The Test Match Special team bring you the very best cricket reaction, insight & analysis.
Plus the No Balls podcast with Kate Cross and Alex Hartley brings a fine balance of nonsense and cricket as they welcome some of the biggest names in the sport.
After his heroics against India, England's Jason Roy takes us inside the mind of an opener. Graeme Swann and Jeremy Coney look ahead to England against New Zealand. We reflect on Sri Lanka beating West Indies in a thriller at Chester-le-Street with Sir Curtly Ambrose, and you'll hear from captain Heather Knight as England prepare to face Australia in the Women's Ashes.
Jonathan Agnew, Michael Vaughan, Prakash Wakankar, Vic Marks and Andy Zaltzman discuss England’s crucial 31-run win over India at Edgbaston in the Cricket World Cup. Meanwhile, Aggers chats to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and we make further inroads into our quest to find a listener to this podcast from every country in the world.
The pressure is mounting on England after Pakistan squeezed past Afghanistan on day 31 – Aatif Nawaz and Daniel Norcross were watching at Headingley. Meanwhile Eoin Morgan joins the podcast to talk about Jonny Bairstow’s comments, Jason Roy’s fitness and the pitch at Edgbaston. Australia win yet again, this time against New Zealand at Lord’s, and we make progress in our efforts to find a listener to this podcast from every country in the world.
As a swarm of bees interrupts play at the Cricket World Cup, Charles Dagnall, Scott Read and ex-England assistant coach Paul Farbrace review South Africa's victory over Sri Lanka. It was a result which leaves Sri Lanka on the brink of elimination from the tournament. Jos Buttler speaks to Jonathan Overend as England's crunch game with India edges ever nearer. Ex-New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney and former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie assess the significance of Australia against New Zea...
West Indies are knocked out of the World Cup after being comprehensively beaten by India at Old Trafford - Prakash Wakankar and Curtley Ambrose join Simon Mann to give their reaction. And with India still unbeaten and looking in fine fettle, can England get the result they desperately need on Sunday? James Anderson and Kris Srikkanth give their views on the crunch match at Edgbaston. Anderson also reflects on the career of Marcus Trescothick who has announced his retirement from all forms of cri...
Jeremy Coney and Aatif Nawaz join Charles Dagnall to reflect on Pakistan keeping their hopes of a World Cup semi-final place alive as they moved to within a point of England with a six-wicket victory over New Zealand. Also hear from Graeme Swann on England's troubles and Joe Root looks ahead to his side's vital match against India on Sunday.
Michael Vaughan says England turned up at Lord's this morning with the look of a side who thought they could lose the game. Is the pressure of tournament cricket and the favourites tag really beginning to tell on Eoin Morgan's side? He says not, but that confidence needs to be re-built. India await at Edgbaston on Sunday by which time England could find themselves on the outside looking in for a semi-final qualification spot. You'll also get the post-match thoughts of Alec Stewart and Jim Maxwel...
Sir Curtly Ambrose and Robin Smith explain the arts of both bowling fast, and facing pace. Curtly tells us that it’s all about building up a reputation, whilst Robin says that it helps to imagine a line half way down the pitch. Plus Ebony Rainford Brent joins us in place of Tuffers to speak about where England went wrong against Sri Lanka, and what they need to do against Australia. And we hear a from a very prescient Virat Kohli, with his pre-tournament prediction.
Eoin Morgan joins the pod on the eve of England and Australia at Lord's. We ask if England will stick to their guns after the Sri Lanka defeat, look ahead to some of the tournament's most impressive fast bowlers going to head-to-head, and hear from Paul Farbrace on how to get David Warner out. Meanwhile, Bangladesh take care of business and beat Afghanistan thanks to you know who, Shakib Al Hasan, and there's a spectacular meltdown from Usman Shinwari at being stranded on 49.
After a fifth defeat in seven matches South Africa become only the second side to be eliminated from the World Cup. We ask why they've been so sub-par. Predictably Pakistan bring their A-game in a backs-to-the-wall scenario, but do they have enough to mount a late assault on the semis? We hear from Jofra Archer as we look ahead to a massive match between England and Australia, plus Jimmy Anderson reflects on the 2007 tournament in the Caribbean where England failed to qualify from the Super 8s a...
Two thrilling matches to recap as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami combine at the death to deny Afghanistan arguably the greatest upset in World Cup history before six-hitting machine Carlos Brathwaite was a metre shy of completing what looked an impossible chase for the West Indies against New Zealand.
The Cricket World Cup cat is well and truly amongst the tournament pigeons as England suffer a second defeat of the group stage to bring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh back into the semi-final qualification picture. Michael Vaughan puts the shock loss down to failing to play intelligent cricket, Paul Farbrace says they didn't adapt to a slower pitch, and Eoin Morgan admits Sri Lanka would've been robbed had Ben Stokes seen his team home. No blame apportioned to England's bowlers for the result, we get...
The new-look, less cavalier David Warner hits the highest individual score of the World Cup so far, his 166 the key to Australia's 48-run win over Bangladesh. Jim Maxwell thinks the new approach is at least partly injury enforced, Graeme Swann says he's trying to be a nicer guy to win people over within the game. Either way, is he a better batsman now? And what might that mean for the Ashes? We check in with Moeen Ali ahead of his 100th ODI appearance for England as they prepare for Sri Lanka. H...
Jeremy Coney and Natalie Germanos join Simon Mann to look back on Kane Williamson’s superb century that helped New Zealand past South Africa in the tournament’s closest finish so far. We hear from Williamson himself, as well as a very disappointed Faf du Plessis. Plus, in a podcast exclusive, Chris Woakes explains just what goes through his mind when he bowls the final over of an innings, especially when defending a total. We also hear from former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who has a warnin...
England have gone top of the World Cup standings thanks to an astonishing blitz of six hitting from Eoin Morgan, writing himself into the record books in the process. And whilst it was Afghanistan's bowlers on the receiving end of the barrage, we discuss their remarkable journey from the sport being banned by the Taliban to mixing it with the best on the world stage.
Tuffers, Michael and Chappers are joined by former England batsman Robin Smith, who speaks very frankly an openly about his mental struggles when playing and after retiring, including depression, alcoholism and contemplating suicide. If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
We're in the England camp ahead of the match with Afghanistan; Eoin Morgan refuses to rule out a return for the axed Alex Hales, whilst Mark Wood gives us the lowdown on his TV schedule. Curtly Ambrose is withering in his assessment of the West Indies' bowling as Bangladesh knock off the second highest run chase in World Cup history, and on its twentieth anniversary we replay the unbelievable finish to the 1999 semi-final at Edgbaston between Australia and South Africa.
A Pakistani supporter may have arrived at the ground on an beautiful horse but there was nothing elegant about the performance of the men in green at Old Trafford. Former star all-rounder turned Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted before the match that Sarfaraz must be bold and bat first....he put India in and Rohit, Rahul and Kohli all made him pay. Graeme Swann and Prakash Wakankar give their assessment of the match whilst Aatif Nawaz has another chastening loss to his big rivals to stew on. You...
All eyes on Old Trafford for the most eagerly awaited match of the tournament as India and Pakistan face off. In this pod you’ll hear from Waqar Younis on what it’s like to play and coach in these games, plus a brilliant account of what this fixture means to fans with Doosra podcast host Aatif Nawaz. Meanwhile, Australia have gone to the top of table with victory over Sri Lanka. We speak to Jason Gillespie about Mitchell Starc’s brilliance, David Warner’s confusing scoring rates and why he think...
Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook and Jonathan Agnew reflect on England’s ‘perfect performance’ to beat West Indies by 8 wickets, but there are concerns about injuries to Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy. We hear from Joe Root, who scored a century and took two wickets, as well as Morgan and an angry Fazeer Mohammed tells us why he’s had enough of West Indies’ ‘showboating’. Glenn Hoddle joins the podcast to talk about his love of cricket, and what it was like to face Joel Garner. And Andy Zaltzman ge...
Alastair Cook chats England's task against the West Indies, whether or not Jason Roy could feature in the Ashes, the sleepless nights he had when leading England, and is joined by old friend Graeme Swann to reminisce about their days in the slip cordon. Plus, we check in with Eoin Morgan to ask if there's been a whip round for Moeen and his wife after the birth of their child. And as the quest for a listener in every country in the world hots up, we do our best to pronounce some of the lesser-kn...
Finally a day with no rain! David Warner’s brilliant century helped Australia squeeze past Pakistan in a thrilling match in Taunton, despite a superb bowling display from Mohammad Amir – Waqar Younis tells us just what he thinks it will do for Amir, plus Michael Vaughan, Geoff Lemon and Aatif Nawaz give their thoughts on a brilliant match. Trevor Bayliss explains to us why he hasn’t been watching any non-England games at the World Cup, and we continue our quest to find a listener to the podcast ...
Yet more rain means Sri Lanka and Bangladesh never even take the field but fortunately Graeme Swann and Paul Farbrace are in superb form as they guide us through what happens in the dressing room during rain delays, how not to coach a player and the mentality of a successful spin bowler. Plus, Dan Norcross and Andy Zaltzman debate the pros and cons of moving the tournament to Mauritania.
Pacemen Curtly Ambrose and Tymal Mills talk about their careers and how fast bowling has evolved and former Protea captain Graeme Smith discusses the mess South Africa find themselves in following AB de Villiers' attempted retirement U-turn.
Michael Vaughan says India are the best team in the tournament so far after a 36-run win over Australia. We try to make sense of the conservative Aussie chase, particularly from David Warner, and ask if it's only a matter of time until a sticky bail incident proves pivotal in the outcome of a match. Plus, we speak to Jimmy Anderson about his first World Cup experience with England back in 2003 when a decision to boycott their match in Zimbabwe ultimately cost them a place in the Super Sixes....
Jonathan Agnew and Michael Vaughan react to England piling on their highest World Cup total in a 106-run defeat of Bangladesh, whilst New Zealand comfortably defeated Afghanistan. We also hear from James Anderson and Paul Farbrace as they reflect on England's elimination from the World Cup four years ago.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka fall foul of only the third washout in World Cup history so we speak to Eoin Morgan as England prepare to face their bogey side Bangladesh. We discover Mark Wood's been to Harry Potter World and Tymal Mills tells us about Jofra Archer’s many variations. Plus, we speak to the only English coach in the whole tournament.
Nathan Coulter-Nile with the bat then Mitchell Starc with the ball earn Australia victory, their tenth ODI win on the spin. The West Indies may have come up short today but we get the inside story on this rejuvenated side with Curtly Ambrose and their recent Head Coach Stuart Law. We also hear from Liam Plunkett on diet, match preparation, and why he's given up alcohol.
India's tournament is up and running with Sharma, Chahal and Bumrah all in top form. We discuss Dhoni's role as the team's invaluable 'CPU', why South Africa's challenge still hasn't got going, and after his chopper flew over the Hampshire Bowl during play we ponder what kind of cricketer Donald Trump might be.
Jeremy Coney and Mel Jones join Simon Mann in a soggy Cardiff as Sri Lanka edge past Afghanistan. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood try to identify which of their teammates are Beliebers, which like Friends, and which like Made in Chelsea, based on old tweets. And will we ever see Dale Steyn in a South Africa shirt again? He’s out of the World Cup, but India are finally about to make their debut.
