The Top Order Cricket Podcast

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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Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all enjoyed some rest at the end of 2023 and are now looking ahead to what 2024 might bring. From a cricketing point of view, the calendar looks very full with plenty of intriguing series and tournaments to look forward to.

In this episode of the show, we discuss the series, players and tournaments we're most excited about in 2024, including:

We'll likely be back to our regular This Week in Cricket shows from next week, with news and views on topics such as David Warner's Test farewell, the India v South Africa series and the New Zealand home 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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Happy Holidays!

It is the festive season - a time to reflect on the year gone by, so we did exactly that in this review of the 2023 calendar year.

We discussed our highlights, such as:

Along with some individuals who stood out for their impressive performances and achievements during the year:

We'll be back again next week with a preview of 2024, focusing on some of the things we're most looking forward to for the year ahead, 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 Tim Southee, 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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The IPL doesn't start until the end of March, but the news cycle has already begun with huge trades and big paydays for some at the 2024 mini auction.

In this episode of the show, we take a look at the auction night activity of all 10 teams, including:

We'll be back again next week with a review of the 2023 cricket year, 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 Finn Allen, 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the week that was, including the Black Caps' Test victory against Bangladesh, the build up to the Australia v Pakistan series, England Cricket news and other bits and pieces that caught our attention.

We start by discussing Glenn Phillips and his heroics at Mirpur, which saw New Zealand pick up their first points of this World Test Championship campaign in challenging conditions. There's praise for his approach, his partnership with Mitchell Santner and a conversation about what this performance might mean for his next 12 months across all formats.

Eventually the conversation turns to the pitch, and the contrasting comments made by Tim Southee and Najmul Hossain Shanto. Was it fun to watch? Or was it the worst pitch ever? Or was it fun to watch because it was the worst pitch ever?

There are also mentions for Ajaz Patel, a nod to conversations about where this win ranks alongside other wins for the Black Caps in Tests away from home, and some excitement towards the end of the episode about a potential ODI debut for Will O'Rourke as the two sides shift countries and formats to do it all again in a matter of days.

Our next stop on this cricketing journey is Australia, where pitches have been in the spotlight as well in Geelong and at the Manuka Oval. We talk about who might replace David Warner for Australia when he finally does sail off into the sunset (in Tests at least) and whether there's any chance Pakistan can make this upcoming series a competitive one.

England's white-ball squad are in the West Indies, but Binksy was excited to discuss the recently announced Test squad to tour India, which features two uncapped spinners in Tom Bartley and Shoaib Bashir.

There's also brief mentions of the BBL, a Jofra Archer sighting, the upcoming India v South Africa Test series and more as we bounce around a wide range of topics.

We'll be back again next week with more news and views, 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the show, Raj, Stu and Binksy discuss Bangladesh's win in the first Test against the Black Caps, the India v Australia T20 series, the first West Indies v England ODI, Mitchell Johnson's war of words, a rough week for the White Ferns, Rahul Dravid's extension and even a little bit of Ford Trophy news as we look back at the week that was.

The first half of the show is focused on the Black Caps, after they made a disappointing start to their World Test Championship campaign at the hands of Bangladesh, who spun their way to victory thanks to a 10-wicket haul for Taijul Islam and an impressive century from captain Shanto.

We discuss expectations for this New Zealand side, where they are as a Test team right now, the role that spin played in the outcome of the match, player development and team selection, including the Rachin Ravindra v Henry Nicholls conversation that has been a big talking point over the past week. We also give praise to Kane Williamson for his first-innings century and the bright red cherries all over the middle of his bat.

From there we bounce around a few of the bilateral white-ball series across the world to talk about:

We also touch on Mitchell Johnson's comments about David Warner, a big hundred from Finn Allen and much more in this wide-ranging conversation.

We'll be back again next week with more news and views, 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 Tim Southee, Sophie Devine and Ajaz Patel, 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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The World Cup is over but the cricket rolls on and we're back to review the week that was and look forward to what's to come.

In this episode of the show, we discuss the India v Australia T20 series, in which we've seen Steve Smith at the top of the order, Rinku Singh making a big impact from a small number of deliveries and the talent of Yashasvi Jaiswal on full display.

The IPL is fast becoming a year-round enterprise, and the most recent news has been all about retentions, releases and trades, with Cameron Green and Hardik Pandya on the move before the auction on December 19.

By the time you're listening to or watching this episode, the first Test between the Black Caps and Bangladesh will be well underway, but Binksy, Stu and Raj took a wider look at the New Zealand draw for the World Test Championship cycle to talk through realistic goals and where the team needs to evolve over the next few years.

We finish the show with a whizz around a number of different topics, including Babar Azam stepping down from the Pakistan captaincy, Uganda's big win at the African T20 qualifiers, the stop clock, Georgia Plimmer's hundred and the eye-catching nature of every Zak Foulkes highlight.

We'll be back again next week with more news and views, 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 is over, with Australia securing their sixth title, beating a fantastic Indian side in the final.

In this episode of the show, we bounce around a range of topics to review the tournament as a whole, including:

We also discuss our individual highlights from the World Cup, and attempt to pick a tournament team that includes at least one player from each squad, which inevitably leads to further discussion about the performance of each country against the expectations we had prior to the tournament.

We'll be back again next with more news and views as the cricket calendar rolls on, but until then please also 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 45 pool games and two semi-finals, the Big Dance is finally here: Australia, India, Ahmedabad, 130,000 people in the crowd and more than a billion watching from afar.

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Raj and Stu look review the final, discussing the key players and moments.

We talk the toss, the powerplays, Pat Cummins as a bowler and a captain, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Travis Head's catch and his innings, Marnus Labuschagne's tournament and the hurt the Indian players and fans must be feeling after what has been a brilliant World Cup up until this point. But of course, the spoils go to the victors, so there's plenty of praise for Australia and the way they built into this tournament after a difficult start, and produced their best performance when it mattered most.

We'll be back again in a few days' time to look back at the tournament as a whole and shine a light on some of our favourite moments. 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 45 pool games and two semi-finals, the Big Dance is finally here: Australia, India, Ahmedabad, 130,000 people in the crowd and more than a billion watching from afar.

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Binksy and Stu look ahead to the final, discussing the key players and match ups, each side's path through the tournament and predict how the game will be won.

We'll be back again after the final to review the game and crown the champions. 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices