As we reach the 20th anniversary of the 3rd test in Chennai of that famous 2001 series, its time to wrap up our Final Frontier series.  Our thoughts on the factors behind the slow-build of the Australia v India rivalry, the way that 2001 series entered the public consciousness, and the legacy of the series that continues today. 

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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For many years, the rare Australian cricket tours to India went barely noticed by Australian cricket fans.  Scoreboards and match reports were the most that could be consumed. This mixed with the supposed horror stories that filtered back after the fact from players about  accommodation, food and illness resulted in the perception of an outpost - something that was not as worthy as the iconic and growing rivalries elsewhere.

However, legendary cricket writer Mike Coward begged to differ. He embraced India like no other Australian in the cricket fraternity through the 70s and 80s. He saw the nation for its cricket passion, and 30 years ago was moved to wrote the  seminal book ‘Cricket beyond the bazaar’ that put a spotlight on the untold stories of Australia’s battles on the subcontinent, and  foretold the rise of Indian cricket well before Australia and the rest of the world cottoned on. 

As we reach the finale of The Greatest Season That Was Presents: Final Frontier, Mike Coward joins us to give the historical backdrop to todays’ great rivalry, and the reasons why it took so long for Australians to appreciate Indian cricket.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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The Greatest Season That Was Presents - Bound For Glory, the story of VFL Park, the Batmobile and the 1991 Grand Final.

2020 will see the AFL Grand Final played away from the MCG for only the second time since World War II. To mark the last time that happened, The Greatest Season That Was Presents…. Bound For Glory

Ross Oakley was Ross the Boss in 1991, running the AFL. We chat to him about the 30 year saga of the league’s own ground that ended with a VFL Park Grand Final, the first truly national Grand Final played, and a little matter of Angry Anderson and a batmobile. (Who would be silly enough to buy that?)

You can hear Ross's first appearance on TGSTW 93 in Episode 17.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

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Through this series we’ve looked at how Australian Rules has found its way into the lives of Americans in the most unlikely circumstances. But for the final episode we’re going to look at things in reverse. A time when US sport found something they liked about Australian Rules and turned it into an asset.

Darren Bennett was a high quality full forward in the VFL/AFL whose trademark  was his booming right foot kick for goal. But when injuries curtailed his career at Melbourne Football Club, he was expected to fade off into the distance.  Nobody expected him to have a second life in professional sport.

That this second life would eclipse his aussie rules career and make him a legend in America’s favourite sport makes it one of the most unlikely sporting success stories on either side of the Pacific. His legacy paved the way for many Australians in the US.

AFL and NFL star Darren Bennett joins us all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma  on TGSTW Presents US Revolution

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network and is produced by Jay Mueller. 

Edited by Dave Collins. 

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US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series features additional interviews with Paul Roos, Mason Cox, Jason Holmes, ESPN's Bob Ley and former VFL / AFL star John Ironmonger.  

Since the resumption of the AFL season the interest in Australian football from the US has continued , with now Fox Sports and ESPN both carrying matches in the USA. But  the idea of how to make the AFL an ongoing success beyond the spike of interest during COVID-19 is a challenging one.

In a previous episode of US Revolution we spoke to Bob Ley – an ESPN original who was there in the heady days of the early 80s when Australian rules had a prime spot in the schedule because of the lack of rights to the major US sports.

BY the 90s ESPN had fallen out of love with the sport as it bounced around irregular scheduling on the network. For expats and US converts it hit rock bottom when the broadcast of a Grand Final was delayed by a baseball game.

One of our own, Ed Wyatt, and his Australian sports television producing wife Michelle were two of those who thought the game deserved better in the 90s. Michelle was producing for Fox Sports in the US and decided it was time Australian football was given a proper push.

On TGSTW Presents US REV - we talk to Michelle, and Ed, about how they got Fox Sports to televise the AFL in the US during the 90s and the highs and lows of trying to push our game into the American TV market.

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

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Mason Cox and Jason Holmes are unbelievable recent stories in AFL history, elite athletes from one part of the world being hand-picked without any knowledge of the game and transformed into senior AFL players over a period of time within a full-time professional set-up.

But Danielle Marshall is a story perhaps even more unlikely, an American athlete who stumbled across the sport on TV, became a fan and then longed for a chance to play it.  

Then when she finally found a way to play the Australian game in the USA year later, her progression was so quick that within 19 months she had become the first player to be directly recruited from the USAFL to AFLW, perhaps the the first time a player in an Australian football league based overseas has progressed to the highest level in Australia.

Now a Western Bulldogs player who has just had a taste of her first AFLW season with a fairytale beginning, Dani Marshall joins us on TGSTW US Revolution to talk about her footy journey. 

US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series features additional interviews with Paul Roos, Mason Cox, Jason Holmes, ESPN's Bob Ley and former VFL / AFL star John Ironmonger.  

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series features additional interviews with Paul Roos, Mason Cox, Jason Holmes and Dani Marshall. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series features additional interviews with Paul Roos, Mason Cox, Jason Holmes and John Ironmonger. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the end of our 1999 World Cup series last year, we promised a season finale that would go revisit one game, with a series of voices from those who were there that day. And here it is. After a lot of work behind the scenes, we’re proud to bring to you this special episode about an afternoon that truly had it all – the oral history of the unforgettable semi-final between Australia and South Africa.

In addition to the radio and television commentary, you will hear from interviews we have conducted with:

·      Adam Gilchrist, Australian master blaster wicketkeeper

·      Tim Lane, commentating the finish for Test Match Special

·      Tom Moody, Australia’s veteran all-rounder

·      Steve Elworthy, South Africa’s opening bowler

·      Simon Mann, who called the finish for BBC TV

·      Lance Klusener, the mighty South African all-rounder

·      Damien Fleming, the man who sent down the unforgettable 50th over.

A special thank you to Dave Collins for piecing that all together in editing – a mighty task, beautifully done.

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

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When ESPN started on US television it had a studio, a name, and not much else. It also had Bob Ley. Bob and his ESPN colleagues spent hours talking about obscure sports from around the world. Australian Rules Football was one of the most obscure and developed a cult following among early ESPN subscribers. 

Bob Ley joins The Greatest Season That Was Presents...US Revolution. 

US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series features additional interviews with Paul Roos, Mason Cox, Jason Holmes and John Ironmonger. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

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Paul Roos is a legend of modern Australian Rules. 

On the field he was all class, 356 games for Fitzroy and Sydney, in the 80s he ushered in a new style of attacking play from defence and became on one of the league’s best players through his 17 season career that spanned from 1982-1997.

He was named in the All-Australian team no less than 7 times, and was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame as a player in 2005. 

But that wasn’t the end of footy for Roosy. He moved into assistant coaching at Sydney before taking on the head coach role in 2002, turning the Swans into a perennial power and breaking a 72 year drought by coaching the formerly South Melbourne and now Sydney club to a premiership in 2005. 

Finishing in 2010 he was then lured out of retirement to mastermind the rebuilding of the Melbourne Football Club taking them from the bottom of the AFL ladder, before handing over a finals ready team to his groomed successor 3 seasons later.

But what is lesser known of Roos is his effect on football in the United States. A twist of fate on an end of season trip led to the USA becoming a second home and subsequently made him perhaps the highest profile advocate for the Australia-US footy connection.

US Revolution features Mason Cox, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series will feature additional interviews with Jason Holmes and former ESPN broadcaster Bob Ley. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

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A new series from the team at The Greatest Season That Was Presents..

The Greatest Season That Was Presents... US Revolution. Episode one features Collingwood FC's Mason Cox.

US Revolution features Mason, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The 8-part series will feature interviews with Paul Roos, Jason Holmes and former ESPN broadcaster Bob Ley. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The amazing turnaround at Kolkata not only had a nation rejoicing, it cemented the India and Australia rivalry forever.

This series was now set for a grand finale in Chennai, a test that truly proved to be the icing on the cake of this magnificent series.

The man nicknamed after Tone Loc’s hit Funky Cold Medina,  Colin “Funky” Miller was a maverick journeyman in domestic cricket.  But his mid-30s experiment with bowling off spin as a side hustle to his medium pace, resulted in an international career and cult hero status – whether it be with blonde, pink or blue hair.  

Colin Miller joins The Greatest Season That Was Presents - The Final Frontier to talk about his journey to international cricket, and the starring role he played in the frantic finale of one of the greatest test series ever.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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In anticipation of our 99 Semi-Final special, The Greatest Season That Was Presents...Dan Brettig with Tim Lane talking about the 99 Cricket World Cup. 

Our semi-final episode will be finished (finally) very soon. 

Our next series, The Greatest Season That Was Presents...US Revolution is imminent. Episode one featuring Collingwood FC's Mason Cox will be released within 24 hours of this episode. 

US Revolution features Mason, Shannon Gill and American broadcaster Ed Wyatt in an exploration of Australian Rules Football's US connections. The series will feature interviews with Paul Roos, Jason Holmes and former ESPN broadcaster Bob Ley. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Jay Mueller and is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

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Welcome to a special one-off episode of The Greatest Season That Was. 

When this podcast began, it was based on a very simple premise: that footy was never better than in season 1993. Needless to say, it’s a belief that remains strongly-held by all of us. But that doesn’t mean it was the greatest Grand Final ever played. For that, we go back four years. It’s widely accepted by the best judges that the 1989 decider was truly something else. 

To mark the 30th anniversary of the match that had it all, friend of the show, Tony Wilson, decided to write the definitive account of it. The result is a brilliant new book, 1989 The Great Grand Final. It was that season when Tony formally joined Hawthorn as a player in the Under 19s. The son of 1971 premiership hero Ray Wilson, he knows every inch of the family club and devoted countless hours to interviewing many of Allan Jeans’ back-to-back victors from that momentous day.

But this isn’t Hawks Hagiography. Anything but. As Tony details in our conversation, he knew how important it was to capture the essence of a stunning Geelong team under the stewardship of new coach Malcolm Blight with a man they called God standing at full forward. So set back and settle in as we revisit a game of football we’ll never stop watching and we’ll never stop talking about.

The Greatest Season That Was is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

Produced by Jay Mueller. Editing assistance by Dave Collins. 

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Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill unpack what Australia A meant then and what it means now 25 years later. 

Get your Greatest Season That Was Presents merchandise from our friends at leaguetees.com.au

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The Greatest Season That Was is part of the Bad Producer Podcast Network and is produced by Jay Mueller. 

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Your chance to get your hands on an original Australia A batter's helmet. 

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Your chance to get your hands on an original Australia A batter's helmet. Details in the episode. 

Submit your bid here: http://ebay.us/NjJU5L?cmpnId=5338273189

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Jimmy Hadder is the man in the Australia A top at Super Bowl XXX. He talks to Shannon Gill and Adam Collins on The Greatest Season That Was Presents...Australia A. 

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network. 

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In 1994 a new Australian captain was appointed, the only reservation being that he’d never consolidated a place in the one day side. Now there was an A side team full of young tyros keen to take his place before he’d even taken the reins. So when the crowds started barracking against his team, Mark Taylor’s blood pressure rose further. Sometimes termed the villain in the piece, Mark Taylor joins us to talk about why he was against the Australia A concept and his memories of the time the crowd turned on Australia.   

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When the Australia A team first took the field the public looked upon expectedly as the cream of the next generation of Australian cricket stars went on show. Ponting, Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Lehmann and more would all go on to have distinguished careers of which this summer was but a footnote. But for a few, their Australia A experience was the pinnacle of their careers.

Arguably the player most associated with the concept was pacemen Greg Rowell. Greg talks to us about his journey to a summer in the spotlight, how the Australia A team came together and his battles with the champions of Australian cricket that season. All experiences that he owes to the summer of Australia A.

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The 1994-95 summer saw the ACB now have full control of the promotion of the game back from Channel 9/PBL. But a new conventional and increased TV rights deal meant that it needed to go above and beyond to serve its Packer master.

With a one-sided season coming up, and a host of young stars that couldn’t get a look in to the Australian side, then ACB CEO Graham Halbish had some worries, but the shackles were now off to get creative to find solutions. Graham joins us to talk about how Australia A was born, the fallout and the legacy.  

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In the mid 90s Australian cricket appeared to be in rude health. The ghosts of World Series and Rebel tours were long gone, and the national team was nearing its ascent to the top of Test cricket which it would sit astride for more than a decade. 

Its playing stocks had been rehabilitated after the 80s crisis in an expanded fashion, the national cricket academy generating a slew of international-ready youngsters sitting below the top team more advanced than ever before.  

But off the field the changes were just as important. Heading into 1994-95 the ACB had broken the shackles of its 14 season long marriage to Kerry Packer’s PBL, owner of Channel 9. 

The World Series Cricket compromise has brought with it the, in retrospect, grossly one-sided deal that saw the ACB sign away all marketing and promotional rights to PBL. The terms of the deal assumed that PBL would be the more credentialed partner to run most things except pick the team, and even then many thought they had an influence on that too. And this without mentioning the obvious conflict of interest when they were also the TV rights holder. 

When the deal was finally consigned to history the ACB wanted to show that it could market this team with a bunch of new superstars to the Australian public and it also wanted to make sure Channel 9 was still getting its money worth from the increased cheque they were paying.

The season ahead though wasn’t the most mouther watering, the England team at its lowest ebb and the lowly Zimbabwe joining them for the one day World Series Cup – something that had been most popular form of the game for television and crowds over those 14 years. 

That’s when the ACB decided to use its new license to be creative.      

For just one season they created a monster that would showcase a group of champions of the future, change the dynamics between the newly appointed Australian captain and the ACB, and capture the imagination of a generation of young fans who 25 years on still revel in the memories of Australia A.   

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With 16 straight wins in the bank, Australia had the chance to conquer Steve Waugh Final Frontier when they arrived in Kolkata for the 2nd test of 2001.

India had been stung by the first test result but by midpoint Australia looked to be realising that dream.

Michael Kasprowicz’s performances on the 1998 tour had seen him labelled the India specialist, and he came into that winning side that was aiming to make history.

History, however, turned sharply in Kolkata. Michael Kasprowicz joins The Greatest Season That Was Presents - Final Frontier  to tell us about being in the middle on the days that created folklore in Indian cricket, and forever changed the India and Australia rivalry - but also the redemption that was eventually to follow.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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Coming soon from The Greatest Season That Was...Australia A. Episode One available Sunday 12 January 2020.  

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Dan Brettig, Shannon Gill and Adam Collins wrap up the Fitzroy Bulldogs. What impact did the failed merger have on footy in the 90's? What impact could it have had? And what did footy fans and administrators learn through the whole thing? 

The Greatest Season That Was Presents...The Fitzroy Bulldogs is produced by Bad Producer Productions.

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Hands were shaken, deals signed, the press was called in. Footscray was no more.

Or was it?

While Melbourne went into shock Dennis Galimberti made the fateful phone call to a 31 year-old Peter Gordon. Gordon was a lifelong Footscray supporter who had been a recent annoyance to the club’s board with his agitation; his contention was that the club and the game itself belonged to the people and not the suits.

Peter Gordon joins us on The Greatest Season That Was Presents – The Fitzroy Bulldogs

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Bad Producer Productions

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The Greatest Season That Was presents...the Fitzroy Bulldogs. In 1989, Rod Austin had a unique position to witness the proposed merger between Fitzroy and Footscray. Austin served on Footscray's coaching staff and had the merger moved ahead, would have coached the combined side in 1990. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Before Fitzroy’s 90s demise there was the 80s, when despite constant speculation on their survival the Lions defied the odds and prospered. Finals appearances in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1986 was not the stuff of a club on death row – in a decade where just 3 clubs shared 9 of the 10 premierships they were as competitive as anyone else.

But the financial issues were ever present, and at various times in the mid-80s it appeared that Fitzroy was on the verge of merging with any one of Melbourne, St Kilda or North Melbourne, or relocating to Brisbane to form the first Queensland side.  

Leon Wiegard had been a long time committee member of Fitzroy and was to eventually become the President ahead of 1986 when things were at its craziest – a season that on the weekends saw them one game from a Grand Final but during the week seemed to have a new merger partner talked about weekly.

When the merger noose seemed to be tightening in 1989 for a whole clutch the Roys were again looking healthy on the field just missing the Finals. It was this climate that saw Fitzroy finally have some cards of their own to play in the game of merger poker, with Wiegard at the table.

Leon Wiegard joins us to talk about the Fitzroy Bulldogs.

Produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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In 1989 the Footscray Football Club had the stench of death to it. After a promising mid-80s period, finances had dried up, and energy was sapped. On-field results followed. Debt mounted. The club was technically insolvent.

The flashpoint came in 1988 amidst dwindling crowd and lack of government or council support its Western Oval home became a political split in the club.  Without a viable home how would they survive?

Things didn’t get better in 1989 and when the VFL did the hard sell on mergers and ground rationalisation that year Footscray was effectively on death row.

The new president in 1989 Nick Columb was left in an unenviable position as he made decisions that were the most important in the history of the club.

Dennis Galimberti was the GM of Footscray Football Club in 1989 working under Columb’s presidency – his role in the Fitzroy Bulldogs saga is pivotal and without his actions football history would be very different.

An heroic figure in the west, but also described as the ‘unguided missile’ by VFL House, Dennis Galimberti joins us to talk about the events that led to the merger of Fitzroy and Footscray Football clubs in October 1989.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents...The Fitzroy Bulldogs

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There’s a fuzzy feeling for footy fans the week after the Grand Final. The fever pitch that builds over the finals series, the climax of the day, the new heroes feted, the realisation that its 6 months before we’ll see a ball kicked in anger. It's like a hangover in the sun.

But within 3 days the afterglow of the 1989 Grand Final was shattered when the story broke that Fitzroy and Footscray were to become the Fitzroy Bulldogs, seemingly overnight and without warning.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents...The Fitzroy Bulldogs is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Australia’s World Cup record stands above all others. After 2019 they sit on 5 titles and justifiable claims to be the World Cup kings over its 44 year history, with India and the West Indies sitting far behind on two wins each.

Implausible as it may now seem though, going into 1999 Australia were more seen as the World Cup chokers.

After its outsider win in 1987 Australia had seemingly set the pace in ODI cricket leading into its hosting role in 1992, and had earned outright favouritism. But they were mugged by teams with big ideas and new methods, and with the weight of a nation upon them failed to reach the semi-finals.

1996 was seen as its chance at redemption, with one of the best teams in the world now boasting two new bowling stars in Warne and McGrath. A miracle semi-final win saw them reach the final but again they were undone by innovation when Sri Lanka rode a new style of attacking batting to upset the team that saw themselves as the world’s best.

So by #Ninety9 the Aussies still comfortably sat among the best few teams in the world and yearned for the chance to crown the decade with the World Cup win they thought they would get in 92 and 96.

But not everything in the Australian camp was right in Ninety9 and they soon found themselves in internal battles before an external battle early in the tournament – the word redemption was quickly replaced by survival.

Australian teams of this era have a reputation as the flint-hard pros who saw cricket as war more than sport. But there were counterpoints to that stereotype, fast bowler Damien Fleming.

His frustrating battle with injuries through most of the 90s robbed him of many Australian caps but perhaps helped instil a perspective and humour that was essential to the pressure cooker situation Australia found itself in during the 99 World Cup.

 And when the Australian team faced its most desperate battle for survival the ball was in Flem’s hands. Damien Fleming joins us on TGSTW presents World Cup 99.

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South Africa announced its arrival back to world cricket at the 1992 World Cup and they were immediately a force.

Whilst results in Test cricket were strong, it was one day cricket that had grown around the world in South Africa’s absence, and its seemed its players and fans wanted to make up for lost time- they took to the game with fervour.

A heartbreaking loss in the 1992 semi-final was followed by another strong performance in the 1996 world Cup where they were unbeaten until a shock loss to the West Indies in the quarter finals.

The late 90s though saw the South Africans elevate to another level and become one the greatest one day teams in cricket history. Remarkably they held a 78% win percentage between those 1996 and 1999 World Cups. One of the major reasons for the South African golden era was the emergence of Lance Klusener, the farmer who spoke Zulu.

The prototype for what would become the T20 player Klusener redefined late over hitting in combination with his ultra-competitive medium pacers. 

Kluseer entered the 1999 World Cup in career best form, and was about to own cricket’s global stage.

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South Africa's Lance Klusener dominated the 1999 Cricket World Cup. We'll share his story in the next episode of The Greatest Season That Was Presents...1999 The Cricket World Cup. 

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The 1999-2000 season had seen a more ruthless Australia sweep India 3-0,  a group of fresh stars were added to Steve Waugh’s veterans and the team  had seamlessly gone from arguably the best in the world to a whole new, higher plane.

Adam Gilchrist was symbolic of this shift, His impact was immediate and within 12 months he was the national vice captain. 

As they flew to India in 2001, the tour was personally and collectively termed the ‘final frontier’ by Steve Waugh – the first test tour he’d been on in 1986 on remained the place he and Australia hadn’t won since .

By that stage Gilchrist had played in 14 tests for 14 wins, but as he lined up for the first test in Mumbai he couldn’t have imagined the rollercoaster series that lay ahead both personally and from a team perspective.

Subscribe to The Greatest Season That Was Presents to listen to each new episode as it goes live.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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Throughout the course of the 1990s, India’s standing in the global game experienced a revolution, turbocharged by a passion for one-day international cricket

By the time the 1999 World Cup rolled around, expectations were lofty. Having fallen short when co-hosting the tournament in 1996, they came to England boasting healthy balance of experience and youth with Sachin Tendulkar well into his lengthy period at the very top of the game.

They were right to believe that they had every chance to lift the trophy again, having saluted at Lord’s the previous time the competition was decided there in 1983.

But it wasn’t to be. The Men in Blue had it in them to pile on bulk runs on but not to do so consistently enough.

While they were good enough to eliminate England with a superb performance at the end of the group stage, that came after Zimbabwe had shocked them – a result which came back to bite in the Super Six standings.

Then, when running into Australia in red-hot form, their chances of glory were dashed.

But alongside the other Asian teams in the tournament, India brought a lot more than wins and losses alone to this World Cup.

Their passionate fans packed out every ground where they played, from tiny county postage stamps to the bigger Test venues. With this support away from home becoming a permanent feature, it is said that after Ninety9 India never truly played an away game again.

Harsha Bhogle has been the voice of Indian cricket for three decades and in 1999 was following the carnival around the country as a leading television caller and host.

He joins World Cup Ninety9 to discuss the decade that changed everything for India cricket an the tournament could have been, but wasn’t quite.

This is the greatest season that was.

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There were more than a few breakout stories in 99, but few more
fascinating than that of a left-arm pace bowling spearhead from New
Zealand who used a three fingers "claw" grip on the white Dukes ball
to swing it just the right amount and finish the tournament equal
leading wicket taker with Shane Warne.

His name was Geoff Allott, and his '99 World Cup was one of three
major highlights in an otherwise brief international career.

As a young cricketer who took up fast bowling relatively late, Allott
was something of a shooting star for New Zealand, but showed his
capabilities from the very start, bowling his side to a thrilling tie
against England at home in 1997.

Though he struggled in Australia the following summer, Allott's pace
and thoughtfulness made him an attractive option for the Black Caps,
who under the leadership of Stephen Fleming and Steve Rixon were
making themselves a force to be reckoned with in one day cricket.

Returning to the team against South Africa early in '99, Allott
showcased a remodeled action and a knack for vital wickets, earning
him a place in the squad to England. Even before he got there, a batch
of training balls gave him an indication that 1999 might be his year.
Geoff Allott joined us to discuss his part in New Zealand's run all
the way to the Cup semi-finals.

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By 1999 Zimbabwe had experienced some fleeting success at World Cups; upsetting Australia in 1983, and Eddo Brandes destroying England in 1992 being the standouts.

The era that followed those landmark wins however, is a beacon for Zimbabwe cricket. Through the 90s they gained test status and steadily built a competitive side. Heath Streak, the Flower brothers and Alistair Campbell were just a few of the players who drive this generation of cricket. 

1999 became Zimbabwe’s global coming out party as a team to be reckoned with, taking big scalps and getting to the business end of the tournament. This may well have been Zimbabwe cricket at its greatest. 

Andy Flower today may be better known as the coach who took England cricket to number 1 in the world, but in ‘99 he was the undisputed champion of this generation of Zimbabwe cricket. He  joins us to talk about the rise of Zimbabwe cricket, who was Neil Johnson, how the team peaked in 1999 and then how things went so wrong  in the country afterwards. 

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As a follow-up to our episode with Tournament Director Terry Blake, Adam Collins talks to Tim Lamb, the CEO of the English & Wales Cricket Board during the 1999 Cricket World Cup. 

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After a trying decade for England cricket, their chance to host the 1999 World Cup was seen as a prized opportunity to revitalize the sport by capturing the public imagination when the carnival came to town. It was a mighty task. 

To do so, a lot needed to go right both on and off the field. Some did, some didn’t – not helped by England’s premature and controversial departure. 

But for all the mishaps that can be looked back on two decades later, such as a lacklustre opening ceremony or a belated tournament theme song, World Cup 99 left a significant and long-lasting legacy due to the cricket that was played and the diverse audiences that packed out the stadiums across the country. 

This was no easy puzzle to piece together, and in an environment before the ICC had complete control over global events, the job was left to a handful of dedicated staff at ECB Headquarters to make it work. 

Terry Blake was the man charged with the overall responsibility as the tournament director. He joins The Greatest Season that Was, World Cup 99, to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Carnival of Cricket.

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They were called the ‘minnows’ the non-Test playing nations that won their way through to the World Cup. Pre  1999 Sri Lanka, East Africa, Canada, Zimbabwe, Kenya, the Netherlands and the UAE had all played World Cups without Test status.

 In 1999 it was Kenya, Scotland and for the first time ever at a, World Cup Bangladesh.

 While cricket had been played in the region for nearly 200 years, its popularity in the former East Bengal was limited. The Partition of British India saw the region fall under the new East Pakistan, and while popularity did grow, when Bangladesh declared its independence  in 1971 the region lost its first class status and it started the long journey to grow cricket as in independent nation.

 This all leads to the point in 1999 where Bangladesh, after competing limited one-day internationals for 13 years, qualifies to play in its first World Cup after winning the ICC Associate Trophy for the first time in 1997.  

 After a long journey Bangladesh were on the global stage, and while its role in the 1999 World Cup may have been small, it may have been the pivotal moment in building a cricket nation. Today it boasts Test wins against England and Australia – but a lot can be traced back to Ninety9.

 Aminul Islam, or ‘BulBul’ may not be a household name in the cricket world, but he was a veteran of Bangladesh cricket by 1999 and was charged with the duty of taking his country on to the international stage – he tells us the Bangladesh story and why Ninety9 means so much to Bangladeshi cricket.

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If the 1980s was English cricket’s decade of sex, drugs and rock and roll excess, the 1990s were its decidedly milder and meeker decade. An English team that for the most part had been losing, slipped further in the pecking order of world cricket as the sport appeared to slip down the list of priorities for a nation.

Alec Stewart was the constant of this decade of English cricket. IN fact he was highest Test run-scorer in the World during the 1990s. He seemed to be the Mr Fix-it man for a constantly changing and usually  outclassed team. Keeping wickets, not keeping wickets. Opening the batting, batting in the middle order. Wherever there was a gap, Stewart had to fill. By 1998 almost inevitably that meant captaincy too. And it started promisingly too, Stewart leading the team to its first 5 Test series win of the decade that year against South Africa.  

Hopes lifted for what was ahead.

The World Cup was born in the UK in the 1970s, and returned home in 1999 for the first time in 16 years as a global event. It had increased popularity of the sport wherever it had gone. Was this the chance for cricket to reclaim its place in the public consciousness in its birth country?

All that hope rested on Stewart’s cobbled together team as he tried to open the batting, keep and captain…what could go wrong? Alec Stewart joins us to talk about World Cup #Ninety9   

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The Greatest Season That Was Presents...99 The Cricket World Cup. 

Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill are back with a new series that tells the story of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Was it the greatest? 

Let us know what you think on Twitter. 

The Greatest Season That Was is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Was 1999 The Greatest Cricket World Cup there was? Perhaps. 

If not the greatest, what about the quirkiest? The most interesting? Over the next seven weeks, Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill will share their reasons why the 1999 Cricket World Cup was home to some of the most memorable moments in the history of cricket, and therefore the greatest that was.

Episode Two will explore the above questions. Episode Three will feature an in-depth and candid conversation with England's Captain at the time, Alec Stewart. 

Episode Two will arrive on May 29, 2019 and Episode Three will be available Friday, May 31, 2019 (all dates AEST). 

The Greatest Season That Was Presents...99 The Cricket World Cup is produced by Bad Producer Productions. 

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Thanks for supporting The Greatest Season That Was: 93

We'll have an update on our next project soon. In the meantime, our very own Adam Collins, continues to chase summer and cricket in his podcast The Final Word. 

We want to support Adam and his co-host Geoff Lemon, so we're sharing this special episode recorded live at Fitzroy's Commercial Club Hotel on January 17, 2019. 

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Final Word and thanks for your support throughout 2018. We'll be back soon! 

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1998 had been a rude shock for Australia, but when India returned to Australian in 1999-2000 for the first time in 8 years, there was a similar shock to their system.

That new captain Steve Waugh and the new coach John Buchanan had a vision for excellence to motivate the next era Taylor and Healy had just retired, but  the team was about to welcome Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee into the fold, while others like Justin Langer could finally lock in a long-term spot. 

The challenge was set by Buchanan, and it was Damien Fleming in career-best form that said the team should be aiming to win all six tests of the home summer, a unlikely aim at the time. This was a team that wanted to tick off every challenge ahead of them – a return bout to India in the back of Waugh’s mind.  

Damien  Fleming joins us to chat about 1999 -2000 and the next chapter of TGSTW presents - The Final Frontier.

Subscribe to The Greatest Season That Was Presents to listen to each new episode as it goes live.

The Greatest Season That Was Presents is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Dave Collins. It is part of The Bad Producer Podcast Network.

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The AFL season may be over, but there’s still a few little things to keep #Ninety3 alive.

When we had our chat with Rohan Connolly about the top ten games of 1993, the conversation inevitably turned to music. Here’s a little bonus episode where we talk about the soundtrack to 1993, inspired by Rohan’s music podcast Ruck N’Roll.  

This episode features the following songs: 

Ace of Base - All That She Wants    the Breeders - Cannonball    Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock   Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray   Cypress Hill - Insane in the Brain   Rage Against The Machine - Killing in the Name    Screaming Trees - Nearly Lost You    Hoodoo Gurus - The Right Time   Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way   Hunters and Collectors - Holy Grail   Cameron Daddo - 15 minutes of Fame    Bruce Samazan - One of a Kind    The D-Gen/Late Show - 4 and half minutes of Shit    The Sharp - Scratch my Back    The D-Gen/Late Show - Skivvies are Back   

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 documents our contention that in 1993, footy was never better. Hosted by Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill, this series is an in-depth exploration of one amazing season. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Thom Lion. Check out Bad Producer Productions for more podcasts. 

Thanks for listening. Please take a moment to leave a review at Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.    What do you think? Let us know on our Facebook page here.

The Greatest Season That Was: 1993 uses YouTube audio from the following sources:

• Various 1993 Channel 7 Football Broadcasts
• Channel 7 That Was The Season That Was
• Channel 7 Sportsworld
• Channel 7 News
• Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show
• Channel 9 Sports Sunday
• Channel 9 News  
• Channel 10 News
• ABC 7:30 Report.

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Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

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1993 for Essendon is a story of comebacks, debuts and tactics. Driving it all was the unique approach and attitude of AFL Legend, Kevin Sheedy. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 documents our contention that in 1993, footy was never better. Hosted by Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill, this series is an in-depth exploration of one amazing season. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Thom Lion. Check out Bad Producer Productions for more podcasts. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 1993 uses YouTube audio from the following sources:

• Various 1993 Channel 7 Football Broadcasts
• Channel 7 That Was The Season That Was
• Channel 7 Sportsworld
• Channel 7 News
• Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show
• Channel 9 Sports Sunday
• Channel 9 News  
• Channel 10 News
• ABC 7:30 Report.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1989, Footscray Football Club was on its knees. Out of cash and nearly out of time, they survived extinction and merger - just. But three years on in 1992, the Bulldogs finished second on the ladder and were a game away from the grand final. 

For good reason, they thought 1993 would be the year - their first flag since ‘54. 
Sensing they might be nearing something special, Terry Wheeler, senior coach and innovator, invited Martin Flanagan, the prolific columnist for The Age, behind the curtain to write a book on the season from within the inner sanctum. What he produced from his time at the club – Southern Sky, Western Oval – was a classic, but sadly, the Doggies season wasn’t. 

Despite a fast start and an ability to knock off most serious contenders for the flag along the way, they were too inconsistent to feature in September. Outside of the club and away from the game, Martin, as always, was just as busy writing the untold or misunderstood stories of Australia. 

Not least, that meant promoting understanding and reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia. Back then, as it is now, his is a leading voice on this great 
unfinished business. Those themes intersected in 1993, the season when footy embraced Aboriginal culture in a way that it hadn’t before, laying the building blocks to what would become the league's groundbreaking racial and religious vilification policy two years on. 

So to talk about the sons of the west, and the journey of Australia’s first people in the world of top-flight footy, we welcome Martin Flanagan to The Greatest Season that Was, 1993. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 documents our contention that in 1993, footy was never better. Hosted by Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill, this series is an in-depth exploration of one amazing season. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Thom Lion. Check out Bad Producer Productions for more podcasts. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 1993 uses YouTube audio from the following sources:

• Various 1993 Channel 7 Football Broadcasts
• Channel 7 That Was The Season That Was
• Channel 7 Sportsworld
• Channel 7 News
• Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show
• Channel 9 Sports Sunday
• Channel 9 News  
• Channel 10 News
• ABC 7:30 Report.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we’ve gone through the Greatest Season That Was, it's glaring the lack of females involved in AFL football at the time.

In 1993 Anne Maree Sparkman was one of only a few women who had any public presence in football.

As a sports reporter for Channel Nine, Wide World of Sports and Sports Sunday she’d been a trailblazer.

In and around 1993, Anne Maree was making the best TV features on football anywhere via Sports Sunday on Channel 9. A standard that’s rarely been touched. One of those features on the Fitzroy Football Club was to provide the basis of our earlier episode with Robert Shaw.

Anne Maree joins us to talk about that Fitzroy feature and other stories from 1993 in the Greatest Season That Was.

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 documents our contention that in 1993, footy was never better. Hosted by Adam Collins, Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill, this series is an in-depth exploration of one amazing season. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 93 is produced by Jay Mueller and edited by Thom Lion. Check out Bad Producer Productions for more podcasts. 

The Greatest Season That Was: 1993 uses YouTube audio from the following sources:

• Various 1993 Channel 7 Football Broadcasts
• Channel 7 That Was The Season That Was
• Channel 7 Sportsworld
• Channel 7 News
• Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show
• Channel 9 Sports Sunday
• Channel 9 News  
• Channel 10 News
• ABC 7:30 Report.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/TGSTW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.