Rain Stopped Play

For an extra RSP Deep Dive this week, we interview author and social researcher Duncan Stone. Duncan's explosive new book, Different Class: The Story of English Cricket exposes an alternative social history of the game from its earliest days to the present, and indeed the future.

He shows how the use of a 'gentleman's amateur' approach was formed to the deliberate exclusion of working class participation in the game, how that thinking went on to underpin our thinking on the 'spirit of cricket' and how it still informs top-down decision-making today.

Duncan pulls no punches, and launches his book at a time of scandal and crisis in the English game, where all of us are looking to the future and asking, 'what next?' We think you'll enjoy hearing from his unique and well-researched perspective.

You can here more from Duncan on Twitter @StoneDunk

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Join in the conversation with us in the RSP community on Discord here, on Twitter @rainstoppedpod or email us at [email protected].

Part One

02:10 - England crash to 4-0 in Australia

17:24 - India's defeat in SA & the end of the Kohli era

31:49 - Ireland make history in the West Indies

34:29 - Zac's update on the U19 World Cup!

Part Two

36:41 - Pitch Inspection: Mark Ramprakash on the Yorkshire Scandal

44:25 - Women's Ashes Preview

53:50 - Zac's Quick Question

A packed Rain Stopped Play this week! As the Ashes and India vs South Africa series come to an end, we wrap up the key talking points before looking ahead to the Women's Ashes, and ask who could possibly replace Virat Kohli as India's next captain.

Plus, the first of our new segment 'Pitch Inspection', in which we highlight one piece of cricket writing we recomend you read - starting with Mark Ramprakash's column on the latest developments in the Yorkshire scandal. You can read Mark's article here:

We're now on Discord! You can use this link and login via the website or computer/mobile app to join our own little RSP Community, complete with chat, Q&A and reminders of every new podcast and livestream. Join us: https://discord.gg/fETm7xnn

Finally, we'll be live on Saturday night for a Twitter Spaces covering the build-up to England's first T20 against the West Indies! Join us at twitter.com/RainStoppedPod

Thanks for listening!

A New Year brings a slightly new format for Rain Stopped Play, with the introduction of our new segments Around the Grounds, Tweet of the Week and Zac's Quick Question. 

Essentially, we still just chat about cricket - starting with England's somewhat mood-settling draw in Australia, India's tight series in South Africa and a truly extraordinary few days in Bangladeshi cricket history. Join Dan, Will, Glenn and Zac for another incredible year of cricket, by and for the fans.

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod

In our second ever special episode, Zac is joined by Scouting Cricket's Ronan Alexander for a comprehensive preview on the Under-19s World Cup which starts on January 14th.

The guys take you through each team playing at this year's World Cup team by team and pick out a few key players to keep an eye out for. Listen out for some predictions towards the end of the episode too!

Massive thanks to Ronan for joining us on the pod this week and sharing his expertise with us. You can find him on Twitter @ronan_45 and @ScoutingCricket or at the website https://scoutingcricket.com

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod

So, this is it. Australia have officially retained the Ashes with two tests to spare. A longer Rain Stopped Play today as we take a deep dive into where England lost this series, how deep the crisis in the game goes and whether we can ever be competitive in the Test format again.

Plus, is Chris Silverwood on another planet and who could replace Joe root as captain?

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod

Happy Holidays! We know we said we wouldn't be back before Christmas on the previous podcast - it turns out, that wasn't true!

In a bonus Christmas special, our full RSP team have a bit of fun looking back over the year that was cricket in 2021 - our highs and lows, heroes and villains, and at last some accountability for the worst take someone has uttered on this podcast.

We revive the Rain-ies, our surely now famous set of improvised cricketing awards. Featuring:

• Game of the Year
• Moment of the Year
• Team of the Year
• Hero/Villain of the Year
• Coldest/Hottest Take of the Year

And finally, be sure to stick around to the end for our New Year's Resolutions for cricket in 2022.

We hope this podcast gives you some brief respite from the Ashes - we'll be back before the new year to round up the 3rd Test, and if you're on Twitter you can join our livestream Spaces on Boxing Day night. Until then, thank you very much for listening over this bizarre year, we all hope you have a very happy Christmas and some restful time with your family.

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod

Intro/Outro music courtesy of Podington Bear, under Creative Commons creative license: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Happy_Holidays_Merry_Sythmas/Jingle_Bells_1305

It's a Sad England special on this week's Rain Stopped Play. It's cold, Covid is back with a vengeance and Joe Root is taking shots at his own bowlers. Dan, Glenn and Will are here to wade through the darkness and hopefully provide a cathartic moan before looking to the future.

Plus, stay to the end for a frankly bizarre detour through the England camp's woes, via US foreign policy and the Marshall Plan. Merry Christmas!

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod and be sure to catch us Live on Twitter Spaces during the 3rd Test!

It’s a real throwback episode today, as Rain Stopped Play’s co-founders Dan and Glenn reunite for a Moscow mule-fueled analysis of England’s dismal performance in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. Well, we say dismal—Dan was feeling pretty optimistic until an hour alongside Glenn’s downbeat company reminded him of England’s many, many, problems.  

Indeed, it took all of one ball in this Ashes to shatter English aspirations, as the tourists’ plans were left looking more exposed than Rory Burns’ leg stump. Why did England bat first? Why was Broad left out? Why can nobody convert a 50 into a big score? Were—as Glenn half-jokingly suggests—England painfully attempting to play 4D chess? Hit play to find out! 

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod

Better late than never - we bring you the RSP team's preview thoughts on England vs Australia, just in time for the first ball to be bowled. Can Dan stomach an England team missing Broad *and *Anderson? Will England win a game? Where on Earth is the 5th test being held?

Join Dan and Zac for their final thoughts ahead of one of the strangest Ashes series we can remember. And no, we're not going to talk about Tim Paine.

Follow us on Twitter: @RainStoppedPod, and if you're listening on the day this comes out, you can join us on there for our very first live Twitter Spaces at 11PM UK time, so you can get your questions in, join us for the toss and hear Glenn and Will's series predictions

For our first Rain Stopped Play Deep Dive, we take a closer look at how some of cricket's biggest names became embroiled in it's deepest scandal in decades. More importantly, we look at not just what went wrong, but how we begin to fix it.

Special thanks to Taj Butt, Chris Marshall, Tom Brown and Adam Kelly for giving us their thoughts. And wait to the end for a discussion on how we move forward with RSP regulars Will Singh and Glenn Houlihan.

Follow our guests on Twitter: @ButtTaj, @MarshallCAJ3107, @tombrown1593 & @AdamKelly07

Chris Marshall's website: chrismarshall.ws or email [email protected] if you are a Yorkshire member.

Some of Tom Brown's studies can be found here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23750472.2021.1949382

Where do you think cricket goes from here? Let us know your thoughts via Twitter: @RainStoppedPod or email us via [email protected].

Music credit: Keep Calm And Podcast by Podsafe