The Analyst Inside Cricket

Simon Hughes and Simon Mann assess the sad decline of West Indies Test cricket brutally exposed by England on the second day of the Lords Test. England's debutants enjoyed it anyway and Ben Stokes joined the all-rounders elite of 200 test wickets to go with his 6000 Test runs. This podcast is supported by Nicholson original gin. For more info and a 15% discount go to drinknicholson.com and use the code Yakka2024

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann witness a remarkable Test match debut by Gus Atkinson to steal the limelight on Jimmy Anderson's farewell bow, as West Indies capitulate for 121. This episode is supported by Nicholson. For more information and a 15% discount on your purchase go to drinknicholson.com and use the code Yakka2024

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Brian Lara joins the podcast to look back on his epic, record-breaking innings against, and in England 30 years ago, featured in a new book - Lara: the England Chronicles published this week. He reveals the men who shaped his style and the man who bowled the most unplayable ball he ever faced, and considers the prospects for his compatriots next week at Lord's. Also in this episode a discussion on the future of the world game following the gathering of cricket's most significant movers and shakers at Lord's this week. LARA The England Chronicles is available to buy in hardback and ebook formats at thenightwatchman.net. Hardback: £20 (RRP £25) + p&p - use coupon code LARA6 at the checkout. Hardback signed: £25 (RRP £30) + p&p - use coupon code LARA6 at the checkout. Ebook: £4.99 (RRP £6.99) - use coupon code LARA7 at the checkout

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The Simons analyse the announcement of England's squad for the first Test of the summer, which includes the call-up of Surrey's Jamie Smith at the expense of Jonny Bairstow. In the second half of the show is a review of the T20 World Cup final, and a first Indian title for a dozen years, a fitting crown for the departing Indian coach Rahul Dravid and the mercurial Jasprit Bumrah. The podcast also includes Sunny Gavaskar's surprising choice as his favourite all-time T20 player.

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India and South Africa deservedly make it through to the T20 World Cup final as the only two unbeaten teams in the competition and show their potency and versatility in two one sided semis. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review the action which could signal the end of one or two senior England players.

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The phenomenal South African fast bowler Dale Steyn - taker of 699 international wickets - joins the podcast to talk lost World Cup semi finals, prospects for South Africa at this T20 World Cup as it reaches its climax and how to advise modern pace bowlers. 'Always take the positive option. Think wickets even if you're going at 14 an over....'

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review two days of madcap T20 cricket after which Australia are eliminated from the last game, and brilliant, irresistible Afghanistan make it to their first ever World Cup semi final to face South Africa on Wednesday.

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After a slightly stuttery early campaign England secure their T20 World Cup semi final spot with an annihilation of the USA team. The Simons assess England's growing confidence and analyse their likely semi final opponents, and beyond the cricket report on an impressive coral reef restoration project. For more information visit https://www.emcantigua.org/

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Simon Hughes is joined by West Indian born former Middlesex express Ricky Elcock to review England's Phil Salt-inspired defeat of the West Indies in the T20 World Cup and to discuss Elcock's later life training in the Caribbean to be Virgin Atlantic's first-ever black pilot. Ricky's fascinating autobiography Balls to Fly is available here - https://amzn.eu/d/0igB6ee0

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann relive England's anxiety through a day in the T20 World Cup when rain relented to allow England just enough time to defeat Namibia, and Australia had just enough depth to overcome the plucky Scots.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann admire England's demolition job on Oman and consider which teams are now odds on to make it to the Super Eights. Plus - what Freddie did and Yozzer samples a gin with a historic connection to cricket

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review the T20 World Cup so far and are joined by Australian great Matthew Hayden to assess England's chances of qualifying and why Australi are so good at tournament cricket

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review a sticky performance by Englsnd against the old enemy in the T20 World Cup, punctuated by bad decisions and inflexibility

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann reflect on the first four days of the T20 World Cup, featuring dodgy weather in Barbados, a dodgy pitch in New York and a super over triumph for Namibia whose hero David Wiese talks us through his superover strategy.

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The T20 World Cup starts this weekend with USA v Canada in Dallas, Texas. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann preview the tournament as England hope to defend their title and the ICC seek to re-introduce cricket to the US, the world's richest sports market. Back home we also check in with the remarkable progress of the South Asian Cricket Academy and hear from its founder Tom Brown and one of its recent graduates.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review England's T20 against Pakistan at Edgbaston which saw the welcome return of Jofra Archer - fit and firing - also dip into some county cricket action and preview the IPL final.

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) are back to analyse England's T20 series against Pakistan and the Charlotte Edwards Cup but get sidetracked by Nikki's obsession with the test and Melissa's recent Bridgerton binging. Aside from lots of telly the pair find time to chat with Matthew Ellis of Not Out Mental Health - a great cause highlighting the importance of speaking about mental health in cricket.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann consider Jimmy Anderson's impending departure and how it was decided, and discuss with West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder the legacy he has left and some ideas to help beleaguered bowlers in the shorter formats which Jimmy has wisely avoided.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann discuss the difficulty of scheduling county cricket to anyone's - never mind everyone's - satisfaction and hear about the real (10th century) origins of cricket - with fairly brutal consequences - from a most unexpected source. This podcast is sponsored by www.visitbarbados.org/cricket

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann analyse this month's big talking point, the potential sale of the Hundred franchises to private investors and what it might mean for the 18 counties and MCC. PCA chief executive Daryl Mitchell and Leicestershire CEO Sean Jarvis offer their views.

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) return to the massive plan to return the women's game to the counties and the impacts of this move. Reading listener concerns and speculating on the game before Surrey CC Women's Captain Amy Gordon describes the uncertainty the plans have had on her life.

She also talks about how commendable work in founding teh charity "Pad Up" an organisation delivering period products to girls in Kenyan schools to keep them engaged in education and sport.

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One of England's truly great players, David Gower, joins our virtual cricket club to discuss the future of Test cricket, his most embarrassing dismissals, which modern player he'd most like to be and why he loves Icelandic cricket. Join our virtual club at worldsbestcc.com

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) dissect the ECB's latest plans to expand the professional women's game with 00 Child Podcast host Polly Starkie and the Independent's sports writer, Sonia Twigg, who makes her second appearance on the pod.

Whether the new announcement will grow or harm women's cricket is down to natural selection but the panel left no stone unturned with a critical and passionate debate on how to develop the domestic game.

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Special guest Tino Best recounts the tale of playing in the Test match when Brian Lara broke the world record Test score with his 400 not out, twenty years ago this week. Its also 30 years to the day since Lara's epic 375 not out in Antigua. Simon Hughes was there.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann celebrate the life of the incomparable Derek Underwood, Kent and England's prolific spinner and hear from Rob Key, also a Kent legend, about his ethos in charge of England, why he chose Brendon McCullum as coach and what Harry Brook said to Ben Stokes .

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The sportswriter Ben Bloom discusses his new book Batting for Time - the fight to keep English cricket alive - and Simon Hughes and Simon Mann assess his findings and evaluate the solutions

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) celebrate Melissa's remarkable achievement in winning the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Broadcaster of the Year award before turning their attention to England's tour of New Zealand.

The girls then spoke to the brilliant Estelle Vasudevan to get her insight into all things Sri Lanka Women's Cricket ranging from this year's world cup to the domestic leagues.

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On the eve of the new County Championship season, Simon Mann and Simon Hughes talk to the optimistic Mark Alleyne, newly installed head coach of Gloucestershire who failed to win one first class match in 2023 and finished bottom of Division 2.

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Lottie - the most decorated-ever female cricketer is in the house to talk with Melissa Story and Simon Hughes about her life in the game, both as star player and now as trophy-winning coach, her fears for (women's) international formats and what its like to win the cup bearing her own name.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann talk to the former Warwickshire player and current Rajasthan Royals coach Trevor Penney about the art and science of fielding and how it has evolved from the butterfingered days of Yozzer's 20th century efforts

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann talk to franchise globetrotter David Wiese about life on the franchise circuit, what are the best and worst T20 leagues to play in, why the US has got it made and what is a travelling cricketer's favourite form of relaxation these days. And its not golf. David's own podcast is called Hitman for Hire

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) discuss the final stages of the 2024 WPL as RCB take home their first trophy as a franchise. Nikki makes her TMS debut, correcting some false advertising from the producer, and does brilliantly. The girls round up by looking forward to England's white-ball tour of New Zealand.

Nikki is STILL doing some research on women's cricket and we need you! If you are a female player or ex-player please fill out this survey, it takes around 2 minutes and will help us immensely. Thank you

https://forms.gle/Fv6FbQNPBstU3qJj6

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) return as the WPL moves towards its finale in 2024. Melissa describes a soggy weekend away before examining Sophie Ecclestone's rather brutal assessment of her teammates' fielding.

Nikki is doing some research on women's cricket and we need you! If you are a female player or ex-player please fill out this survey, it takes around 2 minutes and will help us immensely. Thank you

https://forms.gle/Fv6FbQNPBstU3qJj6

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Former England great Graham Gooch, who made more runs in all competitions than any player in history, tells Simon Hughes and Simon Mann some home truths about batting and offers some sage suggestions about how might England progress after their Indian ordeal.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann celebrate the remarkable achievement of Jimmy Anderson reaching 700 Test wickets in Dharamsala and congratulate superb India on completing an innings drubbing and a 4-1 series result. They assess where and why England's inevitable demise occurred and what's next for Ben Stokes's team.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann assess a second day in Dharamshala when India's top order batters demonstrated how to construct an innings to put India in a near impregnable position. At least England never gave in, the mercurial Ben Stokes produced a moment of magic and Shoaib Bashir kept going admirably to take four excellent wickets.

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England begin well again but then, in a carbon copy of earlier matches, fluff their lines as the spinners are brought on and another middle order collapse ensues. Then Yashasvi Jaiswal again dominates the final session of the first day in Dharamshala. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann assess the day and hear from the man who is producing a new generation of brilliant Indian batsmen.

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) round up last week's WPL fixtures as games continue thick and fast before entering a powerful discussion on body image and the pressure on female cricketers.

Nikki is doing some research on women's cricket and we need you! If you are a female player or ex-player please fill out this survey, it takes around 2 minutes and will help us immensely. Thank you

https://forms.gle/Fv6FbQNPBstU3qJj6

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann evaluate listeners' suggestions for the way forward for the Decision Review System and hear from the owner of the Rajasthan Royals, Manoj Badale, on the future influence of IPL franchises on Test cricket, player development and potential investment in the English game.

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) deliver a comprehensive round-up of the WPL's opening fixtures with humour, analysis and a bizarre marriage metaphor for franchise tournaments. With games every day stay tuned for more episodes for the rest of this year's WPL.

Nikki is doing some research on women's cricket and we need you! If you are a female player or ex-player please fill out this survey, it takes around 2 minutes and will help us immensely. Thank you

https://forms.gle/Fv6FbQNPBstU3qJj6

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review a tense fourth day in Ranchi, and where the match was won and lost and India seal their 17th successive home series. And Paul Hawkins, the founder of Hawkeye, explains how the Decision Review System works and refutes ill-informed media comment that the system is flawed or susceptible to manipulation.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann admire the consistency and skill of England's two novice spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley as England engineer themselves a dominant position on the second day in Ranchi, in spite of the precocious brilliance of Yashavi Jaiswal.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann assess a dispiriting third day for England as India add 130 for their last three wickets, and England then lose their last seven for 35. India with all second innings wickets in hand now have a golden chance to seal the series on the fourth morning in Ranchi.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review the first day of the fourth Test from Ranchi, where on a cracked pitch Joe Root reverts to type to play a classic innings, recording his 31st test Hundred and a record-breaking 91st score of over 50 in Test cricket. Watch the series live on TNT Sports

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Melissa Story (Gloucestershire & TMS) and Nikki Chaudhuri (Surrey & TMS) are back to talk winter nets, ramp shots and more. The girls discuss Project Darwin, the next evolution (geddit?!) of the domestic women's game proposed by the wisecracking ECB. They round off this episode with a WPL preview as Storylines gears up to follow the 2024 tournament.

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann reflect on England's colossal 434 run defeat in Rajkot - India's biggest ever Test match victory, assess what changes England may need to make before the fourth Test and also pay tribute to the great Gloucestershire and South Africa allrounder Mike Procter who passed away this weekend.

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Simon Hughes is joned by Indian commentator Prakash Wakankar to review a day's play which began with England in a position of potential dominance and ended it with India in control, thanks to some ill-judged England shots and a magnificent third Test century by the young Indian star Yashasvi Jaiswal

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Simon Hughes and Simon Mann eulogise about an exhilarating century by Ben Duckett, the fastest ever by an Englishmen against India, as England respond brilliantly to India's daunting first innings score on the second day in Rajkot.

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After a bright start England's bowlers are tamed by a superb 202 run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja which, along with a bright debut by Sarfaraz Khan has put India in the box seat on the first day in Rajkot. The Simons review a tough first day for England

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During the extended break in the India v England series, Derbyshire's Anuj Dal explains how many county cricketers are spending the winter, preparing physically and in his case mentally for the forthcoming season, and we also reveal an amazing story concerning Harry Brook.

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