On today's first episode of our winter series of The Casual Mankadder, we delve into the hot topics that current in the world of cricket.

The states have begun their recruiting drive for next season's Sheffield Shield, with a number of players already having made big moves across the border, and we discuss what may be behind those moves.

We then have a deeper look at the problems that beset New South Wales and their two seasons of rubbish cricket, the spectre that Pathways cricket may have had on them and how a return to performance-based selections could well be the way forward.

Australia and India, and to a lesser extent England have all decided against warm-up matches before the start of their big upcoming tours, and we discuss the reasons why and whether or not it is a smart move (spoiler alert - it isn't).

We finish off discussing the recent reports of prominent IPL owners suggesting International cricket is on borrowed time and that franchise T20 cricket is the way of the future, and just what that landscape could look like.

It's the return of The Casual Mankadder, hopefully on a weekly basis for the duration of the winter cricket follies, here on the podcast that rarely relies on the soft signal, Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.