In this episode of the show, Stu and Baldy discuss the Black Caps test squad to face Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, plus the contractual situation facing NZC now that Devon Conway and Finn Allen have stepped away from the security of a central contract. We also look back at the quality bowling on show in South Africa’s series win against the West Indies, as well as the impact of Ben Stokes’s injury on the upcoming England v Sri Lanka series. We begin with a conversation about the potential dilemma facing New Zealand Cricket with the continued rise of franchise tournaments and their clash with the NZ home summer. Devon Conway has moved to a casual contract, Finn Allen has opted to play for the Perth Scorchers – but is it actually a dilemma? We then move to the West Indies where South Africa secured a valuable series win to keep their World Test Championship chances alive. There’s praise for Jayden Seales and Keshav Maharaj in particular, and we wonder whether the Proteas will regret not sending a full strength team to New Zealand in 2023. To round out the show, we look ahead to the upcoming England v Sri Lanka series, which will see Ollie Pope captain the home side following a hamstring injury that will keep him out of the rest of the summer. Who will replace Stokes in the starting XI? Will England’s style change at all? And can Sri Lanka pose any problems or will this be another straight sets win? We'll be back again in about a week 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 1:55 Devon Conway and Finn Allen step away from NZC central contracts 4:00 How concerned should New Zealand be? 12:45 South Africa edge West Indies 1-0 in Test series 20:20 Jayden Seales and the impressive seamers on show 22:35 Keshav Maharaj's importance 24:25 A word on Kagiso Rabada 27:10 Can South Africa make the WTC final? 28:40 England v Sri Lanka - will it be plain sailing for the home side? 32:25 The impact of Ben Stokes' injury and selection decisions 40:50 Ollie Pope the captain 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. This is Part 2 of this discussion, so if you haven't yet listened to Part 1, go back in your feed and start there to hear our definition of 'influential', and the wider group of candidates we considered. In this second half of our discussion, we narrow down the debate and each decide on our top 4 cricketers to etch into stone for the Top Order Podcast 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, Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan as we try to evaluate who 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. We'll be back again in about a week 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 - the categories 5:50 Chris Gayle v Kieron Pollard 12:40 Brendon McCullum v Andrew Strauss 23:40 MS Dhoni v Virat Kohli 30:30 Ellyse Perry, Lasith Malinga, Rashid Khan, Adam Gilchrist 39:45 Who makes Mount Rushmore? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

On this episode of the show, we've got one eye on the ICC Men's World Cup as we discuss England v New Zealand, Australia v South Africa and the Pakistan v India Cup. The Black Caps named their World Cup squad this week, with spots for Will Young, Mark Chapman and Jimmy Neesham, but Finn Allen and Adam Milne miss out. Did they get the balance right? Through the lens of the current ODI series against England, we also take a deeper dive into the squad and how they might line up at the tournament: Who are the key players in the batting lineup and why is it Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell? How will four seamers fit into three spots? Trent Boult is awesome On the England side, questions still remain about Harry Brook and whether he's doing enough to force his way into the squad. Liam Livingstone is putting his hand up, though, as is Gus Atkinson, who is shining among a number of England seamers all fighting for game time. Over in South Africa, the Australians continue to outplay the home side - even ones who weren't initially named in the starting XI. We debate whether Marnus Labuschagne's match-winning performance as a concussion substitute and the hundred that followed will be enough to get himself on the plane to India. We also shine the spotlight on South Africa to ask: Are they serious contenders at this World Cup? The Asia Cup has moved to the Super 4 phase, India and Pakistan played a one-dayer over two days and Virat Kohli scored his 47th ODI hundred. There was a hundred too for KL Rahul, who returned from injury to strengthen his case for a spot in the starting XI, and high praise from us for Kuldeep Yadav, who has roared back into form over the past 12 months and now looks primed to have a big impact on the World Cup. We'll be back again next week to start our World Cup previews, but in the meantime, 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 Shane Bond, Finn Allen, Jeetan Patel, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, 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

On this episode of the show, we travel around the world to discuss England v Black Caps, Australia v South Africa and the first few Asia Cup games. The first three T20s between England and New Zealand weren't even moderately close, but there were still plenty of talking points: How aggressive will Finn Allen be at the World Cup? And how consistent does he need to be across the tournament for his overall performance to be treated as a success? Is Adam Milne in better form than Lockie Ferguson? Kane Williamson is going to the World Cup - what does that mean for Will Young, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham and Rachin Ravindra? Is all the chopping and changing of players an issue for the Black Caps? How can England make room for Harry Brook in their squad? And what role will Gus Atkinson play? Australia have dominated their T20 series with South Africa, and we look at which of the Aussie fringe players are pushing hard for a World Cup role. Does Marcus Stoinis' success with the ball ease any concerns about Australia's 5th bowling option? Will Tanveer Sangha play a significant part in the World Cup? How much pressure is David Warner under? Are South Africa just tricking everyone? And have the major white-ball tournaments taken on extra significance for South Africa now that they appear to have relegated the Test game? The Asia Cup pool stages are underway - Pakistan's bowling attack is still very good, Ishan Kishan has surely locked down India's wicketkeeping spot and we debate whether Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan can provide more threat than banana skins during the upcoming World Cup. We round out the show with more New Zealand news - a new CEO, Corey Anderson's BBL gig and an impressive win against Australia A. We'll be back again next week, but in the meantime, 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 Shane Bond, Finn Allen, Jeetan Patel, Sophie Devine, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Matt Henry, Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, George Dobell 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 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

This week on the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu discuss the return of both Trent Boult and Ben Stokes as the New Zealand and England squads for the Men's ODI World Cup start to take shape. In the first half of the episode, we cover England, and the un-retirement of Ben Stokes, which has made headlines this week. Was Harry Brook unlucky? Will Jofra Archer make a late appearance? And who is Gus Atkinson? As the conversation moves to the Black Caps, we discuss the squad balance needed for Indian conditions and what questions are yet to be answered over the next few weeks as New Zealand take on the UAE and England in T20 and ODI series. How seriously are the selectors looking at Kyle Jamieson? Is there room for both Will Young and Mark Chapman? Which allrounders will make the cut? Plus another edition of Kane Williamson watch and confirmation that South Africa will send a weakened Test side to New Zealand in February 2024. If you'd like take a look at the Taniwha Cricket fundraiser we mentioned on the previous episode, you can find the Givealittle page here. We'll be back again next week, but in the meantime, 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 Wasim Khan, Finn Allen, Dion Nash, Sophie Devine, the Hussey brothers, 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: A few technical difficulties mean the sound levels are a bit lower for the first 16 minutes or so of this episode, and the reason for the delayed release. Aiming to have another episode up by the end of the week.) Recorded on 8 August 2023, Binksy, Baldy and Stu steer away from the short-form leagues to tidy up a few loose ends from the Ashes and discuss some early Men's ODI World Cup news. We debate over-rate penalties, ball changes and David Warner, before Baldy whips out his depth chart (an actual chart with Post-it notes and everything) as the conversation moves to potential Australia and England squads for the next Ashes (which we now realise is in November 2025, not 2024 as stated). In the second half of the episode, Binksy explains why he hasn't enlisted the help of the BCCI to schedule an upcoming barbecue, Stu channels his inner Lloyd Christmas over the latest Kane Williamson injury update, Baldy's depth chart makes another appearance and we outline why India's depth could hurt them as we start to focus our attention on another major ICC event. If you'd like take a look at the Taniwha Cricket fundraiser we mentioned on the show, you can find the Givealittle page here. We'll be back again next week, but in the meantime, 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 Wasim Khan, Finn Allen, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Sophie Devine, 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

Drama, controversy, moral victories, rain, retirement, boring Aussies, Bazball heroes, photos with the urn – even some cricket! The fifth Test of this fascinating Ashes series is in the books, and Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the key moments and storylines from the final Test between England and Australia for 2023. Stuart Broad flipped the bails, announced his retirement and then delivered the fairytale finish that his career deserved as England squared the series 2-2 with a win at The Oval. Was that scoreline a fair result? Why are Australia copping so much criticism? Was it a missed opportunity for both sides? And have England saved Test cricket? There's also praise for Chris Woakes and Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting calls for an investigation and spin even gets a mention as we discuss the performances of Moeen Ali and Todd Murphy as well as the absences of Jack Leach and Nathan Lyon. We'll be back next week with more news and views from all the cricket currently going on 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 & 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 Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Georgia Wareham, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, 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, Binksy, Baldy and Stu recap the rain-affected 4th men's Ashes Test at Old Trafford, discuss a few talking points from the Black Caps' T20 squad to face the UAE and England, plus give a shout out to Virat Kohli for his 29th Test hundred in his 500th international match. Were England robbed? What happened with Australia's team selection? Should Ben Stokes have declared? Is Pat Cummins a good captain? Plus Zak Crawley's dominant display, Mark Wood rockets, Chris Woakes 5-fors, Marnus Labuschange's match-saving hundred, changes and storylines for The Oval and much more from another fascinating instalment of this edition of the men's Ashes. We round out the show by discussing a potential Black Caps debut for Dean Foxcroft and Adi Ashok, as well as the return of Kyle Jamieson for the upcoming T20 tour of the UAE and England. Then we bemoan the continued creep of T20 league cricket, which looks set to impact South Africa's Test tour of New Zealand in the summer of 2024, and Stu continues his year-long apology to Virat Kohli after the King's 29th Test hundred during the second Test between India and the West Indies. We'll be back next week to wrap up the final men's Ashes Test, plus whatever else catches our eyes from all the cricket currently going on 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 & 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 Tim Southee, Mike Hussey, Georgia Wareham, Rachin Ravindra, Sophie Devine, 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, Binksy, Raj and Stu recap the week that was and look ahead to the 4th men's Ashes Test at Old Trafford. We start by discussing India's dominant victory against the West Indies, which saw a big century on Test debut for Yashasvi Jaiswal and a 12-wicket haul for Ravichandran Ashwin. Alick Athanaze offered some glimmers of positivity for the West Indies, but, apart from winning the battle of the uniforms, it was a tough outing for the home side. In New Zealand news, Gary Stead received a contract extension that will see him remain as head coach through to the end of this World Test Championship cycle in 2025. Did this come as a surprise? Were there other candidates in the mix? Should NZC have given more thought to a split coaching role? Or does Stead's outstanding record as coach speak for itself? Attention then turned to the Kiwis on display around the world, including Matt Henry, who starred in the Vitality Blast, combining with Ish Sodhi to bowl Somerset to the title. Is the best still yet to come for Henry in international colours? At Major League Cricket in the USA, Devon Conway scored the first 50 of the tournament, but it was Corey Anderson who had us all wondering what might have been if injuries hadn't disrupted his international career. We give our initial thoughts on the tournament so far, and whether it has the potential to become a significant part of the cricket calendar. We round out the show by looking ahead to the next men's Ashes Test, fresh off Australia securing the women's Ashes with a narrow victory in the second ODI. Both teams have questions around selection, with David Warner, Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh in the spotlight for Australia and an absent Baldy making a case for Michael Neser to play. But will we actually be looking at largely unchanged sides in a few days' time? And will the rain stay away long enough for a result? We'll be back next week with more of the same, including the Tests in England and the West Indies. In the meantime, 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 Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Mike Hussey, Finn Allen, Sophie Devine, 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 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

In this episode of the show, we look back at the first four games of the Super 8 stage at the Men's T20 World Cup, which saw Australia, England, India and South Africa record victories. We start the show by discussing Australia's win against Bangladesh - a game that included a 'Pat trick' as Captain Cummins collected three wickets from three balls across two overs. We also saw Adam Zampa and David Warner continue their good form, and explored Baldy's nervous nature despite Australia's history of success. From there we move to India's game against Afghanistan, which was highlighted by Suryakumar Yadav's impressive fifty and then Jasprit Bumrah reducing Afghanistan to 23-3 in the early stages of their innings. We pile praise on these two T20 stars, and marvel in particular at Bumrah, whose ability to sum up conditions in an instant is second-to-none. Third up in our match review was England's performance against the West Indies. Was it a statement win? How fun is it to watch Jonny Bairstow and Phil Salt in full swing? Do both sides need to make changes to their bowling lineups? And can the West Indies still make the semi-finals? In the fourth and final game covered, we saw South Africa's top order finally hit some form - this time against the USA, despite a strong start from Saurabh Netravalkar. Quinton de Kock got busy, and the Proteas kicked off the Super 8s in style. We round out the show with more praise for the USA, some crystal ball gazing about what the future might hold for them, and also discuss the news that Kane Williamson and Lockie Ferguson are set to decline Black Caps contracts. Is the sky falling for New Zealand? Or could this actually be a good thing? 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. 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 Australia v Bangladesh 7:15 India v Afghanistan 15:48 England v West Indies 26:35 South Africa v USA 37:15 Kane Williamson and Lockie Ferguson decline NZ central contracts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy and Baldy review the second Ashes Test of 2023. Australia won the Test, but who is winning the PR battle? There was controversy galore - from Mitchell Starc’s (non) catch, to the Alex Carey/Jonny Bairstow run out and the reaction of the MCC members at Lord’s - but are all the distractions making it hard to step back and consider which team is actually playing the better cricket? And if Australia continue to win, will it be the end of BazBall? The end of Brendon McCullum? Ben Stokes and Steve Smith provided highlights, Nathan Lyon’s 100th consecutive Test ended with injury and both sides have plenty of questions to consider in the short turnaround before the third match in the series. We’ll be back again next week to review all the action, but please take the time before then 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 are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at growing this channel. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Wasim Khan, Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Jeetan Patel, Colin Munro, Sophie Devine, 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, we cover a lot of ground. From India's Test squad, to the women's and men's Ashes, across to the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and back to New Zealand. We start by discussing India's Test squad for their upcoming tour to the West Indies, which does not include Cheteshwar Pujara, but instead features the young talents of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Was it the right call? More Ashes content follows, as the two series continue to deliver maximum entertainment both on and off the field. We recap a closely fought women's Test, which saw individual highlights for Tammy Beaumont, Sophie Ecclestone, Ash Gardner, Annabel Sutherland and many others, and another Australian victory. On the men's side, it's been non-stop banter. Zak Crawley's predicting a big win for England. Ollie Robinson is claiming a points victory, but Pat Cummins and his Australian side have preferred to let the former players do the majority of the talking. Over in Zimbabwe, it's been a run-fest so far at the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifiers. The home side has been piling on the runs, and are in pole position to nab one of the two remaining 2023 World Cup spots as the Super Six begins. On the other hand, the West Indies' campaign is in tatters after their second loss of the tournament - Logan van Beek's incredible Super Over, in which he plundered 30 from the bowling of Jason Holder, saw The Netherlands home after the scores were tied at 374 (no that's not a typo) at the end of the first 100 overs. To round out the show, we discuss Kane Williamson's social media tease, as well as the impact of Michael Bracewell's injury for the Black Caps' World Cup chances and Leigh Kasperek's return to the White Ferns. We'll be back next week to wrap the second men's Ashes Test between England and Australia, plus the World Cup qualifiers and anything else that grabs our attention across the cricket 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 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 Wasim Khan, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Bharat Sundaresan, Rachin Ravindra, 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 show, we review the first Ashes Test of 2023, which saw Australia defeat England by 2 wickets. Zak Crawley signalled England's intent from the first ball, and from there the game see-sawed back and forth in front of a raucous crowd until Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon combined with the bat to carry Australia across the line. We talk declarations, tactics, leadership, throwing your bat into the air, Australia's number XIs, Ricky Ponting blanking Kevin Pietersen, whether England care more about entertaining than winning and how over the course of one match Australia went from the World Test Champions to the plucky underdogs against the big bad Bazballers. We also discuss the individual performances of Usman Khawaja, Joe Root, Nathan Lyon, Alex Carey and Jonny Bairstow, as well as looking ahead to the second Test at Lord's. We'll be back again next week, most likely with our 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 our recent episodes as well as some selected interviews are available on YouTube. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Wasim Khan, Shane Bond, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Sophie Devine, Tim Southee, Finn Allen, George Dobell 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

In this episode of the show, we look back at the World Test Championship final, which saw Australia defeat India to claim the title. We discuss the selections - most notably India leaving Ravichandran Ashwin on the bench - the toss, the pitch, the over rates, the format and even some of the actual cricket in what proved a fascinating contest, despite Australia holding the upper hand by tea on Day 1. There's praise for the brilliant partnership between Travis Head and Steve Smith, questions about India's decision to bowl Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami for the entire first hour on Day 1, and a conversation about Scott Boland to discover what makes his performances at Test level so impressive. We also touch on the controversy surrounding Cameron Green's catch - and Shubman Gill's reaction - the brilliance of Steve Smith's catch to dismiss Virat Kohli, and completely forget to mention the two fighting knocks by Ajinkya Rahane or the fact that Daniel Vettori made sure at least one New Zealand hand remained on the mace. To round out the show, Stu discusses the talking points from the Black Caps' contract list - most notably the absence of Ajaz Patel and Jimmy Neesham, and potentially some good news for those hoping to see Trent Boult back in black more regularly over the next 12 months. Hot on the heels of this episode, we'll be back again with a full preview of the Ashes. You can also check out our most recent Test Cricket Hall of Fame episode, which featured a discussion about Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to try to answer the question: Who is the greatest Test spinner of all 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 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 also like to watch along as you listen. You can dip back into our conversations with special guests - including Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Rachin Ravindra, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Dion Nash, 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 Top Order Podcast Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we discuss and compare the careers of Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Shane Warne in order to determine who is the greatest ever spinner (and bowler) in the history of Test cricket. With more than 1500 Test wickets between them, it's hard to split these two giants of the game, but we do our best as we look at the stats, plus all the intangibles that made these players special. 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 early next week to preview the Ashes and celebrate the holders of the World Test Championship mace. 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 preview 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

In this episode, we look ahead to the World Test Championship final between India and Australia at The Oval. Is it growing in stature as an ICC event? Or is it losing some lustre second time around? Do Australia care more about this game or the Ashes? Is India in desperate need of an ICC event victory? Can India fit both Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja into their playing XI? Shami & Siraj v Cummins & Starc Smith & Labuschagne v Kohli & Pujara Kishan or Bharat to wear the gloves for India? And who will win? Around the 39.30 mark, we discuss England's victory against Ireland. Is the ease of England's win a red flag for Test cricket? Will Josh Tongue feature in the Ashes? Is golf really that fun? How do you get Ben Duckett to believe in the leave? Plenty of content coming up over the next few weeks - we'll have a review of the World Test Championship final, a full preview of the Ashes, and we've also got some Test Cricket Hall of Fame content dropping on Friday. 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 Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Rachin Ravindra, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Dion Nash, 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, we discuss the IPL final, which saw the Chennai Super Kings defeat the Gujarat Titans, plus the upcoming Test match between England and Ireland. The IPL 2023 final was a thriller, with Ravindra Jadeja hitting 10 off the final two balls of the match to seal yet another title for CSK - a fitting way to end a fantastic tournament. We discuss the key moments and key players - Mohit Sharma's final over, Devon Conway's greatest win, MS Dhoni's status as a legend of Indian cricket, how to get Stephen Fleming on the Black Caps' coaching staff, Hardik Pandya's leadership and much more. To round out the show, we look ahead to Ireland's visit to Lord's, where Barnards Green's Josh Tongue will make his England debut and Josh Little is a notable absentee. We'll be back next week to preview the World Test Championship Final and look ahead to the Ashes. We've also got some Test Cricket Hall of Fame content not far away. 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 Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Rachin Ravindra, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Dion Nash, 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 Top Order Podcast, we look back at the final week of the IPL 2023 round robin - then make our predictions about who will win it all. We start the show by discussing RCB and the Rajasthan Royals - two teams who most likely view this year's tournament as a big missed opportunity. Virat Kohli hit back-to-back hundreds, Faf du Plessis lead the run charts, Yashasvi Jaiswal looks set for international stardom and the smile came back to Yuzvendra Chahal's face, but still these sides failed to reach the playoffs. What went wrong (other than a no ball)? We then cast our eye over the four remaining teams: Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and the Mumbai Indians. Can GT ride Shubman Gill's red-hot form all the way to the title? Will Devon Conway and MS Dhoni be wrapped in a big hug after the final ball is bowled? Can Marcus Stoinis pull off two match-winning innings in a row? Or will Cameron Green's long levers be lifting the trophy when all is said and done? We'll be back next week to wrap up the IPL playoffs and look ahead to the English international summer, including the build-up to the World Test Championship Final and the Ashes. 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 Lockie Ferguson, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Tim Southee, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Rachin Ravindra, 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 talk about the runfest at the IPL, which saw Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh and Shubman Gill post individual scores of 98+ within a span of five days. Throw in impressive performances from players like Glenn Maxwell and Rinku Singh and the question becomes: Is bat dominating ball too much? The Rajasthan Royals would argue otherwise, as their epic collapse against RCB reflected their collapse in this tournament as the playoff picture starts to take shape - with the Gujarat Titans now confirmed as a top 2 side. In the second half of the show, we're back in New Zealand to discuss David White's decision to step down as CEO. On the field, it's been an incredibly successful decade, particularly for the Black Caps, but is NZ Cricket set up well for future success? Or does the road ahead look challenging? Speaking of challenging, the reported contract offer from the Mumbai Indians to Jofra Archer suggests that international cricket's future is under threat perhaps even sooner than many predicted. Throw in the ICC revenue model for the next World Test Championship cycle and you start to wonder how long before cricket's employment model is completely flipped on its head. We round out the show by discussing Rory Burns' hair, and Daryl Mitchell's lack of it. Fortunately, though, what Mitchell lacks in the hair department he makes up for with runs - his hundred for Lancashire a notable performance from the County Championship, where Steve Smith is struggling, Michael Neser is on fire and it looks as though Ben Foakes has not done enough to retain his spot in England's Test side. We'll be back next week as the IPL playoffs and the English international summer take shape, including the build-up to the World Test Championship Final and the Ashes. 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 Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Cam Fletcher, Shane Bond, Georgia Wareham, Barry Richards, Rachin Ravindra, 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, we look back at the final group games at the T20 World Cup, which saw the USA qualify for the next round and the Black Caps limp out of the tournament. We also look ahead to the Super 8 phase, previewing the two groups and the chances of heavy hitters like India, Australia, England and South Africa, as well as the two hosts. We start the show by discussing Australia's win against Scotland, which had Binksy reaching for the tinfoil hat and Baldy drifting off to Tatooine. Brandon McMullen shone, but ultimately a partnership from Marcus Stoinis and Travis Head secured England a spot in the next round. From there we try to wrap our heads around South Africa's performances so far - four wins from four, winning all the big moments, but not reaching 120 yet with the bat. Is this a different South Africa than we've seen before? Is their batting about to fire? Or will their top order woes continue in what looks like a challenging Super 8 group? We discuss the Heinrich Klaasen's run out against Nepal, Binksy hands out the turquoise cap and we attempt to fix a flaw in the DRS procedure that may have cost Bangladesh a victory. In the second half of the show, Stu is put under the microscope to review the Black Caps' early exit from the tournament, and what the next steps are for this side. Has Trent Boult played his final game for New Zealand? Do the Black Caps have a T20 identity? Is it time for change? We finish the show with some praise for the West Indies, with Nicholas Pooran leading the charge against Afghanistan and backed up by a deep batting line up and some quality spin options. There's also talk about India's quiet week/tournament so far, and whether that might actually be great for their prospects over the next 10 days or so as this World Cup makes its way towards a conclusion. We are planning to record regularly throughout the next phases of the tournament, so will hopefully be in your feed every few days. 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 - Super 8 groups confirmed 3:20 Australia do England a big favour by beating Scotland 16:12 Pitches and the jeopardy of the tournament 21:52 South Africa coming through in the clutch! 27:15 DRS controversy 33:17 New Zealand's limp exit - will this be a turning point? 51:12 West Indies looking dangerous 54:35 India's quiet tournament so far - a good thing? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on the show, we look back at a host of topsy-turvy results at the IPL and the Black Caps tour to Pakistan, which finished with a New Zealand victory in the final ODI. For all our jokes about the IPL, the 2023 edition is delivering incredible finish after incredible finish. The only constant is drama - and the Gujarat Titans winning - with all 10 teams still in the hunt for a top 4 spot. The Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals were terrible, now they are the form teams, while the Lucknow Super Giants and Trent Boult's Rajasthan Royals are on the slide. We discuss impactful performances from Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Glenn Phillips, Jos Buttler and Wriddiman Saha - plus the arguably less positive impact made by Virat Kohli. In the second half of the episode, we look at the positives from the Black Caps' ODI series with Pakistan, and ponder the World Cup selection questions that still remain unanswered. Should New Zealand favour specialists like Will Young, Mark Chapman, Tom Blundell and Ish Sodhi? Or lean towards allrounders like Jimmy Neesham, Michael Bracewell and Rachin Ravindra? Has Adam Milne done enough to take Lockie Ferguson's spot as the designated speedster? And does Devon Conway need to pack his wicketkeeping gloves or not? We'll be back next week with more from the IPL and other news from around the world, including the build-up to the World Test Championship Final and the Ashes. 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 Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Dean Foxcroft, Shane Bond, Katey Martin, Dion Nash, 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

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

This week on the show, we take a pause from our regular format to answer listener questions framed around the 2023 edition of the IPL. What's going on with KL Rahul? Why do the Sunrisers Hyderabad suck? Will Sam Curran be England's next T20 captain? Would India A win the World Cup? Is Arshdeep Singh the best death bowler of all time? Can CSK continue their excellent run? Will Ajinkya Rahane Bazball India to the World Test Championship mace? Are the Rajasthan Royals good? Who has the best haircut at the IPL? And much more! We'll be back next week to discuss the Black Caps' tour to Pakistan, the IPL and anything else that takes our fancy from the world of cricket. 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 our latest in-studio recordings. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Finn Allen, Shane Bond, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Wasim Khan, Melinda Farrell, Rachin Ravindra, 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, we start by discussing an action-packed week at the IPL, in which the Rajasthan Royals made their way to the top of the ladder while David Warner's Delhi Capitals remain winless after five games. There's been runs for Devon Conway, Faf du Plessis, Harry Brook and Shimron Hetmeyer, wickets for Rashid Khan, Mark Wood and Yuzvendra Chahal, plus signs of life for the star-studded Mumbai Indians batting line-up as the teams look to separate themselves from a condensed field. Attention then turns to the Black Caps' tour to Pakistan, where at the time of recording the hosts led the T20 series 2-1. Mark Chapman, Rachin Ravindra and Adam Milne are putting their hands up, Matt Henry looks a class above, but a full-strength Pakistan side featuring Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Iftikhar Ahmed launching sixes everywhere is putting pressure on a number of Kiwis hoping to stake a claim for a World Cup spot later in 2023. We also touch on the Brendon McCullum gambling ads and run our eyes over Australia's Ashes squad as the hype begins for what is shaping up to be a fascinating Test series. We'll be back again next week to discuss more Black Caps v Pakistan and all the goings on at the IPL. In the meantime, please 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 now available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel, including our latest in-studio recordings. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Finn Allen, Dion Nash, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Wasim Khan, Melinda Farrell, 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 a brief departure from our This Week in Cricket episodes, Stu is joined by Abdullah Haider from wicketsandruns.net and the Pakistan Cricket Pod to discuss the Black Caps' upcoming white-ball tour to Pakistan. We talk about the Pakistan Cricket coaching staff merry-go-round, Babar Azam's captaincy, who has the best chance to break into the Black Caps' ODI World Cup squad following the injury to Kane Williamson, the return of Shaheen Shah Afridi, whether Martin Guptill's performances at the PSL were enough to push for a return to international cricket, an Ihsanullah breakout and much more as we look ahead to the 5 T20s and 5 ODIs. The Top Order team will be back together again next week to discuss the early part of this tour, plus all the goings on at the IPL. In the meantime, please 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 now available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel, including our latest in-studio recordings. You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Shane Bond, Rachin Ravindra, Katey Martin, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, Wasim Khan, Cole McConchie, 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

On this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at an action-packed week at the IPL, which saw plenty of runs, some very fast bowling and, unfortunately, too many injuries. We also discuss the Black Caps v Sri Lanka series, the conclusion of the Plunket Shield and New Zealand's upcoming tour to Pakistan. The IPL has started with a bang - Virat Kohli sixes, Mark Wood rockets, Jos Buttler catches and incredible crowds - but a serious injury to Kane Williamson looks likely to rule him out of the ODI World Cup later in 2023. We discuss the implications for the Black Caps, whether Hardik Pandya should be seriously considered as India's white-ball captain, if Kyle Mayers has springs inside his bat and whether the Punjab Kings can maintain their impressive start to the tournament. In the second segment of the show we discuss the white-ball series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, which has so far been dominated by a largely second-string Black Caps' side. We talk about Rachin Ravindra's composure, tally up the gains from our skyrocketing Will Young stock and discuss the squads for the upcoming T20 and ODI tour to Pakistan. To round out the show, we touch on the strong finish to the NZ domestic season for Central Districts, a win for NZ A against the Aussies and wonder if Rory Burns running down the wicket is a sign of things to come in the County Championship. We'll be back again soon to discuss more news from the IPL and the Black Caps' tour to Pakistan. 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 now 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, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, Andre Adams, 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

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

The Top Order team are all back together under the bright studio lights this week as we look back at the Black Caps' convincing win against Sri Lanka, which wrapped up a 2-0 series victory. Kane Williamson's magnificence was to the fore once again as he delivered his sixth Test double century, passing 8000 Test runs during yet another milestone performance. Henry Nicholls got in on the act as well, repaying the selectors' faith with a double century of his own on his way to the player of the match award. Then Blair Tickner and Michael Bracewell chipped in, New Zealand won by an innings to make it three Test victories in a row and all the Black Caps' doubters have disappeared, right? To round out the show, we touch on the topsy-turvy India v Australia series, a stunning performance by Sophie Devine for RCB at the WPL and the Major League Cricket draft, which included some familiar names like Corey Anderson, Wanindu Hasaranga and Aaron Finch. 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 catch up on all the other cricket going on around the world, including the WPL and the IPL. In the meantime, 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, 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, Luke Wright and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Shane Bond, Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, Gary Stead, 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

This New Zealand home summer continues to deliver incredible moments, and in this episode of the show Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the Black Caps' final-ball victory against Sri Lanka, plus review the Border-Gavaskar series. Just when we thought we'd seen one of the best Test finishes of all-time, Kane Williamson and Neil Wagner combined to deliver more late drama as the Black Caps (just) got over the line at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. We talk Daryl Mitchell, Matt Henry, run chases, giant hearts, watching while driving and the positives for Sri Lanka as we unpack the emotions and highlights from another incredibly entertaining Test match. In the second half of the show, we review what turned out to be quite a dull finish to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but the series as a whole had a number of talking points. We discuss Virat Kohli, Australia's young spinners, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, the World Test Championship final and much more. 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 review the second Test between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka and catch up on all the other cricket going on around the world. In the meantime, 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, 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, Luke Wright and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Barry Richards, Dion Nash, Katey Martin, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Tim Southee, Sophie Devine, Finn Allen 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, Binksy and Stu look back at Australia's win against India in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, look ahead to the Black Caps v Sri Lanka series and reflect on the first few days of the WPL. Pitches are in the spotlight again in India, but has all the pitch talk overshadowed the excellent performances of Nathan Lyon, Cheteshwar Pujara and Travis Head? The Black Caps are about to start another series, this time against Sri Lanka, with an unchanged side. But does Gavin Larsen's departure signal that change is on the horizon? To round out the show we highlight some of the stars from the opening days of the WPL. There's praise for Hayley Matthews, Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma, we discuss the decision to allow no balls and wides to be reviewed, and what a platform this tournament could be for the growth of women's cricket, particularly in India. We'll be back next week to review the tests between India and Australia, the Black Caps and Sri Lanka and plenty more cricket 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 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, Luke Wright and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, 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, we look back at a busy week of games at the T20 World Cup, which saw India and the USA beat Pakistan, Afghanistan beat New Zealand, plus Australia and South Africa take control of their groups. We start the show by discussing the low-scoring thriller between India and Pakistan, which saw Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and others shine as India roared home to secure a crucial victory in Group A. We discuss Saurabh Netravalkar and USA's Super Over tactics, whether there's still a chance for Pakistan and wonder why teams are unable to turn good batting starts into big scores. In Group B we heap praise on Scotland's performances so far, before turning our attention to the marquee matchup between Australia and England. Baldy enjoyed David Warner's control of the powerplay, Binksy couldn't understand England's tactics and Adam Zampa's consistency came into the spotlight. As attention turned to Group C, it was Stu and Raj's turn to show their frustration, as we looked back at an uncharacteristically poor performance by the Black Caps, particularly in the field. We talked team selection, build up, whether they can bounce back against the West Indies or if their tournament is as good as over already. To round out the show, we try to predict who will make it out of Group D, with South Africa taking charge and the Netherlands perhaps the most impressive of the other sides so far. Can Sri Lanka find a way back? What about Bangladesh? We are planning 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 1:05 Group qualification looking harder to predict than the seedings suggested 2:15 India's win against Pakistan 5:50 Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance 10:45 Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel 14:15 Why are teams not capitalising on strong positions? 17:40 Are Pakistan gone? USA in the box seat 21:10 USA v Pakistan Super Over 23:10 Group B - Scotland top the group 26:10 Australia v England - David Warner controlled the powerplay 28:10 Did England get their tactics wrong? 33:25 Adam Zampa's consistency 36:50 Group C - NZ's shocker against Afghanistan 53:15 Group D - Who will join South Africa in the Super 8s? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu reflect on an incredible Test match between England and New Zealand, which saw the Black Caps win by a single run. We discuss the key moments and players, including Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Ben Foakes, Tom Blundell and, of course, Neil Wagner. The panel also looks ahead to NZ's next assignment, against Sri Lanka, in a week's time. We finish the show with a shout-out to yet another tournament win for the incredible Australian Women's side at the T20 World Cup, and decide that if it weren't for Ravi Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel then the Border-Gavaskar Trophy would probably be quite a closely fought series. We'll be back next week to review the third Test between India and Australia, plus preview the Black Caps v Sri Lanka. 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 recent conversations with Cam Fletcher, Luke Wright and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Matt Henry, Sophie Devine, 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

On this episode of the show, Raj, Baldy and Binksy look back at the Test matches between New Zealand and England, and India and Australia. Fresh off a trip to the Bay Oval, the panel discusses an England side that continued their winning ways against a Black Caps team struggling to put a complete performance together in the Test arena. We talk about the viability of pink-ball Tests, there's more praise for Harry Brook and Ben Duckett - plus the Jimmy Anderson/Stuart Broad duo - before looking ahead to potential events at the Basin Reserve. Attention then turns to India, where Australia put real pressure on the hosts until the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel took charge with bat and ball to propel India to a comfortable victory in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was great to catch up with a number of listeners at Bay Oval - some new, some who have been with us from Day 1. If you do enjoy 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, 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 Dion Nash, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Ish Sodhi, Andre Adams, Lesley Murdoch, 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, Binksy, Baldy and Stu recap the third day of the first Test between the Black Caps and England at Bay Oval. We talk marmalade, world records, Ben Foakes, short-pitched bowling, England's dominance and more Night Hawkery as the Test looks likely to come to a conclusion on day four. We'll be back again around the same time tomorrow to review day three, 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 show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu recap the second day of the first Test between the Black Caps and England at Bay Oval. We talk Tom Blundell's superb hundred, English bowling plans and the Nighthawk as NZ edged their way back into this Test as we approach day 3. We'll be back again around the same time tomorrow to review day three, 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 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

On this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look ahead to the upcoming Test series between the Black Caps and England. We start with squads and selection: NZ's spin options The return of Kyle Jamieson An important series for Neil Wagner Henry Nicholls v Will Young England's many options with bat and ball Then we discuss tactics to consider how the Black Caps will approach BazBall in home conditions. Will they stick with the measured, patient style that brought them success in recent years? Or do they need to fight fire with fire against this new brand of attacking Test cricket? Will the likes of Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Harry Brook change their game at all if the pitch is green and the pink ball starts to move around at the Bay Oval? And finally we make our predictions for what we all hope will be a fascinating series. If you're going to be at the Bay Oval, reach out to us on social media or via email if you'd like to say hello. We're planning to be there for days 1-4 and we'd love to say hi. 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 leave 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 conversations with Cam Fletcher and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Shane Bond, Wasim Khan, Ish Sodhi, Sophie Devine, Barry Richards, 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, 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 Top Order Podcast, we look back at the Black Caps' white-ball tour to India and the England v South Africa ODIs, plus news in the build up to the Women's T20 World Cup and debate recent comments by Ian Smith about New Zealand's Super Smash. There's also a short chat with Jim Morrison from New Zealand over-40s and 50s cricket, with details about upcoming games and how you can get involved. New Zealand's tour of India has largely been one way traffic - Black Caps batters have struggled, Shubman Gill has dominated and Kuldeep Yadav has continued his good form - but Raj and Stu attempt to find some positives with the Men's ODI World Cup in mind. The ODIs between England and South Africa have been entertaining, even if the series feels somewhat squeezed into the schedule. We talk send-offs, moustaches, Temba Bavuma and Moeen Ali, again with an eye to the World Cup. Speaking of World Cups, the Women's T20 World Cup isn't far away - but is the result a foregone conclusion? Australia look dominant again on paper, Sophie Devine is racing against the clock to recover from a broken foot and Dane van Niekerk has been left out of the South African squad. Turning our attention to domestic cricket, we discuss recent comments made by Ian Smith about the Super Smash. Is it working in its current iteration? Should it be attempting to compete with the other T20 leagues around the world? And how could New Zealand cricket make that happen? To round out the show, Stu talks with Jim Morrison from New Zealand over-40s and 50s cricket about the upcoming series against Australia for the over-40s and World Cups for both sides later in 2023. What is over-40s/50s cricket? How do you get involved? Where can we watch the games? We'll be back in your feed very soon with a preview of the upcoming India v Australia Test series, 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 the likes of Cam Fletcher, Dean Foxcroft and Sophie Devine, plus chats with Wasim Khan, Dion Nash, Mike Hussey, Finn Allen, Katey Martin, 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 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

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

In this episode of the show, the team are all in the same room to review the first few days of the ICC T20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies and USA. We discuss our early impressions, throw out a few hot takes and share our favourite performances from the opening week. Are the pitches no good? Is it already time to write off Sri Lanka? How good is Aaron Jones’s bat?! Is Anrich Nortje back? What's going on with the Super 8 groups? Are Afghanistan a danger side? Could Ireland upset India And much more! We are planning to record regularly throughout the tournament, particularly as we approach the Super 8 and knockout stages. All going well, we’ll have at least one more episode available by Sunday night. 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 1:20 Super 8 seedings are ridiculous 10:25 USA v Canada - How good is Aaron Jones's bat? 18:25 West Indies v PNG - The importance of a gameplan against spin 23:50 Bowlers on top so far 30:45 South Africa v Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka in trouble already? 34:40 Afghanistan's impressive start 37:30 Namibia v Oman Super Over drama 41:00 Are the low scoring games fun to watch? 43:45 Can Ireland upset India? 46:50 New Zealand's build up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a new year, but regular transmission resumes at Top Order Towers. Raj, Baldy, Binksy and Lippy are together in the same room to review the Test series in Pakistan and Australia, plus highlight a few players from the BBL and Super Smash. We start the show by discussing the drawn series between the Black Caps and Pakistan. Is traditional Test cricket still fun to watch? Did New Zealand get their tactics right? Which players stood out above the rest? Do the Black Caps have (or need) a succession plan at Test level? And is Test cricket shooting itself in the foot as an entertainment product? In the second half of the show, we recap another dominant series win by Australia and try to identify the qualities needed the challenge the Aussies on home soil. There's praise for Travis Head, Baldy's still not convinced by Marnus Labuschagne and we cast our eyes forward to the upcoming series in India. To round out the conversation, we look to the BBL and the Super Smash for standout performances. There are swinging arms, Jonny Wilkinson impersonations, power hitters and really long names as we discuss a host of players who might soon get a taste of international cricket. 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, Shane Bond, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Finn Allen 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

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

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