Derbyshire photographer David "Griff" Griffin reacts to the sad news of the death of Mike Procter, a true giant of the game of cricket, who had huge impact on both the English county and international scene, where he played for, then later managed South Africa.

As the new season edges ever closer, The Grumbler joins me to look at the various talking points dominating county cricket conversations. Is the membership model broken? Are players' wages, foreign interest and monetisation destroying the game's tradition? Could counties break free from the ECB and form their own league....and should Taylor Swift be brought in to attract the youth?

Charles Dagnall joins us from Johannesburg, where he is covering the ICC u19 Cricket World Cup. England are out, failing to make the semi-finals, but "Daggers" is impressed by what he has seen and highlights some names we should watch for the future.

Former Yorkshire, Warwickshire and England cricketer TIM BRESNAN joins us to talk about glory days winning the T20 World Cup and The Ashes with England, as well as being County Champions with Yorkshire. Since retiring from first class cricket, "Bressie" has spent time travelling with his family and has been playing club cricket at Hartshead Moor CC. He is also building a very successful business trading cryptocurrencies.

Monday was officially tagged "Blue Monday" , the most depressing day of the year; the joy of Christmas long gone, the days fail to get light and the weather is just awful. Worse still if you are doing "Dry January" and are struggling with the cost of living.

Here, I am joined by Elizabeth Ammon from The Times to discuss why the downbeat mood appears to be so prevalent among cricket fans.

And there is still time to vote for "98 Not Out" in the Final of Cricket Podcast of the Year, click the link below:

https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/podcast/98-not-out-the-cricket-podcast/

In the last few days, we have witnessed the shortest-ever Test match take place in Newlands between South Africa and India, the West Indies announce a weakend squad to tour Australia and the increasing frequency of two-Test series. Also the news that the England tour to India later this month might not make it to UK tv screens, is Test cricket in danger of disappearing up its own backside? But good news does exist, with Edgbaston announcing it has sold out the first three days of the Test match it is hosting this summer, it does seem that there remains an appetite to attend cricket of the highest level. Here, I talk to Richard Clarke aka The Grumbler about what can and might be done. Can Barry Hearn save county cricket?!?!

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Thanks and enjoy!

Barely into the New Year and we have received the sad news about the passing of German legend Franz Beckenbauer, one of a very select few men to have lifted the World Cup both as a player and as a manager. When we talked to the Liverpool FC star Craig Johnston a couple of years ago, he told us about how instrumental "Der Kaiser" was in getting a deal with Adidas for the revolutionary Predator boot over the line. Well worth listening again...

In today's show, we take a look at the extraordinary events at Newlands where South Africa were beaten by visitors India in the shortest Test match in the history of the game. Commentator Ravi Shastri came up with one of the all-time great soundbites to sum up what was going on!

As Luke Littler takes the world of darts by storm, we take a look at the teenagers who broke the records in cricket at the highest level.

We celebrate Stuart Broad receiving a CBE in the New Year's Honours List by revisiting his chat with us last year.

Two great names of the modern era have announced their retirement from international cricket, so we pay tribute to Dean Elgar and David Warner.

In more worrying news, South Africa has announced a weakened side for the two-Test tour of New Zealand and question the impact of franchise cricket on the wider game.

Also please remember to vote for "98 Not Out" in the Final for Cricket Podcast of the Year:

https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/podcast/98-not-out-the-cricket-podcast/

If you are a regular visitor to the Cloud County Ground at Chelmsford, or indeed many of the away fixtures, you might well recognise Dan Haggar, or "Kit Man Dan" as he is sometimes known. A passionate Essex fan and regular supporter of "98 Not Out", it was high time we got him on for a chat. Enjoy!