The weekly cricket show from BBC Sport in association with ABC and Akashvani.
To mankad or not to mankad? Why a controversial mode of dismissal named after an Indian player from the 1940s has rocked the cricket world this week. In our World Cup countdown, we'll recall how Pakistan stunned England to win the tournament in 1992. And the Aussie-born German international who wants to make cricket Europe's biggest summer team sport.
We're starting our countdown to the men's Cricket World Cup. We'll hear from Grant Elliott, who takes us into his mind in the moments before he hit the six that took New Zealand into their first ever final. We'll also look ahead to the start of the Indian Premier League - and visit a project in India that's sending players to the Street Child World Cup. Photo: Grant Elliott (Getty Images)
After beating India 3-2, are Australia peaking in time for the men's World Cup? It's a big week for Irish cricket with their first overseas Test match and the launch of a new European Twenty20 league. And meet the fireman from Western Australia whose new invention promises to revolutionise backyard cricket.
Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose on his unlikely reinvention as a ballroom dancer in Australian TV show Dancing with the Stars. Plus, we meet the man at the centre of cricket's fight against corruption. Alex Marshall, head of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, speaks to us from Sri Lanka, one of several cricket-playing countries where match-fixing is not a criminal offence. (Photo: Siobhan Power and Curtly Ambrose Credit: Network 10)
The incredible rebirth of Sri Lankan cricket. Embarrassed by England and thrashed in Australia, how did Sri Lanka become the first Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa? Former all-rounder Russel Arnold has his say. Plus what's happened to the England women's team? World champions in 2017 - and yet struggling to qualify automatically for the defence of their crown in 2021. Photo: Oshada Fernando (Getty Images)
With fewer than 100 days to go until the Cricket World Cup, we'll hear from the great West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, who lifted the inaugural trophy in 1975. He is unhappy that the tournament has not developed into a truly global event. Plus, former England captain Nasser Hussain tells us why he thinks the hosts and favourites can finally win the World Cup at the 12th time of asking. (Photo: Joe Root in Barbados. Credit: Getty Images)
This week, West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel was banned for four ODIs after comments made to Joe Root. The panel discuss the incident which overshadowed England's victory in St Lucia. From Aussie Rules football to international cricket - hear from Australian rising star Jhye Richardson. And there are ten overseas star players that play in both the Women's Big Bash League and the Kia Super League. Even though Rachel Priest plays cricket all over the world, she doesn't represent her nation anymor...
West Indies are back - but for how long? Does the trouncing of England truly herald a second coming for the former giants of the game? Plus former Australia opener Chris Rogers weighs up the strengths and weaknesses of England and Australia six months before the Ashes. And the great Antarctic cricket bat mystery. Photo: John Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite celebrate (Getty Images)
As Australia host Sri Lanka in Canberra, we ask why it's taken so long for the capital city of a cricket-mad nation to stage a Test match. Plus David Capel recalls England's landmark victory over the West Indies in Jamaica in 1990. And the All Blacks take on the Black Caps in New Zealand. Photo: England celebrate in Jamaica (Getty Images)
English cricketer Billy Cookson on the car crash in Australia that almost cost him his life and his long journey to recovery in a hospital thousands of miles from home. Plus, news and views from the Gabba in Brisbane where a new-look Australia are taking on Sri Lanka. And as Joe Root leads England in the West Indies, his predecessor Alastair Cook speaks about his development as a Test captain. Photo: Car (Victoria Police) and Billy Cookson (Alison Mitchell)
South Africa's AB de Villiers explains why he thinks playing in Pakistan is worth the risk - and leaves the door slightly ajar for a World Cup return. Plus, three former Pakistan captains give their views on the team's recent slump. And has India's MS Dhoni saved his World Cup place? Photo: AB de Villiers (Getty Images)
As India complete the first ever Test series victory in Australia, Alison Mitchell speaks to former India batsman Aakash Chopra and Jim Maxwell runs the rule over the new faces in Australia's squad to play Sri Lanka. Plus West Indies interim coach Richard Pybus speaks to Stumped reporter Sam Sheringham about the size of his task as the Windies prepare to host England. Photo: Virat Kohli (Getty Images)
Ailson Mitchell and Jim Maxwell are at the Sydney Cricket Ground as India take on Australia in the final Test. We speak to a relieved Dale Steyn after the South Africa fast bowler ended his three-and-a-half year wait to become his country's record Test wicket-taker. And we'll be joined by Smriti Mandhana, the Indian batting star and recently crowned women's cricketer of the year. Photo: Chesteshwar Pujara (Getty Images)
Cricket's newest Test nations face an exciting 2019 after their historic debuts. We'll tell the stories behind Ireland and Afghanistan's journeys to Test cricket. Plus former Ireland international Niall O'Brien and Afghan journalist Emal Pasarly on the next steps in cricket for their respective countries. Picture: Afsar Zazai (AFP) & Kevin O'Brien (Getty Images)
As Australia level the series with India in Perth, former Australia batsman Ed Cowan analyses the spat between captains Tim Paine and Virat Kohli. Plus Dwayne Bravo on the West Indies' love affair with Twenty20 cricket. Picture: Virat Kohli and Tim Paine (Getty Images)
One Test down, and it is advantage India Down Under. In a thrilling final day in Adelaide, India claimed victory - their first on Australian soil since 2008. The Stumped team analyse the action and savour what looks to be a Test series for the ages. Can India go on to do something special? Or will Australia stamp out their ball-tampering demons in their first home Test since the scandal in March? We hear from Australian greats Allan Border and Mitchell Johnson, along with Indian batter Aakash Ch...
This week’s episode comes from Adelaide as Australia take on India in their first home Test since their ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year. Alison Mitchell is joined by Harsha Bhogle and Jim Maxwell in the Adelaide Oval commentary box as they reflect on the action so far.
Australia women's captain Meg Lanning reflects on their dominant victory over England in the World Twenty20 final. Plus, as cricket makes a bid for inclusion in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa's Paul Adams remembers his team's gold medal in the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: South Africa celebrate 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medal (Getty)
Reaction to the opening exchanges between Australia and India as the Aussies name their squad for the first two Tests. Are safety concerns and lack of opportunities in schools limiting the take-up of cricket among girls in India? Plus, we meet 30-year-old New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel, who inspired his team to one of the closest victories in Test history. Photo: Ajaz Patel (Getty Images)
Australia have their fourth World Twenty20 title in sight - we hear from Ellyse Perry on how the women's team have bypassed the fiasco involving the scathing cultural review on Cricket Australia. This week, Australia fast bowler John Hastings retired because of a bleeding lung condition and we hear from England spinner Jack Leach on coping with Crohn's disease. Picture - Ellyse Perry (Getty Images)
It's being called a global epidemic. More allegations of match-fixing at the highest level of cricket. But why aren't the players implicated by Al Jazeera being named, and what more can be done to cut the link between the fixers and the players? Plus - as one great bowler prepares to call time on his career, another announces himself on the game's biggest stage.
In an in-depth interview first broadcast in 2018, Australian legend Shane Warne looks back at his cricketing career, from taking 708 wickets in 145 Tests for Australia to bowling the most famous delivery of all time: the Ball of the Century. Image: Shane Warne (Credit: BBC)
Australia look to repair relationships and build bridges from the cheating scandal that rocked the sport - we discuss Australia's new look squad as they face Pakistan in a two Test series in the UAE. We also look ahead to the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League with rising star, Nepal's international Sandeep Lamichhane and we speak to Chris Carter who has decided to give up a career in cricket to become a pilot. Picture - Tim Paine (Credit - Getty Images)
Charu Sharma, Alister Nicholson and Natalie Germanos ask whether Moeen Ali "Osama" revelation changes the way cricketers behave out in the field? Xhosa-speaking South Africans have been playing cricket for more than 160 years. But only now can they do so in their mother tongue. And we find out how a new cricket initiative is aiming to increase female participation from the South Asian community. (Photo - Moeen Ali. Credit - Getty Images)
After being cleared of affray outside a Bristol nightclub, should England cricketer Ben Stokes play in the third Test against India which starts on Saturday? The England and Wales Cricket Board will now decide whether they will punish Stokes further - and if so, what would be the appropriate sanction? We also ask, what more can be done to attract black cricketers to play the sport? And would Alison Mitchell be tempted to feature in a dancing contest in India? Picture - Ben Stokes (Credit - Getty...
In 1877, England played their first ever Test match - 141 years on - they have become the first nation to reach 1000 matches in the longest format of the game - we reflect on England's Test history with cricket journalist Simon Wilde who has written a book called England: The Biography, the story of English Cricket 1877-2018. Plus find out how Imran Khan went from a cricketing icon to potentially becoming Pakistan's prime minister. Picture - Joe Root and Virat Kohli (Credit - Getty Images)...
England broke their own world record for the highest one-day international total, making 481 runs off 50 overs against Australia at Trent Bridge. In professional cricket, only Surrey have got closer to 500, when they scored 496 at the Oval and only New Zealand Women's team have scored more in an ODI, when they hit Ireland for 490 earlier this month. We ask, which team will reach the 500 mark first? The Acting Chief Executive Officer of Cricket South Africa, Thabang Moroe, believes that the count...
It's a nation that has been torn apart by decades of war but after a long long wait, finally Afghanistan are playing their first ever Test match against India - Our reporter Sam Sheringham is in India to find out about Afghanistan's remarkable journey. The Afghan Cricket chairman Atif Mashal has been telling us what it means to be part of cricket's most exclusive club. Bangladesh's women's team pulled off a dramatic three-wicket victory in the final against six-time champions India to clinch the...
One-hundred and fifty years ago, 13 Aboriginals became the first Australia team to tour overseas when they travelled to England. Author Greg de Moore tells the remarkable story of how the Aboriginal team was created - which he believes is the most important part of Australian cricket's history. To mark the anniversary, the best Aboriginal players from Australia are back in England this summer, to trace the steps of those pioneers in 1868. Hannah Darlington is one of them and she joins us at The ...
Pakistan out-fought, out-skilled and outplayed England in the first Test at Lords to silence their critics - we ask how has Mickey Arthur transformed a team usually mocked for their fielding to showing England how to win in English conditions. We hear from legendary pace bowler Waqar Younis. In contrast, where is it going wrong for England? Former England batsman James Taylor speaks to Alison Mitchell about how can Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root turn their form around having gone eight Tests withou...
