The Guerilla Cricket Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear!   It’s always great to see you and even more so when a Test series is just around the corner. This one is against Sri Lanka. Perhaps not the force of old, but not to be underestimated either.   Also not to be underestimated are the two guests on the barstools of bravado. It’s our Sri Lankan Olegasegram double act. Bennett and Son - the works never done, at least not until they have given us the lowdown on this year’s Sri Lankan tourists.   The son is Dylan who explains how the times are a-changing for Sri Lankan domestic cricket and the truth behind B – Love Kandy. A Sri Lankan Cricket franchise apparently, not a chocolate aphrodisiac .   We start with England though and debate not just how they will fare without Ben Stokes, but also whether his three appearances, four runs and no wickets for the Northern Superchargers was worth the few extra bums on seats in the Hundred as far as the ECB is concerned. Probably not, but we doubt they’ll admit that.   From there, it’s a thorough review of the old, new and returning Sri Lankan squad, who have just beaten India in a One Day series don’t forget! They will have a very familiar name as batting coach for this series. None other than our old favourite Ian Bell…Bell….Bell….Bell.   Finally, we circle back to the Hundred again. Mainly to assess Jimmy Anderson’s desire to play in it and other franchise tournaments. To us that seems a bit like asking Michelangelo to don his overalls and slap a lick of paint over cracks in the Bishop and Bear walls. But Jimmy has earned the right to do whatever he wants.   By the way, if you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.     Cheers!   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bon retour au L'évêque et l'ours. Or, if this is your first visit, a very warm welcome to the Bishop and Bear.   Sorry, but that’s as much French as we are going to get despite our landlord having just returned sun bronzed from the south of France.   It’s a bon retour aussi (sorry a bit more French slipped in there) to our special guest, St Annie of Exeter. The wonderful Annie Chave of course, who was very quick to get in the French spirit with several large glasses of our highly quaffable Côtes du Rhône.   Hopefully you find us in up-beat, but also reflective mood as we chew over things from the wonderful world of cricket. We start by paying our tribute on the tragic passing of Graham Thorpe, taken too young, but a man who we and indeed all England fans, remember with great fondness.   From there we look back to Jimmy’s final Test farewell, seeing it as reflective of an era’s end, not just a magnificent career. We celebrate some great cricket (and decent crowds) in the One Day Cup, consider the implications of the Hundred sale with Hampshire seemingly leading the way, consider the implications of England’s new selections for the Sri Lanka series and finally, for good measure, assess who might fill the shoes of the departing Mathew Mott.   By the way, if you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.     Cheers!   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome once more to the Bishop and Bear.   A fabulous if ultimately unsuccessful Test series for England is behind us, but there is plenty to reflect upon. The IPL stretches out before us. No less than 66 days of, well pretty much the same as last year, but it will be fun.   As we look back to that enthralling Test series in India, we have two guests propping up our bar to cogitate on that and much more besides. Anindya has been busy penning his thoughts on whether or not India saw the death of Bazball as a strategy. If you haven’t read “Death of a Strategy? The Curious Case of 'Bazball' in India” then we can heartily recommend it. You can find it here.   We also welcome the late Sagir Parkar. Not “late as in in the late Dentarthurdent”, but apparently detained on his way to the pub by a traffic accident. He picks up the pace of conversation like a pro though.   It’s a lively chat I can assure you we answer many questions as we go including:   ·     Was Baz ball battered? ·     England’s dilemmas o  One attitude – flexible approach? o  Making way for Brook? o  Duckett’ technique (and his dog)? o  Leach – should he stay or should he go? ·     Will the Jazz Whale stay in tune wherever he plays? ·     Jimmy 700 – For a fast bowler a record that will never be beaten? ·     New Zealand against Australia – Is it a mental thing? ·     Fire up the clown car – who wants tickets to the IPL circus?     Whether you agree with any of the answers is of course, entirely up to you, but do get in touch and let us know.     Cheers!   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrew Edward’s 2015 autobiography, one of his three books, received glowing testimonials from Michael Atherton OBE, 2003 Rugby Union World Cup winner Will Greenwood MBE, Sky Sports’ Hayley McQueen amongst many others. He was for many years a statistician for Manchester United’s TV channel, has been invited to a Buckingham Palace Garden party in celebration of his work as well as interviewed by John Humphries on the Today Programme no less. What makes these achievements exceptional is that Andrew Edwards is autistic and has had to use every ounce of determination and will to overcome the odds and succeed. His autobiography is entitled I’ve got a Stat for you. My life with Autism. Listen here as he tells @tonybishop1 his inspiring story of triumph over adversity.   To get exclusive access to all our podcasts, visit https://www.patreon.com/Guerillacricket Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The grumpy Guerrillas take in Sachin's omelettes, Norfolk's balls and an exclusive club of unlucky batsmen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cricket Supporters Association (CSA) is a fully independent, democratic, not for profit organisation which has been established to give all cricket fans a voice and have their rights represented. A central pillar of giving fans that voice is their annual survey, the fifth edition of which will be launched this month having started in 2017. Tony Bishop @tonybishop1 meets Becky Fairlie -  Clarke, co – founder of the CSA to find out two things: What has changed over the 3 previous issues and most importantly, what impact has it had and why cricket fans should ensure they take part What are the key issues to be covered in the survey and how can cricket fan’s still shape those? The survey has grown in reach, depth and relevance since its launch and Becky explains exactly how the supporters voice on key issues gets to leading authorities in the game. If you want your voice heard and feel that there is something vital to be included in the next edition of the survey, you can go here: www.cricketsupporters.com/haveyoursay or you can email the CSA here: info@cricketsupporters.com But hurry, as the survey will launch in the third week of March. You can keep up to date with the CSA on Twitter too @yourcricketsa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Grumpy old men are back, surprisingly there's a lot of cricket in this episode along with some other nonsense. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the music stopped on the mega-bucks mini-auction for IPL 2021, some high-profile Englishmen found themselves without a partner. Nakul Pande invites Jack Hope of The Cricket Podcast to analyse why Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Adil Rashid went unsold - come for the Alex Hales rant, stay for the Steven Smith rant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On their own patch, India are favourites. They have won huge plaudits for pulling off a dramatic series win in Australia and with an injury ravaged team. However, favourites don’t always win and England feel they have better than a puncher’s chance. Whilst India will point to a number of factors in their favour, including the return of some big guns and familiar home conditions, England are a very tough nut to crack anywhere in the world these days and there are reasons for English optimism, not least of which are the 5 consecutive test wins away from home they have just registered for first time in over 100 years. 15 times these two have locked horns in India and the home side have the upper hand, winning 7 series to England’s 5 with 3 drawn. We put two Guerillas together in the virtual ring to exchange verbal blows and predict who is likely to come out on top. Representing India is Anindya Dutta @Cric_Writer, a man who keeps company with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni on Amazon bookshelves. He wrote Wizards: The Story of Indian Spin Bowling. He knows his Indian cricket. Waving the English flag is a man almost old enough to have watched England’s first triumph in India in 1933 @tonybishop1 . Argument and counter argument are traded as Tony meets Anindya’s devilish spin with stoic defence and some neat verbal footwork.  Alas they couldn’t agree on the score. But they did agree it won’t be dull. Watch here to see who you think has it right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A study by Leeds Beckett University last year found a 72 per cent decrease in black players in the English game between 1995 and 2019, while just one English-born black player had played Test match cricket since 2004, prior to Jofra Archer. And it’s not just in the professional game. In our recreational game, only 1% of players are from African Caribbean heritage. The ACE Programme was launched by Surrey County Cricket Club in January 2020 in response to this alarming decline with the bold intent of doing something about it. Watch here as @tonybishop1 meets Chevy Green, Director of Surrey’s ACE program to find out exactly how they are doing and hear about successes so far.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices