The Top Order Cricket Podcast

Holiday season events and work/life admin are making it tricky for us to get a full team together, but in this episode of the show Binksy, Baldy and Lippy take a look back at an entertaining week in the world of cricket.

We start the show by discussing how England and Pakistan produced a Test match filled with drama and excitement on one of the most boring pitches of all time. There's a lot of praise for England, as we come to terms with the realisation that Test cricket is changing - and even Binksy might be converted to England's attacking style. We also cast our eye forward a few weeks to when the Black Caps visit Pakistan and the potential make up of that squad.

The White Ferns have won the first two T20s against Bangladesh in style, with the usual suspects contributing, but Lippy also shines a light on Maddy Green's recent performances to wonder whether her consistency is here to stay.

Finally, we round out the conversation with Australia's win against the West Indies. The 'No run' brigade stole the show, but there's also a word for Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, plus a Baldy conspiracy theory for good measure.

We've got more content coming in the next few days - an interview with journalist and author Ken Piesse, which largely features Ken telling stories about legends of yesteryear. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with Luke Wright, Jeet Raval and Dean Foxcroft. There's another of these provincial interviews on the way soon, plus you'll find chats with Wasim Khan, Finn Allen, Mike Hussey, Sophie Devine, Dion Nash, 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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This week on the show it's just Stu and Binksy as we look back at the white-ball series between New Zealand and India. There was plenty of rain, but some excellent performances from the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson.

We talk about crowds, Eden Park and make the case for not tinkering with ODI cricket, before moving swiftly past Australia's first innings runfest in Perth.

To round out the show we marvel at the first session of the first Test between Pakistan and England to discuss the bigger picture of this English Test revival under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

We'll be back in your feed again next week (hopefully with a full crew) to discuss the week that was, plus we're planning the final few episodes of our Hall of Fame series and have more interviews lined up for the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with Luke Wright, Jeet Raval and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Finn Allen, Dion Nash, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin, Barry Richards 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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In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 10 to 8 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are).

Now that we're at the business end of the list, we couldn't resist throwing a few extra minutes on the clock to discuss these legends of the game. Baldy reveals the algorithm's best fast bowler of all time, plus we discuss two stylish left-handers who scored stacks of runs all around the world.

Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media.

Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Andre Adams, Gary Stead, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Lesley Murdoch, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

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

Thanks for listening.

*SPOILER ALERT*

This episode features players from 10-8 in the following order.

10 - SF Barnes

9 - Brian Lara

8 - Kumar Sangakkara

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This week on the show we look back at the T20 World Cup final at the MCG, which saw England add another white-ball trophy to their cabinet. Binksy takes us through the game-day experience, then we break down the key moments of the match, featuring Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

In the second half of the episode, we bring India and New Zealand into the conversation to discuss a number of questions in the aftermath of this tournament:

We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss matches from all around the world, as well as our Hall of Fame series. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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 at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with Luke Wright, Dean Foxcroft and Jeet Raval, plus chats with Ajaz Patel, Sophie Devine, Dion Nash, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin, Barry Richards 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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In this episode of the show, Binksy, Raj and Stu look back at an action-packed finish to the group stages of the T20 World Cup. The Dutch knocked South Africa out of the tournament, Pakistan snuck in the back door and now Stu is having nightmares about Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Binksy's off to the World Cup final, so in the second half of the show we look ahead to discuss how the semi-finals will be won or lost, in an attempt to predict which two teams will face off at the MCG on Sunday night. Raj makes an outrageous claim about Finn Allen, Stu goes into bat for Mitchell Santner and Binksy explains why it is win-win for him as England prepare to take on India.

We talk about Suryakumar Yadav, Jos Buttler, Babar Azam, Devon Conway and many more stars in this wide-ranging conversation about a tournament that has delivered on so many levels.

We'll be back next week to review the semi-finals and the big dance, but if you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes, including chats with Ish Sodhi, Luke Wright, Jeet Raval, Wasim Khan, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Melinda Farrell, Barry Richards 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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We couldn't get the whole team together, but Michael and Stu couldn't resist the urge to jump on a call and rave about a magical innings from Glenn Phillips and another dominant performance from the Black Caps.

Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Usain Bolt, Michael Clarke, Virat Kohli - the conversation bounced around a bit, before we discussed upsets, excitement and semi-final permutations for a T20 World Cup that seems to provide more and more entertainment every day (when it's not raining).

We'll be back in your feed again before the semi-finals, but in the meantime please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including our recent conversations with Luke Wright, Jeet Raval and Dean Foxcroft, plus chats with Sophie Devine, Wasim Khan, Ish Sodhi, Mike Hussey, Barry Richards, Katey Martin, 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 ICC Men's T20 World Cup has been on fire this past week, with the amazing finishes from the group stages carrying across to the Super 12 phase.

Finn Allen and Devon Conway set up a big win for the Black Caps, before Virat Kohli stole the show and broke Pakistan hearts in a game filled with magical moments and plenty of talking points.

We discuss no balls, dead balls, good old-fashioned hidings, Duckworth-Lewis and a whole host more as England and South Africa also start their campaigns, just as the West Indies depart during a very eventful opening week of the tournament.

We'll be back in your feed soon with more T20 World Cup content and also our Hall of Fame series. In the meantime, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes, including our most recent conversation with Luke Wright, plus chats with Finn Allen, Colin Miller, Katey Martin, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected]. We absolutely love hearing from fellow cricket fans from all around the world.

Thanks for listening.

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In this episode of the show, we speak with Luke Wright, who has joined the Auckland Cricket coaching staff for 2022-23.

Luke takes us through the move to Auckland and what he's noticed about the squad so far, before entertaining us with a walk down memory lane to look back at moments from his impressive career.

We talk about young talent in the Auckland side, such as Adi Ashok, Simon Keene and Ryan Harrison, then discuss Luke's T20 World Cup win with England in 2010, playing alongside Shane Warne at the BBL and the experiences he's had and lessons learned along the way.

Luke has a fascinating perspective on the rise of T20 leagues and the positives and negatives that brings for the international game and players all around the world, and we're sure you'll enjoy this conversation.

We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss the early stages of the T20 World Cup, but please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

Dip back into our guest episodes - including chats with Shane Bond, Barry Richards, Sophie Devine, Andre Adams, Finn Allen, 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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In the second episode of our 2022 journey around the New Zealand domestic provinces, we speak to Jeet Raval, fresh off leading the Northern Brave to a Super Smash title in 2021/22.

Jeet and Stu discuss the ND preseason, look back at Jeet's time with the Black Caps and examine the NZ domestic scene as a platform for developing players for international level.

And with the Plunket Shield set to begin next week, Jeet takes us behind the scenes for a closer look at the Northern squad both on and off the field, and outlines the team's goals for the upcoming season.

Keep an eye out for plenty more episodes in the coming weeks - we're planning to catch up with a number of cricketers and coaches from around the New Zealand domestic scene. You'll also hear our thoughts on the Men's T20 World Cup throughout the tournament, plus more instalments of our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, which has now reached the top 10.

We'd really appreciate it if you take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - including this one - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our conversations with the likes of Shane Bond, Ajaz Patel, Sophie Devine, Mike Hussey, Jarrod Kimber, Katey Martin and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions, guest suggestions or your predictions for the T20 World Cup, get in touch at [email protected] or via any of our social channels.

Thanks for listening.

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In the first episode of our 2022 journey around the New Zealand domestic provinces, we speak to Dean Foxcroft, who returns to Otago after Covid left him stranded overseas for 28 months.

Dean talks about the challenges of the past couple of years, gives us an update about what he's been up to during that time and details why he was so determined to return and push for higher honours here in Aotearoa.

With the Plunket Shield set to begin next week, Dean takes us behind the scenes at the Otago squad both on and off the field, and outlines the team's goals for the upcoming season.

Keep an eye out for plenty more episodes in the coming weeks - we're planning to catch up with a number of cricketers and coaches from around the New Zealand domestic scene. The next of these will be a conversation with Jeet Raval from the Northern Brave, dropping on Monday. You'll also hear our thoughts on the Men's T20 World Cup throughout the tournament, plus more instalments of our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, which has now reached the top 10.

We'd really appreciate you taking the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or telling a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - including this one - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our back catalogue, featuring conversations with the likes of Mike Hussey, Dion Nash, Shane Bond, Ish Sodhi, Sophie Devine, Barry Richards, Wasim Khan, 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, guest suggestions or your predictions for the T20 World Cup, get in touch at [email protected] or via any of our social channels.

Thanks for listening.

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