Cricket with an Accent Podcast

Geoff Francis Lawson is a former Australian fast bowler who also coached the Pakistan national team. In a candid conversation Lawson opens up about his playing days. He takes a trip down memory lane to remember all the men he played under - Greg Chappell, Kim Hughes and Allan Border. In an era of packed cricket calendars Lawson reminds us of Ashes tours that lasted four and a half months long and the challenges of playing in cold English weather. He also mentions the two tosses days where the preliminary toss was to choose the ball!

The conversation has lot of fun and nuanced observations on why fast bowlers don't get the captaincy job in Australian cricket to the idea getting more foreign coaches down under. Last but not the least he recalls upon his time in Lahore with the Pakistan national team.

Aftab Khanna joins the show to preview the India England test series. The kickoff point is the absence of Ben Stokes and how does that impact the balance of this English side. Aftab addresses the notion whether India are the favorites for this series or not given the missing status of Archer, Stokes and Woakes. Should India be playing two spinners at Trent Bridge and in this series in general given it starts in August not July?

The conversation on the indian front focuses on the lack of form of two of India's most seasoned campaigners - Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Is it the beginning of the end for both men? Aftab also makes a case for Rohit Sharma to have a successful outing as India's mainstay batsman. Lastly we discuss the slight change in approach for Virat Kohli's batting in test matches since the last time he toured England.

In addition to the preview we touch upon some of the highlights from the previous five tours of India starting from 2002.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan(https://twitter.com/sidvee) of the http://www.81allout.com/ podcast returns to Cricket with an accent to recall the events surrounding the Rahul Dravid captaincy period. It is one of the semi forgotten eras of Indian cricket which still polarizes fans and media whenever the topic resurfaces. Vaidyanathan, who was a cricinfo journalist during that time helps unpack the mixed bag of emotions and myths attached to that period with some facts from the public domain. 

We touch upon various points like what is good captaincy or even a better topic - is there too much value attached to captaincy in terms of cricketing outcomes. Using these notions we address the transition of captaincy from the Ganguly years to the Dravid years. Of course there is the towering figure of Greg Chappell - who also gets mentioned in detail as he was the integral part of this cricketing triangle like none other. What is Dravid's legacy? Vaidyanathan revisits one of his pieces which he wrote towards the end of the Dravid years and reevaluates the footprints left behind by the tandem of Dravid and Chappell, and the team they tried to build. It was incredibly fun conversation.

Sources referred for this conversation -

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-importance-of-being-dravid-303540%3fplatform=amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espncricinfo.com/story/dravid-s-moment-of-reckoning-289120%3fplatform=amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espncricinfo.com/story/a-legacy-that-lost-its-way-310994%3fplatform=amp

https://www.amazon.com/Rahul-Dravid-Timeless-ESPN-Cricinfo/dp/9381810788

Aftab Khanna(@aftabkhanna in twitter) returns to the podcast to join host Saqib Ali to discuss New Zealand's win in Southampton. The conversation looks at the tournament structure of this first edition and attempts at exploring how future FTP's may include a more level playing field. Is there room for a best of three WTC final given the already crowded cricket calendar.

The focus shifts on to the winners who have transformed into this world class unit with a potent fast bowling attack which oozes with variety. Khanna takes a deep dive into explaining the significance of Neil Wagner who has become a serious contributor to this Kiwi team's fortunes. Other notable mentions are of Ross Taylor the unsung hero and BJ Watling - the best gloveman in the business.

Last but not the least Khanna talks about the ever divisive conversation surrounding Che Pujara. This conversation on Pujara will continue as we post more episodes on India's tour to England.

We referred to this piece by Sid Monga on BJ watling during our conversation.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/sidharth-monga-bj-watling-the-quintessential-new-zealander-and-the-best-at-what-he-does-1263018

Former India cricketer Surinder Khanna is the podcast guest. In this episode Khanna looks back at the roadmap of his cricket timeline from the grounds of the Hindu college to the ultimate honor in Indian cricket - playing for India. Khanna was a cricketer who was ahead of his times in how he approached his batting as a wicket keeper. We drew comparisons with the likes of Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni. He was part of the exciting Delhi cricket batting lineup and played a mentor to the likes of Raman Lamba and Ajay Sharma. It's a typical Khanna conversation - straight from the heart. 

He pays homage to his captains Bishan Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. A must listen episode for all fans.

Matt Roller of Espn cricinfo joins the show this week. Roller as a writer is versatile in his coverage of the sport where he covers all forms of the international game along with the domestic English county matches. Keeping the county coverage as a backdrop I asked Roller about the chances of one Matt Parkinson to make his test debut this summer. In this episode Roller talks about the space of cricket journalism in England and how the sport still remains a niche sport. 

The conversation covers lot of ground where the stats vs old school coverage of the sport gets mentioned along with the independent analysis of the game vs the established voices. Last but not the least Roller looks ahead at the clash vs India this summer. 

Matt Roller on twitter - @mroller98

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng-vs-nz-2021-ben-stokes-to-make-comeback-from-injury-for-durham-in-vitality-blast-1263411

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/cricket/matt-parkinson-i-don-t-just-want-to-be-in-england-squads-on-potential/ar-BB1gDKcy?li=AAggjDC&srcref=rss

Senior cricket writer Vijay Lokapally joins the podcast for an episode where he recalls some of the fascinating battles between Delhi and Mumbai. In the era of domestic cricket that rivalry was seen as a test match itself. The conversation also focuses on Lokapally's early cricket memories of the Kotla - home of the Delhi cricket team.

Lokapally also takes us down the memory lane where we relive Bedi, Amarnath and Raman Lamba. Last but not the least we talk about K.P. Bhaskar - perhaps one of the best cricketers to not play for India. 

Nakul Pande (@nakulMpande) of Guerilla cricket returns to the show to talk about IPL 2021. In this episode Pande helps preview the roasters of RCB, RR, PBKS and MI. 

Its IPL time of the year. In this episode Gurkirat Singh Gill(@gurkiratsgill) and Rahul Vishwanathan(Rv__97) join the show to help me preview the Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings. 

Former Australian captain and all time great Greg Chappell is the podcast guest. Chappell engages in a candid chat that covers his cricket journey as a player, captain, coach, selector and now columnist. The conversation explores the historic 1975 series vs the West Indies which was Chappell's first rodeo as captain. Other major talking point is the phase of his career where he swapped the captaincy with his successor Kim Hughes on more than few occasions. 

Using his book Fierce Focus as a measure Chappell helps us understand how successful batting captains can compartmentalize batting and leadership duties. Also included are his views on coaching, Virat Kohli's all format focus, Australian cricket's test future and the work Rahul Dravid has done for India A.

https://wisden.com/stories/archive/news/overwhelm-people-greg-chappell-coaching