98 Not Out - The Cricket Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

With the Test series between England and Sri Lanka underway, I'm joined by Mark Machado from "The Mural End" podcast to talk all things Sri Lankan cricket. We remember some of the great moments of the last forty years but are also worried about the current trajectory of Test cricket and the threat it poses to Sri Lanka. A really enjoyable chat!

Touring side Central Country Cricket Club has arrived in the UK from Barbados to embark on a tour that includes games against club sides in Essex. I am joined by club President Andrew Willoughby and his wife Cheryl, along with club captain Dwayne Alleyne, tour manager Jason Wilson and from Essex Cricket Graham Pryke, who has helped with sorting out the fixtures.

Follow the team's progress on Instagram at "centralcountryclub".

One of the biggest-watched shows on BBC1 this spring has been "Race Across the World", where teams compete to cross exotic parts of the globe without the use of aeroplanes. One of the biggest stars of this year's series was James Mukherjee, who took part alongside his sister Betty.

Here he joins us to talk about the show and also about his earlier days as a promising young cricketer, getting as far as playing for Yorkshire's 2nd XI.

You can catch "Race Across the World" on BBC iPlayer and I can highly recommend it!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0002tvs/race-across-the-world?seriesId=m001y4h8

Former England player, now Sky Sports commentator Mark Butcher assesses the immense turnaround in fortunes of the England Test team, who have returned to winning ways with four straight victories, breaking a miserable run of just on win in the previous seventeen games.

 This week, we bring you "Best of the Guests: Vol 2", the second in a series, where we are looking back at some of the star guests we have had on the show over the three years we have been running. In this episode, we feature our chats with Graham Gooch, Gordon Greenidge, Daryl Mitchell, Chris Woakes, Steve Harmison, Chris Lewis, Mark Pougatch, Monty Panesar, Ebony Rainford Brent, Isa Guha and Henry Blofeld.

Leading cricket writer George Dobell from "The Cricketer" magazine has written a great piece in the July issue about Kevin Pietersen's proposals to revive the fortunes of county cricket in England; is his idea of doing away with the counties and replacing them with franchises going to work? 

Fresh from a jaunt to the Caribbean to cover the u19s World Cup, Charles Dagnall returns to cover the white ball summer on Sky Sports. Entertaining and forthright as ever, he doesn't hold back on his views and gives his unique perspective from the commentary box.

He also tells us about a gig he is doing with TMS commentator Henry Moeran to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust in September at The 100 Club in Oxford Street, London. Support a great cause by getting your tickets here:

https://www.the100club.co.uk/events/daggers-and-henry-live-and-loud/

 We mark our third birthday with a look back at some of the amazing guests we have had on the show - we have had to pinch ourselves recalling some of the great moments we have had. In fact there have been so many highlights, that we may well have to do a Volume 2, but in the meantime, here is "The Best of The Guests" featuring memorable moments with Rob Key, Allan Lamb, Sir Clive Lloyd, Daren Sammy, Craig Johnston, Shane Watson, Nasser Hussain, Azhar Ali, Mike Atherton, Alec Stewart, Toby Tarrant, "Bumble", Dinesh Karthik, David Gower, Barry Hearn, Jeffrey Archer and Mark Butcher, whose music we feature in this show.

 A huge thank you to everyone that has supported and taken part in the show and we look forward to keeping the bar high!

There is a lot of discussion currently about the cost of attending top class cricket matches. In a time dubbed as "the cost of living crisis", is charging £35 to watch a Vitality Blast match, up to £160 to attend the Test match at Lord's and even worse, £100 for u16s to enter the home of cricket sending the right message. We discuss the issue with cricket bloggers Debbie Knight and Richard Clarke aka "The Grumbler" and suggest that dropping ticket prices is the best, but not the only way, to attract a wider audience.

Unbelievably, it's already five years since legendary commentator and national treasure Henry Blofeld retired from the BBC TMS box. Here, we find out what "Blowers" has been unto since and get him to recount some wonderful recollections including doing Jaegerbombs with Shane Warne, driving a vintage Rolls Royce from London to Bombay, dinner with The Queen and Prince Philip, as well as being caught naked in a hotel lobby during a Trent Bridge Test match?!?!?!  If this serves as a taster, you can get the full version as Henry embarks on a nationwide tour "My Dear Old Things" and tickets are available here:

https://simonfielder.com/productions/my-dear-old-things/

Enjoy!