Wisden Cricket

Mark Butcher, Jo Harman, Phil Walker and Yas Rana discuss the announcement of England's 13-man squad for the first two Tests of the summer against New Zealand. James Anderson and Stuart Broad are back, Matty Potts and Harry Brook are two new faces in a group that is otherwise similar to those selected over the winter. The panel also react to the appointments of England's two new head coaches, Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott as well as Tom Harrison's departure from the ECB. Mark and Jo share their memories of Andrew Symonds, the thrilling Australia all-rounder who tragically passed away last week at the age of 46. There's a round-up of all the latest County Championship, Charlotte Edwards Cup and the FairBreak Invitational action while stress fracture expert Dr Pete Alway speaks to Yas about the causes of lumbar stress fractures after both Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher were ruled out of the season with the injury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The panel of Phil Walker, Jo Harman and Yas Rana round up all the latest County Championship action and have a stab at selecting the England XI for the opening Test of the summer. Phil tells us about his recent conversations with Mark Waugh and Marnus Labuschagne, Jo reflects on his interview with in-form Kent batter Daniel Bell-Drummond and Yas gets excited about young Durham quick Matty Potts. Mark Butcher joins over Zoom to add to the selection chat while George Heath joins from Dubai to update us on the FairBreak Invitational, where there have been some eye-catching performances from a whole host of Associate players. The episode ends with Phil, Jo and Yas talking about the aspects of the game they secretly don't care about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Butcher gives his view on the decisions made by Ben Stokes in his first week as England's full-time Test captain, while Ben Gardner and Yas Rana are joined by CricViz analyst Ben Jones to round up the latest County Championship and IPL action. CricViz Ben also provides an analytical view on the major selection debates around England's top seven heading into the first Test of the summer. Georgie Heath joins the show towards the end of this episode to talk about the FairBreak Invitational, a brand new tournament in Dubai that features 90 women's players – including some of the world's very best – from 35 different countries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a busy first week in the job for England's new managing director of men's cricket Rob Key. Multiple outlets are reporting that Ben Stokes is set to be named England Test skipper and Key has already outlined that the head coach role will be split in two. The panel of Mark Butcher, Jo Harman, Phil Walker and Yas Rana react to those developments and round-up all the latest action from the County Championship. Later in the show, there's an interview with Kent's in-form opener Ben Compton about his meteoric rise and stellar start to the season with his new county. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The panel of Mark Butcher, Lawrence Booth, Phil Walker and Yas Rana react to a massive week in English cricket, one that saw Joe Root call time on his reign as Test captain and Rob Key appointed to the role of managing director of men's cricket at the ECB. How should Root's captaincy be remembered? What should we expect from Key at the helm? At the 44:30 mark, Wisden Almanack editor Lawrence Booth reveals who this year's Five Wisden Cricketers of the Year are. You can order the Wisden Almanack at https://wisden.com/shop/wisden-cricketers-almanack-2022-hardback There's also a section on the latest round of the County Championship as well as a brief chat on the IPL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week's show, the studio panel of Phil Walker, Jo Harman, Ben Gardner and Yas Rana look back at a run-filled opening round of the County Championship and discuss Rob Key's status as the frontrunner for the vacant England men's director of cricket job. At the end of the show, they pick their 'Uncapped County Championship XI of the Century'. They also celebrate Anya Shrubsole's career after England's 2017 World Cup final hero announced her retirement from the international game at the age of 30. Mark Butcher calls in to give his view on Ravichandran Ashwin's controversial tactical retirement in the IPL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The panel discuss Australia's dominance in women's cricket and how England and the rest of the world can possibly catch up, after Meg Lanning's side won their third consecutive world title. Mark Butcher brands the domestic schedule "horrendous", explains why producing quality pitches is so hard, and gives his take on the race to be the ECB's managing director of England men's cricket. There's a bumper County Championship preview, featuring an interview with Rory Burns, and title and promotion predictions. The panel also look at Babar Azam, who starred in Pakistan's ODI series win over Australia, and try and work out just how good he is. Wisden Cricket Monthly promotion: Listeners can try Wisden Cricket Monthly for just £9.99. To get your first three print issues for £9.99 and save 39% on the cover price, go to wisdensubs.com and enter offer code POD22. To get twice as many issues but none of the paper, go to bit.ly/wcwpod6 You’ll save a whopping 58% on the single issue price and be all set for the next six mo

After England's heavy defeat at Grenada extended their winless run, Mark Butcher, Phil Walker, Ben Gardner and Yas Rana ponder what comes next for England and specifically Joe Root's tenure as Test captain. They run through the possible candidates to replace Root should he leave the role. There's also discussion on what went right for West Indies and the women's World Cup after India's dramatic exit from the competition. Taha Hashim joins the show over Zoom to give his thoughts on the final Pakistan-Australia Test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's show comes directly from Barbados. Mark Butcher talks to Yas Rana to give his immediate thoughts on the game from the ground before a panel of Yas, Ben Gardner and freelance journalist Cameron Ponsonby go over the Test, discussing a particular encouraging debut from Saqib Mahmood, Kraigg Brathwaite and Jack Leach's pair of record-breaking displays of endurance, the future of Chris Woakes, a return to form for Ben Stokes and much more. Ben provides an update on the women's World Cup and wonders whether it's the most exciting 50 over World Cup – men's or women's – there has ever been. If you want to hear our reaction to the Karachi Test that saw Babar Azam play one of the all-time great fourth innings knocks, head to our Wisden Cricket YouTube channel where Taha Hashim provides his thoughts on the game from Karachi. Ben and Yas are in Barbados courtesy of sportsbreaks.com, who offer personalised ticket, travel and hotel packages centred around the biggest, most talked about sporting events in the wo

Ben Gardner and Yas Rana review the first Test of the West Indies-England series, one that saw Jonny Bairstow score his second Test hundred of 2022 and Zak Crawley register his second Test century of his career.. Yas is joined by Taha Hashim later in the show who looks back at the five days in Rawalpindi that were worth celebrating even if the cricket didn't always thrill. Ben and Yas also talk about the women's World Cup, India-Sri Lanka and the latest updates to the Laws of the game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The panel pay tribute to the life of Shane Warne, who died suddenly at the age of 52 late last week. Warne's former Australia and Hampshire teammate Simon Katich joins the show from the 15:36 mark to share his memories of one of the all-time greats, while Mark Butcher tells us what it was like to face and share a commentary box with Warne from 33:20. From 49:12, we read out some of the many touching tributes we've been sent over the last few days. RIP, Shane Warne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carlos Brathwaite joins the show to help preview the West Indies-England Test series that's about to get underway. Carlos also gives a fascinating insight on the health of the game in the Caribbean using insights from his own career that has taken him all over the world. Mark Butcher tells us how he's hoping England will change in the West Indies while pod regulars Phil Walker, Jo Harman and Yas Rana get involved with it all, as well as rounding up all the latest news from the international game, including the warm-up games for the Women's World Cup and the build-up to Australia's first Test series in Pakistan in 24 years. Legendary cricket writer Scyld Berry also joins us towards the end of the show to tell us about his life covering England Tests abroad and also to talk about his new book, Beyond The Boundaries: Travels On England Cricket Tours. You can buy the book here: https://wisden.com/shop/beyond-the-boundaries-travels-on-england-cricket-tours Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com

The panel look back at all the major news from the last week in international cricket, including Joe Root's decision to bat at three for England, Rohit Sharma's appointment as India Test captain, the dual dropping of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, New Zealand's emphatic win over South Africa, a thrilling ODI between Bangladesh and Afghanistan and much more. The panel, joined by women's cricket journalist and historian Raf Nicholson, preview the upcoming women's World Cup from the 18-minute mark. From 1:12:09, Ben Duckett – one of the most consistent all-format batters in England – joins the show after a challenging winter away in Australia and Pakistan. The latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly is available at https://wisden.com/shop/wisden-cricket-monthly-issue-53 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As well as covering the headlines from the international game over the past week, Phil Walker, Jo Harman and Yas Rana react to Stuart Broad's column in the Daily Mail in which he voiced his frustration at his omission from the England squad for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean. The panel also discuss some of the new/returning faces in that squad and there's a recording of Yas' interview with England newbie Alex Lees from the 31:57 mark. Mark Butcher joins the show from the 47:43 mark to give his thoughts on the possible impact of an expanded IPL and why we should be excited by Will Smeed after his 99 in the PSL. Phil, Jo and Yas spend the last section of the show answering a range of questions from the listeners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The panel react to a hectic week in English cricket that saw two of their all-time greats dropped from the Test squad, three senior off-field figures in the men's game lose their jobs, the women's side go winless in the Ashes and their U19 side lose a World Cup final. There's also discussion on Justin Langer's resignation from the Australia men's coach job, India's ODI series against West Indies, Jason Roy's PSL form and much more. Freelance cricket writer Tanya Aldred joins the show from the 1hr 7 mark to discuss the Cricket For Climate initiative that was recently launched by Pat Cummins and a number of other big names from Australia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Podcast regulars Taha Hashim, Phil Walker and Yas Rana reflect on a classic Ashes Test at Canberra that had it all, the backlash to cricket's most recent DCMS hearing and a host of encouraging performances from English cricketers in franchise leagues around the world. Elsewhere, Mark Butcher gives his thoughts on England's series defeat in the Caribbean, Alec Stewart's rumoured link to the England head coach role and off stump guards. Sportsbreaks.com are offering personalised ticket, travel and hotel packages around the Barbados Test Match from 16th - 20th March this year. To find out more and to book your package, head to sportsbreaks.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An action-packed episode this week. Mark Butcher shares his views on the first two T20Is between England and West Indies in the Caribbean, before the panel of Jo Harman, Ben Gardner, Phil Walker and Yas Rana discuss the T20I-leg of the women's Ashes and pick an 18-man squad for England's upcoming Test tour to West Indies. There is also an interview with author Duncan Stone about his new book, 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket.' The selection discussion begins at 35:10 The interview with Stone begins at 1:19:14 You can buy his book at: https://repeaterbooks.com/product/different-class-the-untold-story-of-english-cricket. Head to Sportsbreaks.com to book your holiday package for the Barbados Test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Podcast regulars Mark Butcher, Jo Harman, Ben Gardner, Phil Walker and Yas Rana react to the latest England batting collapse, this time one that gave Australia their 13th win in their last 15 home Ashes Tests. They answer your questions on how England can make improvements both in the short and long term. There is also discussion on Virat Kohli's resignation as India Test captain and India's 2-1 series defeat in South Africa. Head to Charles Tyrwhitt: https://www.charlestyrwhitt.com/uk/home To book your holiday to Barbados to watch England's upcoming Test there, head to: https://bit.ly/3K0VTPv To buy the latest Wisden Cricket Monthly, head to wisden.com/shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Phil Walker, Taha Hashim and Yas Rana look ahead to the Hobart Test - the fifth and final encounter of the 2021/22 men's Ashes. Taha - after speaking to Kent head coach Matt Walker – gives us the lowdown of what to expect from Sam Billings the red-ball cricketer, Phil looks ahead to the women's Ashes and Yas rounds up everything that's been happening in the international game over the past week or so. The panel also pick their out-of-the-box England captaincy suggestions as well as their all-time favourite comeback centuries in international cricket. Across the course of the Ashes we've been working in partnership with Charles Tyrwhitt. Want to start the year wearing something sharp? Charles Tyrwhitt has a collection of smart-casual menswear all now with an extra 10% off their current sale using code WISDEN10. If you're interested in heading to Barbados for England's upcoming Test there, head to: https://bit.ly/34vF0vU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Butcher, Ben Gardner, Taha Hashim and Yas Rana share their thoughts on the most competitive Test of the series where England battled hard to just about escape from Sydney with a draw. The panel will discuss South Africa's win over India at The Wanderers and Bangladesh's historic win in New Zealand on a bonus episode later this week. Across the course of the Ashes we've been working in partnership with Charles Tyrwhitt. Want to start the year wearing something sharp? Charles Tyrwhitt has a collection of smart-casual menswear all now with an extra 10% off their current sale using code WISDEN10. That's code WISDEN10 to get an extra 10% off their January sale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices