It’s Not Just Cricket

Lawrence Booth is back for a lively debate on the power that Indian cricket now holds and how it is using it. As ever, Matt, Azeem and Lawrence have slightly differing views on this so stand by for some strong views! After that the three of them look ahead to the England v India Test series - are England now favourites with Kohli and Rohit suddenly retired?

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Wisden Editor and Daily Mail Cricket Correspondent Lawrence Booth joins the boys to discuss the massive news of the week - Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket. So is he, as Greg Chappell says, Indian cricket's most influential cricketer? And is he the greatest all format batter of all time?

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As news breaks that Gary Ballance will be part of the Zimbabwe coaching team for the tour of England, Azeem reaveals that he holds no grudge against him and hopes he does well. Unlike some others, Gary accepted his role in the racism that took place at Yorkshire and apologized for it. Plus - should James Rew be talked about more and is Vikram Solanki a future England Director of Cricket?

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Vaibhav Suryavanshi - remember the name!! He becomes the latest in a long line of incredibly young cricket prodigies and the boys look back on some of the others in history from Sachin Tendulkar to Hasan Raza. Also, Azeem explains why he thinks Jacob Bethell should stay at the IPL and not return to England to play the Test against Zimbabwe. He's got strong views on the IPL being expanded to 94 matches and the current standard of county cricket. Plus, is Farhan Ahmed in line to replace Shoaib Bashir?!

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It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the IPL - teams who didn't make the Play Offs last year are leading the way and a 14 year old has made his debut and hit his first ball for six! The PSL meanwhile hasn't seen packed crowds at every game and Azeem has a theory as to why. Back in Blighty, Sam Cook and Sonny Baker are pulled out of their County Championship matches - does this mean that one or even BOTH will be making their Test debuts in a month's time?

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Great to have Adam Collins back on the show! Fresh off writing Glenn Maxwell's autobiography 'The Showman', he gives us a fascinating insight into the mind of one the modern game's most iconic players. After that he and Matt discuss Adam's unlikely journey from politics to cricket broadcasting and how cricket journalism has changed beyond recognition over the last few years.

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The County Championship season has started and with England's first Test of the summer just a few weeks away we check in on two players who's season hasn't started exactly as they would've liked. Zak Crawley is badly out of nick, so what do England do if he can't rediscover his mojo soon? At least he's an automatic choice for his county though, which is more than can be said for Shoaib Bashir. Matt and Azeem debate whether he should still be considered England's premier spinner and if his development would be helped by playing a lot more county cricket.

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Commentator, Writer and Podcaster Adam Collins joins Matt for a deep look into where cricket is heading and what the future may look like. When the inevitable Saudi Arabian money enters the game will Indian cricket welcome them with open arms or go head to head in competition? Will cricket become like football where all the power, money and interest is held by the domestic teams and International matches become less relevant? And will Test cricket only be played by three or four countries in the future?

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The IPL is back and even though there haven't been many close games, it's still the best T20 show in town. MS Dhoni gets criticised for batting too low down the order but Matt thinks we should just enjoy him while he's still out on the field. An article has been written questioning whether English players still value the IPL but is that really the case? Plus, Moeen Ali calls out cricket for not taking racism seriously - have his comments not been taken seriously enough?

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It's good to talk. Most people have had issues with maintaining their mental health and Matt and Azeem are no different. In this epsiode they both open up on some of the issues they have had over the years - how they've both felt they've lacked purpose in life at times, the pressure that men feel in seeing themselves as 'providers' and how therapy has helped both of them get through the darker times.

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