In this episode of the show, Baldy and Stu get together for an unscheduled review of the South Africa v India Test series, which featured five days of fascinating cricket despite the short finishes and the 1-1 scoreline.

Ball dominated bat throughout the two Tests, and pitches have stolen the limelight after the series ended with India winning the shortest Test of all time, but we also saw hundreds from Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and KL Rahul, seam bowling at its very best from the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada, brilliant crowds, impressive debuts from Nandre Burger and David Bedingham, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in challenging conditions, 55 all out, and 6 wickets for the loss of 0 runs, followed by a piece of commentary from Ravi Shastri that will live long in the memory.

We do eventually discuss the pitches and why they proved so difficult, particularly the surface at Newlands, plus South Africa's Test side to tour New Zealand, whether it is signals the death of Test cricket and a whole lot more in this extended conversation.

We'll be back again in a few days' time with more news and views, focusing on the Australia v Pakistan series and the New Zealand summer, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

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