caps won in dominant style - 7-1 across the ODI and T20s combined. We start the show as we mean to continue, with huge praise for NZ and the depth on display during the two series, but also with a big question to answer: Were the Black Caps fantastic or was Pakistan terrible? As things get specific, plenty of New Zealanders are thrust into the spotlight. Jacob Duffy is now the world's number-one-ranked T20 bowler, Ben Sears took back to back five-wicket bags and Will O'Rourke continues to impress. On the batting front, we saw impressive debuts from Muhammad Abbas and Rhys Mariu, Mark Chapman continued to take his opportunities, Mitch Hay produced an innings of real substance and Tim Seifert blasted his way to the Player of the Series in the T20s. Who are we most excited about? And when might there be more opportunities for these players to shine? To round out the show, there's also a word for Neil Wagner's fairytale finish - a five-wicket bag to seal the Plunket Shield for Northern Districts in his final first-class appearance in New Zealand. Legend. We'll be back in your feed in a few days to continue our IPL coverage. If you're enjoying our content then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 0:25 Black Caps v Pakistan - were NZ incredible or were Pakistan not very good? 4:40 Fringe players and returnees step up: Seifert, Duffy & Chapman 9:30 Younger players show promise: Mitch Hay, Muhammed Abbas, Rhys Mariu 14:55 Will O'Rourke & Ben Sears 15:55 Michael Bracewell leads from the front 16:25 Do we like the return of uncontracted players? 19:30 What do the next 12 months look like for NZ? 21:50 Fairytale finish for Neil Wagner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The T20 World Cup is the focus again this week with the semi-finalists now confirmed after New Zealand's win against Afghanistan booked them a date against England to compete for a place in the big dance. On the other side of the draw, the only unbeaten side left in the tournament, Pakistan, will face a resurgent David Warner and an Australian team who could well be hitting form at exactly the right time. Did the best four teams make the semi-finals? Can Australia and New Zealand upset the top seeds? Will the Black Caps make any changes? And will it be Babar Azam, Eoin Morgan, Aaron Finch or Kane Williamson holding the trophy aloft in just a few days' time? We'll be back again next week to re-live the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup and hopefully, with three runners in the race, at least one of us will be celebrating a famous victory. In the meantime, on Friday you'll see two more episodes drop into your podcast feed - our take on the evolution of T20 cricket as a format and what that means for the global game. A big topic and once we started talking we kept talking for a while, so the episode will release in two parts, both dropping on Friday afternoon New Zealand time. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We'd love to hear if you're enjoying the change to the format of our shows and the more regular releases. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. If you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Matt Henry, Niall O'Brien, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin, Daniel Brettig, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iain O'Brien's career is one that has taken many turns along the way. From forcing his way into the New Zealand side, to being dropped after two games, and then battling back to become a fixture in the lineup before retiring for family reasons when he was arguably at the top of his game. In this candid chat, Iain shares his excitement about the return to Cricket Wellington in a coaching role and his passion for passing on knowledge to help others achieve their potential both as people and as cricketers. We hear about his early international experiences for the Black Caps against an outstanding Australian side (including being Alpha-d by Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne), representing NZ at indoor cricket, bowling into the wind at the Basin Reserve, wicket celebrations, opening up about mental health, the loneliness of touring life, testing yourself against the best, being Neil Wagner 0.5 and plenty more in this wide-ranging chat about Iain's playing days and life in general. If you enjoyed listening to Iain, you can check out his own YouTube channel, where you'll find fascinating chats with a wide range of people from all around the world. And of course keep an eye on our feed in the coming weeks. We've got more great interviews on the way as we bask in the glory of New Zealand's World Test Championship win. If you're a new listener to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of banter, plus timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the match in Lucknow between Australia and South Africa, which saw a second consecutive hundred to Quinton de Kock, an Aussie batting collapse, a Kagiso Rabada peach, a few dropped catches and some umpiring controversy for good measure. Stu and Baldy discuss whether we should hand South Africa the trophy now, if the sky is falling for Australia and briefly preview the Black Caps' next fixture against Bangladesh. We'll be back again tomorrow with more news and views, but until then please also take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Niall O'Brien's international career spanned well past a decade, and included more than 100 ODIs, 30 T20Is and Ireland's first Test match in 2018. He's now a player agent and commentator working all around the world, and joined us from the UAE to discuss the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup and take a stroll down memory lane. We talk Ireland's chances and T20 opportunities on the biggest stage for sides in the first round of the group stage, before Niall takes us into his backyard and schoolground to re-live growing up in a cricket-mad family that's had a huge impact on the game in Ireland. We bounce around from Sydney grade cricket alongside the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, to ICC World Cups and famous victories against Pakistan in 2007 and England in 2011 - including Niall's match-winning knock in the West Indies. Niall recounts phone calls from Mum telling him to be nicer on commentary to his baby brother Kevin, Trent Johnston's epic speech in 2007, keeping to Murali, being sledged by Warne, throwdowns in the carpark, whether it's ever okay to keep in short sleeves and the pride he has to have represented Ireland over such a long career. As you'd expect, it's a fun chat with plenty of laughs along the way. You can view the Breaking Boundaries documentary we referenced in the podcast via this link - it's an absolute cracker! Keep an eye on your feed over the coming days for our in-depth preview of the Men's T20 World Cup - we focused mainly on the Super 12 stage, but in the meantime scroll further back in our feed and have a listen to our recent conversation with Daniel Beswick from Emerging Cricket, who gave us the lowdown on the first stage of the tournament. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels(@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. If you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Jarrod Kimber, Bharat Sundaresan, Mike Hussey, Tim Southee and many more. Next week you'll also hear from Katey Martin of the White Ferns and Otago Sparks as she shares stories from the UK tour and her career. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu recap the first day of the first Test between the Black Caps and England at Bay Oval. We talk NZ's seam attack, Harry Brook's genius and Jimmy Anderson's class as England ended the day firmly on top. We'll be back again around the same time tomorrow to review day two, but please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including recent conversations with Cam Fletcher and Luke Wright, plus chats with Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Colin Munro, Finn Allen, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Order Podcast, Raj, Jamie and Stu discuss some of the major talking points from the past couple of weeks, including the apparent proposal to change the Test structure to two tiers, India's 10-point plan towards team harmony, Champions Trophy news, James Vince, Pakistan spinning their way to victory against the West Indies and Jimmy Anderson's love for the game. We open the show by discussing the reports suggesting the boards of England, Australia and India are planning to start a conversation that could lead to a proposal to separate Test cricket into two divisions of seven. With a lot of details still to be determined, we talk about our initial reactions to the idea, how an ideal version of the proposal could work, who might benefit from it and ultimately whether it would be a step forward from the current World Test Championship. From there we move to white-ball cricket and the Champions Trophy, with India naming their squad yesterday. Mohammad Shami returns from injury with Rohit Sharma as captain and the experienced core of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and co. given an opportunity to go one better than the World Cup in 2023. We also discuss the BCCI's 10-point 'Policy Document for Team India', plus England's upcoming white-ball tour. To round out the show, we talk about pitches in Pakistan and batters around the world struggling against spin, the PSL window and how James Vince's decision could lead to more instances of the nomadic cricketer, plus a shout out to Jimmy Anderson as he looks set to return to Lancashire for the county season. We'll be back in your feed again next week with our regular This Week in Cricket show and hopefully the full crew back together. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 0:45 The two-tier test proposal 17:45 Champions Trophy squad news - India 20:30 The BCCI's 10-policy 'Policy Plan for Team India' 32:40 England's best XI for the Champions Trophy 42:15 Pakistan v West Indies - pitches and spin 54:00 James Vince & the PSL 1:03:45 Jimmy Anderson playing on with Lancashire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We start our This Week in Cricket by outlining the WBBL semi-finalists before Lippy wraps the first four rounds of the Plunket Shield, which sees Canterbury well on top at the halfway stage. Baldy and Raj explain the new BBL innovations - are they fun, or just confusing? - and Binksy runs the rule over Sam Billings' comment that the England limited-overs side is one of the hardest teams in the world to get into right now. In the second part of the show, we look ahead to the upcoming Black Caps/West Indies tour. How much rotation will we see during the T20 series? Which NZ fringe players will improve their stock? Why is the Test series so important? Has the emergence of Devon Conway made Will Young underrated? Can Kyle Jamieson unseat the incumbent pace trio? Plus Tom Blundell's role, pressure on Henry Nicholls, predictions, banter and more in this wide-ranging chat as we get excited about the start of the international summer. If you're a new listener to the podcast, check out the back catalogue. There's plenty more timeless interviews with current players, legends and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or @toporderpod on our social channels.Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finn Allen has been the breakout star of the New Zealand summer, topping the Super Smash run charts and putting himself in the minds of selectors around the world. We spoke to Finn about the move from Auckland to Wellington, the Firebirds' culture, Super Smash finals day, being the best you can be and what it's like to bat with the likes of Devon Conway, Tom Blundell and Rachin Ravindra. From there, Finn's amazing summer continued with a call up to the Black Caps, a WhatsApp message from Mike Hesson asking him to join Royal Challengers Bangalore in this year's IPL and a Lancashire contract for the Vitality Blast. We talked through those incredible moments and how he's feeling about lining up alongside players like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell. If you're a new listener to the podcast, check out our back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Stu is joined by Abdullah Haider from the Pakistan Cricket Podcast to preview the upcoming series between the Black Caps and Pakistan. The first half of the show focuses on the Pakistan squad, as Abdullah answers questions about injuries to the seamers, shines the spotlight on Abrar Ahmed and Saud Shakeel, before explaining why Pakistan should feel confident despite their series loss to England. Attention then turns to the Black Caps, starting with Stu highlighting the enormous success New Zealand have had under Kane Williamson's leadership and wondering what impact the captaincy change will have on the Black Caps' style of play. There's talk about Glenn Phillips and Ish Sodhi potentially returning to the Test arena, and Stu outlines why New Zealand have a lot to prove to themselves and to the fans over the course of this series. Many thanks to Abdullah for joining the show - you can hear more from him by subscribing to the Pakistan Cricket Podcast, or by following them on Twitter (@PakCricPodcast). And thanks also goes to you, the listener, for joining us throughout 2022. We've been creating content for more than three years now, but we still think it's very cool to have listeners all over the world and we really appreciate you taking the time to hear our thoughts on the great game of cricket. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversation with Cam Fletcher, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Mike Hussey, Ish Sodhi, Katey Martin, Finn Allen, Frankie Mackay, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Top Order Podcast Hall of Fame returns! We get the time machine out this week to discuss four of the best from the post-war era, plus an Aussie speedster from the 2000s who fans from other countries loved to hate. Binksy shares stories from English cricket folklore, Baldy brings the stats and talks up a hometown hero, there's a spinner for Lippy to rave about and Raj gets so excited his shirt comes off! SPOILER ALERT This episode features players from 90-86 in the following order: 90 - Denis Compton 89 - Neil Harvey 88 - Mitchell Johnson 87 - Alec Bedser 86 - Jim Laker Are any of this group ranked too low? Or are they lucky to be here? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to call us out via email or on social media to share your views - or give us some praise if we've got things spot on! For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. Of course, regular programming will continue. We'll be interspersing episodes revealing players with our This Week in Cricket shows (England v India, England v White Ferns & Bangladesh v Black Caps and more!). And if you haven't already, dip back into our recent guest episodes, which includes Jarrod Kimber taking us on a deep dive of New Zealand Cricket on and off the field, and evaluating the World Test Championship as a format, and Tim Southee talking about the pride the Black Caps felt after finally getting their hands on another ICC trophy. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 60 to 56 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). There's plenty of debate around the table as Baldy and Raj go into bat for an Australian captain, before Binksy threatens to pack up his mic and go home. Lippy sneaks in references to Chris Martin, Mark Richardson and Shane Bond, we talk too much talent, 'that grip' and the most runs in a calendar year, plus share more tales about the joys of watching West Indian fast bowlers from the 1980s. Are any of this group ranked too low? Or are they lucky to be here? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media - or give us some praise if you think we've got things spot on! For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. Our next This Week in Cricket show will look back at the Super Smash and BBL finals and the women's Ashes, but if you can't wait for that, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Daniel Beswick from Emerging Cricket, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fantastic characters from around the world. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We've also made a few of our episodes available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 60-56 in the following order. 60 - AB de Villiers 59 - Graeme Smith 58 - Joel Garner 57 - Pat Cummins 56 - Mohammad Yousuf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, we speak with current Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey about his recent experiences with KKR in the IPL, his outstanding career as a player and look ahead to BBL 10. Reflecting on his time as the Chief Mentor for the Kolkata Knight Riders, we talk T20 tactics, momentum, confidence, learning from the likes of Brendon McCullum and working with a diverse group that included Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan and Varun Chakravarthy, just to name a few. As we move to David's playing days, we're introduced to 'Good David' and 'Bad David' as he speaks humbly about his impressive career both in Australia for the Victorian Bushrangers and the national side, and overseas, particularly for Nottinghamshire. We hear how, despite all this success, it took David many years before feeling like he truly belonged at that level. In the final part of the show, we take a close look at a Melbourne Stars squad stacked with high-profile international signings like Jonny Bairstow and Nicholas Pooran, rising star Will Pucovski and explosive all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell. We hear about a few names to watch and explore the coffee habits of Adam Zampa as we look ahead to the upcoming BBL season. If you're a new listener to the podcast, check out the back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with current players, legends and characters from all over the cricketing world, including David's brother Mike, in which we first learned about the epic backyard battles at the Hussey household.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or @toporderpod on our social channels.Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the 3rd Ashes Test at Headingley, which saw England secure a crucial win to keep the series alive. After yet another close finish, there's plenty to discuss about these two good cricket sides who both still have a lot of questions to answer. Is Bazball good again? Why was this Mark Wood's first Test of the series? How much did Australia miss Nathan Lyon? Has England wrestled back the momentum? Is David Warner about to be dropped? What's happening with Australia's lower order? Plus struggles for Jonny Bairstow and Scott Boland, Zak Crawley's impact, the Moeen Ali at 3 experience, Chris Broad's Simpsons fandom, Ben Stokes with the tail, some (brief) New Zealand news and more! If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram and YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. Dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hussey, Bharat Sundaresan, Finn Allen, Sophie Devine, Wasim Khan, Gary Stead, Shane Bond, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Binksy joins via Zoom but the Top Order are back again to review a fascinating week of cricket and look ahead to the final Australia v India Test in Brisbane. We start the show (0.40) with South Africa's 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka, before discussing the England squad and whether we expect them to follow suit in Galle. Baldy and Lippy then take us through the BBL and Super Smash action so far and what it could mean for international selection. With the Blackcaps' Test summer now concluded, we review another win against Pakistan (17.35). Lippy claims to have run out of superlatives before heaping praise on Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell and the entire New Zealand side, while Raj is concerned about Naseem Shah and Binksy calls for calm heads as Pakistan conduct an internal review. As we move to the Australia v India series, Baldy outlines his frustration while watching a battered and bruised India side hold on for a dramatic draw at the SCG (31.15). We credit India's fighting spirit, wonder why wicketkeepers (and fielders in general) can't catch any more and discuss many of the key individuals of this engaging Test match, including Nathan Lyon, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Paine, Rishabh Pant, Steve Smith, Shubman Gill and Will Pucovski. Baldy makes a big call as we wrap the show with our predictions for the final Test in Brisbane and the World Test Championship implications, and we all cross our fingers that India can find eleven players to pull on the whites before the end of the week. Keep your eye on the podcast feed over the coming days. We've got an episode dropping with former Blackcaps all-rounder and current White Ferns bowling coach Jacob Oram in which he gives us his thoughts on the NZ summer and takes us on a walk down memory lane. If you can't wait that long, check out our back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode we speak with one of the best in the business. Jarrod Kimber has written for Wisden, Cricinfo and many many more cricket sites and publications around the world. He’s authored books, worked as a commentator, an analyst and made an award-winning film (Death of a Gentleman). We've been admirers of his work for a while and were particularly taken with all the New Zealand content he's produced lately, so we invited him on the show to talk about the Black Caps journey from mediocrity to World Test Champions. After some P Diddy chat and a bit about Jarrod's own cricket fandom, we talk about the many factors behind New Zealand's growth as a cricket side in recent times, which sees them hold top spot in both Tests and ODIs after beating Virat Kohli's India in the WTC final. We discuss what makes Kyle Jamieson so special, why Neil Wagner takes wickets even though everyone knows exactly what he's trying to do, the role of analysts at the international level and where New Zealand sits compared with the Big Three of India, England and Australia. To finish the show, we pan out to take a wider look at the World Test Championship, ICC tournaments, associate nations and franchise cricket to examine how they can all co-exist and what the best version of a cricket calendar might look like. There's even a lawn-mowing metaphor! For more great content from Jarrod, we highly recommend you check out his YouTube channel, or his podcasts Red Inker and Double Century. There's plenty in there for cricket lovers from all around the world. If you're a new listener to the show, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of banter, plus timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world, including recent chats with Tim Southee and a wonderfully candid Iain O'Brien. Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, we celebrate another incredible week for the Black Caps, which culminated in a series win in India for the Black Caps for the very first time. We also look back at Pakistan's turnaround against England as they spun their way to another victory in the third Test of that series.   The Black Caps' win in Pune capped off a remarkable sequence - a first Test victory in India for 36 years, then another one a week later. We discuss whether this series win is the Black Caps' finest achievement, try to break down how they came to beat the best team in the world in their home patch and heap praise on Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham, Yashasvi Jaiswal - plus much more. We then turn our attention to Pakistan, where the home side's spinners once again tangled the English batters in knots to win the third and deciding Test. There's praise for Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan, a little Jamie Smith and Saud Shakeel, big fans and questions about whether it's time for England to consider a new approach. We'll be back again next week with more news and reviews from around the world. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.   Thanks for listening. 0:00 Intro 1:05 NZ beat India again - Greatest moment in Black Caps' history? 6:30 How did NZ find the formula to beat India at home? 8:00 NZ's batting tempo, tactics and Tom Latham's performance 16:45 Mitchell Santner - the unlikely hero 22:15 How concerning should this result be for India? 25:25 Virat Kohli's scary stats 29:55 Washington Sundar takes 12 wickets 32:45 World Test Championship Final implications 34:50 Rohit Sharma's captaincy decisions 38:15 Pakistan v England - Have Pakistan found a formula for home success? 45:15 Do England need to tweak their Bazball style? 57:55 Saud Shakeel and Pakistan's batting 1:00:00 Border-Gavaskar Trophy selection questions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We start the show this week raving about Australia's World Cup win - one of the most dominant all-tournament displays that we've ever seen. Both Alyssa Healy and Rachel Haynes broke the record for most runs in a World Cup, and the professionalism of the entire Australian squad shone through in a tournament that has been a great advertisement for the game. As we start travelling the world, we speak briefly about an Australian ODI series loss to Pakistan, with Babar Azam in a starring role and questions about Aaron Finch. Jos Buttler is off to a flying start at the IPL with his Rajasthan Royals winning their first two games, but it's been tough going for both Mumbai and CSK. South Africa's spinners demolished Bangladesh, leading them to another Test victory as they continue their march up the World Test Championship ladder. But is it time to move back to neutral umpires? We finish the show by discussing the final two games of the New Zealand v Netherlands ODI series, which featured hundreds for Tom Latham, Will Young and Martin Guptill in Luteru Ross Taylor's 450th and final game for the Black Caps. Only one episode this week - we'll be back again next week with a couple of shows, including a return to the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - you'll find chats with Lockie Ferguson, Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Chris Brown, Katey Martin, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we're back around the table as a group to discuss the White Ferns tour of Australia, South African cricket and the T20 Blast in a quickfire This Week in Cricket. We then take a look at the IPL as a whole as we approach the halfway line of that competition: Are finishers coming in too late? Should we lock in a Mumbai/Delhi final already? Is Sharjah too small? Can we put a line through CSK's chances? Will anyone change their original predictions? Answers to all that and much more in this free-flowing chat about the game we love. Keep your eyes on the podcast feed this month - we've got content galore with interviews from all six NZ major associations to preview the home summer, starting with the Plunket Shield on 19 October. You'll find regular IPL wrap shows, as well as more banter-based episodes right throughout October and into November. Please remember to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really is the best way to help the show, support what we're doing and to help others find our episodes.  If you're a new listener, make sure you check out the back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with legends and characters from all over the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us, we're always keen to hear your suggestions, requests, guest ideas, corrections or anything else at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is T20 the most important format in the game today? Recorded just prior to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup, this two-part episode charts the evolution of T20 cricket from novelty or experimental format to the present day, when big-money franchise tournaments have become a major part of the cricketing calendar. Was Martin Crowe's Cricket Max ahead of its time? Has there ever been a better T20 innings than Ricky Ponting's 98* in the first T20 international? What impact has T20 had on spinners, batters, pace bowlers and wicketkeepers? How has it impacted Test and ODI cricket? And what does the future hold? Remember to listen to Part 2 of this discussion, which is also out now, and keep an eye on your feed on Monday (afternoon NZ time) for our preview of the New Zealand v India Test series. If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We'd love to hear if you're enjoying the change to the format of our shows and the more regular releases. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. If you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, which include the likes of Matt Henry, Niall O'Brien, Mike Hussey, Frankie Mackay, Daniel Brettig, Barry Richards and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Holidays! It is the festive season - a time to reflect on the year gone by, so we did exactly that in this review of the 2023 calendar year. We discussed our highlights, such as: Australia's world title success for both the men's and women's sides The men's ODI World Cup as a whole The double Ashes Controversies involving Angelo Mathews, Alex Carey and the Long Room Along with some individuals who stood out for their impressive performances and achievements during the year: Daryl Mitchell Nat Sciver-Brunt Travis Head Stuart Broad And many more! We'll be back again next week with a preview of 2024, focusing on some of the things we're most looking forward to for the year ahead, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Tim Southee, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just before our recording started, the news broke that Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier from the Kolkata Knight Riders have tested positive for Covid-19. We speculate on the implications for the rest of the tournament and what might happen over the next few days. It's back to cricket after that, with the Black Caps in camp, Heinrich Malan added to the coaching staff and bowlers bowling with the Dukes ball. We start to get excited about the upcoming England and World Test Championship tour: Ross Taylor's picked up an injury but Will Young's scored 100 opening the batting for Durham. Before we move to the on-field events at the IPL, we quickly touch on cricket at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the new board to govern Cricket South Africa. In the second part of the show, we chat through Kane Williamson replacing David Warner as captain at Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli's RCB hitting a speed bump, the Mumbai Indians and Kieron Pollard rolling into form and whether the top 4 of CSK, Delhi, Mumbai and RCB should already be pencilled in as we pass the halfway point of the season. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks as we continue our coverage of the IPL, plus all the NZ news as we build towards the World Test Championship final. If you're a new listener to the podcast, also check out our back catalogue. There's plenty more great interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world, including recent chats with Peter Fulton and Georgia Wareham.Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 45 to 41 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are). With four current players to discuss, including three of the so-called Big Four and a spin scientist, time goes out the window as we debate which of these present stars has had the biggest impact on the Test stage so far, and whether they'll move up - or down - this list in the coming years. Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media. If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel. For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Shane Bond, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Tim Southee, Katey Martin, Dion Nash, Graham Thorpe and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. *SPOILER ALERT* This episode features players from 45-41 in the following order. 45 - Wally Hammond 44 - Kane Williamson 43 - Virat Kohli 42 - Ravichandran Ashwin 41 - Steve Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is here, and the Top Order Podcast has you covered with regular game reviews and recaps. In this episode of the show, we discuss the match between England and Afghanistan, which saw the first major upset of the tournament. Baldy and Stu discuss the contrasting performance of both sides - Rahmanullah Gurbaz's fearless approach, the skill of Mujeeb, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, struggles for Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, passive England and what it all means for the tournament as a whole. We'll be back later in the day to bring you an extended interview with former Black Caps and RCB coach Mike Hesson. Then tomorrow we'll be here again with more news and views from the Cricket World Cup. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's podcasts a plenty this week at the Top Order and in this episode we round up everything that caught our eye around the cricketing world. We start the show by discussing whether Quinton de Kock's antics constitute fake fielding, before Baldy outlines just how astonishing this record-breaking Australian women's team actually are. Kraigg Brathwaite's sunglasses are still doing a good job, Washington Sundar's has a new dog, Covid concerns hover over the start of the IPL and we talk about a tweak to the DRS that has bowlers smiling. Look out for plenty more shows in the coming days, including a full review of the New Zealand home summer. And If you enjoy what we're doing here at The Top Order, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram), plus a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find us.If you're a new listener, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com or on any of our social channels - it's always great to hear from cricket fans from all over the world. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Order Podcast Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we discuss and compare the careers of the two greatest batters, and cricketers (if you agree with the algorithm), that the world has ever seen: India's Sachin Tendulkar and Australia's Sir Donald Bradman. Sachin Tendulkar captured the hearts of a billion people during a glittering career that spanned more than two decades. From his Test debut at 16 (!) until his record-breaking 200th match, the Little Master's poise, balance and stroke-making earned him comparisons to 'The Don', even from the man himself. On the other hand, Sir Donald Bradman played only 52 Tests - 37 of them against England - but left such a mark on the game of cricket that he may well be statistically the greatest sportsperson of all-time. Therefore, it'll come as no surprise that he also sits atop the Top Order Podcast Hall of Fame. Do you agree with our assessment? Or have we got things horribly wrong? Don't be shy to tell us how you feel via social media or at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. We'll be back next week with more action from around the world, including the white-ball series between England and the Black Caps, plus the early action in the Asia Cup. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and our recent episodes (plus a few from the backlist) are available on YouTube - if you prefer a video panel discussion, check out our channel and be sure to subscribe. You can also dip back into our conversations with special guests - including Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Shane Bond, Lesley Murdoch, Jeetan Patel, Barry Richards, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices