The Final Word Cricket Podcast

Season 15, Episode 31: It's the season finale! That's because the Mr Sheffield Shield is done, and we don't need to tell you who won. Also, Western Australia has locked in the first Test of the summer for the next six years, with CA getting the schedules done well in advance. Go West, life is peaceful there. Plus we'll have a women's Ashes Test at the MCG. In other news, we go local with Carlton's incredible premiership performance against South Melbourne, we go England with Alec Stewart to hand over the running of Surrey, we go to the grudge match with twin tons as Sri Lanka tour Bangladesh, we go through the women's game with Australia in Bangladesh and England in New Zealand, and we go global with the first edition of The Final Word IPL Weekly Wrap of the Bits We Could Be Bothered Watching! Exciting.

Your Nerd Pledge number this week:

8.64 - Dannish Babar

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Greatest Season That Was, Episode 8 – with Tim Lane. You’ve heard from plenty of players as we’ve gone through this sensational tournament, like Alec Stewart, Geoff Allott and Andy Flower, as well as Harsha Bhogle who was documenting India's journey on telly. Australia also had a broadcaster throughout the seven weeks: Tim Lane. One of the finest all-round commentators the country has produced, back in ’99 Tim was behind the mic with BBC Test Match Special, simulcast into Australia via the ABC. We realised it would be essential to get his perspective and Dan Brettig did a fine job. We think you’ll find Tim a great counterpoint to the players.

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, not just one long-time rival but two storied combatants return to the show to lay down their challenges once again. But this time, we might just be their equals with a couple of rollicking tales. Also, one of our pledgers turns his hand to poetry, while another will learn the story of the Forrest Gump of cricket.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

20.83 Rob O'Neill

6.94 - Ramaswamy

4.56 - Jimit Raja

4.42 - Angus Digby

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Season 15, Episode 30: Tasmania's new stadium might depend on this weekend's state election, but with over 100,000 members for the new footy club, it'll be a tough promise to rescind. Meanwhile Queensland's government doesn't want to spend bulk cash on anything at all. Ellyse Perry is still the best, proving it in Bangalore's WPL title run, while Pak Bean and Imad Wasim literally lit up the Pakistan league. Cricket Aus bail on more Afghanistan fixtures, the Shield final is set up, and Jess Jonassen is a surprise omission from the Australian squad.

Your Nerd Pledge number this week:

3.45 - David Smith & Patrick Hargreaves

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Season 15, Episode 29: Across all of our Story Time episodes, a few names come up more than any others. One is Glenn Turner, the New Zealand opening bat who churned out runs from the 1960s to the 1980s. Highest percentage in an innings, carrying his bat, twin tons, a hundred hundreds, a thousand before the end of May? Check, check, keep checking. Beyond the numbers, Glenn is a storyteller with a life to draw from, travelling the world since his teenage years, taking on the establishment to change how players were treated, and winning over an Indian Air Force father-in-law along the way. With Geoff and Bharat at his kitchen table overlooking the lake in Wanaka, a special Final Word.

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Daniel Norcross slips back into the co-host chair with Adam, and up Mt Kilimanjaro they trek - a world record fixture for unusual reasons. And why is the Big V superior to Perth? You'll find out right off the top. Later, the career of one of Australia's finest Test openers, and the international journey of a bowler who burned brightly but briefly.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

7.60 Joel Emonson

2158 - Ed Fowler

58.61 - Peter Brown

5.75 - Richie B

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Reggie from the wonderful Vic Hotel in Brunswick allows us to spend a long time on the full history of the daring left-hander with the walrus moustache. Also, a rare Pakistan appearance for an Ahmadi Muslim, a unique achievement in T20 International cricket, and one of the great leg-spinning performances amid one of the great leg-spinning stories - and no, it doesn't involve the initials SKW. We're back, baby.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

161.00 - Reggie

8.89 - Bradley Waring

3.57 - Not That Tim Minchin

12.50 - Dane Hansted

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Season 15, Episode 28: The southern Test season is done, with Australia leaving New Zealand, while England are also leaving India. That doesn't mean that cricket stops in Zimbabwe, with the Mashonaland Eagles turning in one of the most unlikely scorecards against... Durham? Yes. Meanwhile, Shane Watson might just be the next coach of Pakistan. The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka grudge continues, Ireland might cancel their series against Australia, and the last Shield round begins.

Your Nerd Pledge number this week:

7.44 - Nick Ibis

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New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch Day 4: It was a final day as good as we could have hoped. A decisive strike early but a decisive miss to go with it. A partnership that built. Then a dramatic final sequence. New Zealand and Australia had a stunner, as the clouds rolled in and the afternoon darkened. Alex Carey was involved, Mitchell Marsh, Ben Sears, Glenn Phillips, and inevitably late in a chase, Pat Cummins.

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India v England, Dharamsala Wash-up: Did Bazball fail and what does the future hold for England? Cameron Ponsonby is joined by Vithushan Ehantharajah to go wade through the debris after England fell to a 4-1 defeat against India.

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New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch Day 3: We are in for a stunner. After the first day, New Zealand looked gone. During the third, they turned this Test match on its head. Suddenly the Australians are the ones under pressure, but they have a path to victory as well. It will take something special, but why not believe that such a thing can happen? Don't miss this one ahead of a blockbuster Day 4.

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India v England, Dharamsala Day 3: It's over. Ashwin runs through England for one final time this series as India wrap it up 4-1. James Anderson gets to 700 Test wickets but really, it's a footnote on India's day.

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New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch Day 2: It could have been a day when New Zealand went over the edge, but instead they managed to keep both feet on the ledge - although the drop is still there. Matt Henry made his summer even hotter to keep Australia within range, then Tom Latham and Kane Williamson resumed NZ's second-most prolific partnership to close the distance. Approaching day three, a couple of results are still in range.

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India v England, Dharamsala Day 2: India strengthen their position even further as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill score silky centuries. Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal impress with fifties whilst England's bowlers have a day of hard graft.

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New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch Day 1: Win the toss and bowl. It is becoming a Pat Cummins signature, and the move looked pretty good with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to back him up. But New Zealand are having a Hot Matt Henry Summer, and he had something to say as well.

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India v England, Dharamsala Day 1: Kuldeep Yadav you're a helluva bowler. India absolutely dominate on day one, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Yashasvi Jaiswal starring once again. And as far as cameos go, Jonny Bairstow plays a blinder in his 100th Test.

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New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch Day 0: It's preview day at beautiful Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Australia go in unchanged, New Zealand have Kane Williamson and Tim Southee each playing his 100th Test, and the pitch is a lovely shade of green. Get the latest with us.

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India v England, Dharamsala preview: It's the most beautiful ground in the world. These are the facts. Cameron Ponsonby is joined by Vithushan Ehantharajah from ESPN Cricinfo to preview the fifth and final Test of the series on what looks set to be a spectacular occasion.

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, which was actually recorded a little while earlier, Adam and Geoff meet up at the Albert Ground in Melbourne for an on-location recording. Adam gets sidetracked into Test triple centuries, Geoff gets sidetracked into ODI doubles, we look at a famous Lord's match, a long loop back through last episode's territory in New Zealand, and tackle a marathon free hit plus an unlikely candidate for being underrated.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

3.11 - Simon Clarke

2.02 - Donna

1.14 - Michael Ball

4.23 - Jack Taylor

5.24 - Richard Bond McNally

6.46 - Ben Gleeson

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Season 15, Episode 27: Admittedly we don't get onto the title topic until the end of this episode, but it starts with a glance at the Shield and ends up back there amid the conundrum of Will Pucovski. In between, the machinations of the New Zealand and Australia Test series, worries for Alex Carey, the trials of Vanuatu in World Cup qualifying including a very rare and dodgy tactical ploy and a remarkable old spinner's debut, Ireland notch their first Test win, and it's freezing in Dharamsala ahead of India England. Plus, which football team is Fran Fine?

Your Nerd Pledge number this week:

5.72 - Matt Baker

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New Zealand v Australia, Wellington Day 4: It's all over at the Basin, right near the plughole. Dreams were riding on Rachin Ravindra but in the end it was Nathan Lyon pouring cold water on a few faces. On a beautiful sunny afternoon in Wellington, we'll tell you how it all went down.

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New Zealand v Australia, Wellington Day 3: Both teams kept the foot down during a Test that keeps motoring along, with Nathan Lyon having some fun playing at being a batter before Glenn Phillips had even more playing at being a bowler. A dramatic second session saw New Zealand keep some flame of hope alive, and overnight that lamp has been entrusted to Rachin Ravindra and Darryl Mitchell. It's all set up for a belter on Day 4.

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New Zealand v Australia, Wellington Day 2: Well, that escalated quickly. The morning went by as Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood worked their way into historical territory that involved the Big Ship Warwick Amstrong and Final Word fave Arthur Mailey, before a series of calamities befell New Zealand's batting. Glenn Phillips was great fun as ever, Matt Henry kept carrying this team, and Kane Williamson had one of his strangest days.

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New Zealand v Australia, Wellington Day 1: After eight long years, the Australian men's Test team returned to New Zealand to play. And for a couple of sessions they perhaps wished they had not, as the local bowlers got on top on a green pitch. But another Green thing is Cameron Green, and he had something significant to say about the state of play by the close in a flurried finish.

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New Zealand v Australia, Wellington Day 0: What will we do without Neil Wagner? A fine career comes to an end ahead of the series opener between the Black Caps and Pat Cummins' men at the beautiful Basin. For the Aussies, it's the XI as anticipated - the same side that lost to the Windies at the Gabba a month ago - and they're on the hunt for precious WTC points away from home. As for Tim Southee's team, they would do anything to get over the line against Australia in a Test Match for the first time in over a dozen years but they won't have Devon Conway's assistance in that mission, out with a thumb injury - a big blow. Bharat Sundaresan is with Adam Collins in their Airbnb/commune/hostel.

And then...

India v England, Ranchi Wash-up: How did it come to this? Will Bashir and Hartley ever get a game in the County Championship? And what on earth happened to Ollie Robinson? Cameron is joined once again by Cricinfo's Vithushan Ehantharajah to analyse to England's series defeat and have the latest from the camp.

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Season 15, Episode 26: In Wellington ahead of the First Test between New Zealand and Australia, Adam and Bharat are frustrated by the fact that they're there for only for two matches and not three - a view you're finally hearing more from players and administrators alike. The teams have already duked it out across three T20s, the visitors learning a bit about their World Cup Best XI in the process. There's plenty going on in India, as well as two domestic finals in Australia with Tassie's women and the WACA men both completing three-peats in one-day cricket. 

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India v England, Ranchi Day 4: And just like that it’s over. India win the prestigious IDFC First Bank trophy after the calm heads of Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill get them over the line on day four. A miraculous England win looked on the cards briefly after India lost five wickets for 36 runs but it wasn’t to be for Stokes’ men. Cameron Ponsonby is on the ground as ever and is joined by the Telegraph’s Will Macpherson.

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India v England, Ranchi Day 3: And just like that it’s over….almost. Four Tests of drama culminated in a day where India were excellent and England fell to the wayside. India started the day 130 runs behind; but they end it 150 runs from a series victory. And surprise surprise, there’s more DRS drama. Cameron Ponsonby is joined for this one by ESPN Cricinfo’s Vithushan Ehantharajah. 

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India v England, Ranchi Day 2: Prepare for fast-forward. The pitch is starting to break apart with England currently in pole position. Yashasvi Jaiswal scores yet more runs, but an unbeaten Joe Root century and four wickets for Shoaib Bashir means that England finish the day well ahead. Oh...and it's England's turn to think umpire's call is a great invention. Cam Ponsonby, at the ground, once again has Daniel Norcross for company.

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India v England, Ranchi Day 1: Wait a minute. That looked suspiciously like an excellent day of conventional Test cricket. Akash Deep started his Test career with not one but several bangs, after a misfire. Mohammed Siraj bowled some pearls. Ravindra Jadeja got the pitch to play tricks. And through it all, Joe Root stood supreme with another classic innings, while Ben Foakes and latterly Ollie Robinson did their part. Is that stumps score a good one? Nobody has any idea.

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India v England, Ranchi Day 0: The Rancho Relaxo! To one of Adam's favourite grounds for the Fourth Test with England in a must-win position after their hiding over the weekend. As for the hosts, Bumrah is resting - time for their spinners to come into their own on a surface that looks like it might turn from the get-go. But those assumptions have been mistaken at this ground in the past. Cam Ponsonby is in place, ready to roll.

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Season 15, Episode 25: Taylor Swift has finished her run at the MCG, leading Virat Kohli 3-1, while the New Zealanders have finished off a surprisingly competitive Test against their makeshift South African opposition and now are in the last stages of preparation to try beating Australia in a series for the first time in decades. Bharat Sundaresan joins Geoff to look over this, Ravichandran Ashwin's 500th wicket, a long-needed pathway in Australia for female match referees, the conflicts of interest for players in overlapping T20 leagues, and Will Pucovski's first Shield hundred since his Test debut.

Your Nerd Pledge for this week:

2.60 - Andrew Gardner

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Daniel Norcross joins Adam Collins for a flip through the pages of Adam's diary on a very special non-school day involving a Final Word fave. Also, the slowest batter in all cricket? A strange coincidence with the next Nerd Pledge on our upcoming weekly show, there's a look at the little-discussed but very good Bob Barker, and another number takes us to a genuine Dusty Old Bastard.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

4.55 - WG Rumblepants

3.46 - Jeames Withers

3.85 - Matt McD

3.99 - Mark Stein

2.53 - Ajay

1.49 - Jason Wilkins

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India v England, Rajkot Wash-up: Will Stokes bowl? Is DRS corrupt? Will England drop Bairstow? Did Duckett create Jaiswal? Cameron is joined by Crincfo's Vithushan Ehantharajah to analyse to England's record Rajkot defeat and have the latest from the camp as they look towards Ranchi.

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India v England, Rajkot Day 4: What a difference a day makes. Beginning the third morning in great shape, England succumbed to India by 434 runs by the end of the fourth evening. The supreme performance from the hosts included another double ton for their magnificent young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal before Ravindra Jadeja went to work, collecting a bag of five wickets to go with his century when the chips were down inside the first hour of the Test - doesn't that feel a long time ago now? Cam Ponsonby is at the ground in Rajkot and he has Daniel Norcross with him.

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India v England, Rajkot Day 3: The middle session of the middle day of the middle Test in this series - how decisive it could prove to be. England, having blown the doors down last night, badly lost their way with Joe Root's reverse-ramp the moment most in focus. Sure enough, India strengthened their position yet further by the close thanks to another classy ton from Yashasvi Jaiswal. Cam Ponsonby is at the ground in Rajkot and he's with Adam Collins.

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Australia v South Africa Women, Perth Day 3: A long way behind, South Africa had only one option: to fight. So they did, through most of the third day while making the Australians work. Chloe Tryon showed her range, Delmi Tucker showed her temperament, and the contest offered promise for the future. Your hosts: Geoff Lemon and Bharat Sundaresan.

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India v England, Rajkot Day 2: Another day, another wild ride. Ashwin takes his 500th Test wicket to further mark a great career, but it’s Ben Duckett and England’s afternoon, as the left-hander belts a remarkable unbeaten century. The match is still in India’s favour but England are chasing them all the way. With debutant host Cameron Ponsonby, is veteran guest Daniel Norcross.

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Australia v South Africa Women, Perth Day 2: One long day that was all about one long innings - the historic double century produced by Annabel Sutherland, fast becoming a hugely significant Test cricketer. Around a masterpiece of timing and concentration, everybody else in the Australian team had a good turn at something as well, while South Africa showed some fight despite being miles behind in the game. Your hosts: Geoff Lemon and Bharat Sundaresan.

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India v England, Rajkot Day 1: A day of twists and turns to begin the Third Test, but the home side, thanks to a 204-run stand between the captain Rohit and the local superstar Jadeja, earned a handy advantage by the close. To recap the tons, the wickets and the barbeque of poor old Sarfaraz Khan, Adam Collins has Cam Ponsonby for company there at the ground.

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Australia v South Africa Women, Perth Day 1: It was 43 degrees at the WACA, and South Africa felt the heat after being asked to bat. Darcie Brown, Kim Garth, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath ensured that the spinners were not required, before Australia faced trouble of their own. But where there's trouble, there is Beth Mooney, before Alyssa Healy had some fine moments and one less desirable moment of her own. Your hosts: Geoff Lemon and Bharat Sundaresan.

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India v England, Rajkot Day 0: After a week off to cool down after two brilliant Tests to start, the series moves to Rajkot. In doing so, the hosts welcome back a man who knows the SCA ground as well as any - Ravindra Jadeja. That's one of the many pieces of team news from both camps, which includes the inclusion, for the first time, Sarfaraz Khan in an India XI. As for England, Mark Wood returns to partner with Jimmy Anderson as the visitors tweak their bowling bowling configuration. All told, the promise of an exciting few days coming up. Cam Ponsonby is at the ground, Adam Collins is in London

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Season 15, Episode 24: Glenn Maxwell and ridiculous hundreds. It is a theme of late. Four of them in his last nine hits for Australia, and the one in Adelaide against a West Indies team that played well in the end - it was probably the purest of the lot. Also this week, new concussion rules across three nations, the chance for a fun debut in India's next Test, another belting win for Australia's women while Heather Graham also goes on a tear for Tasmania, the MCC's World Cricket Committee makes some big recommendations, and things fall apart in Pakistan.

Your Nerd Pledge for this week:

4.40 - Tanya Wintringham

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Greatest Season That Was, Episode 7 – New Zealand with Geoff Allott. So much of the ’99 World Cup magic revolves around the extraordinary tie between Australia and South Africa. This time around, our focus shifts the one of the teams that made the other (far less eventful) semi-final: New Zealand. A major driver of their success in reaching the final four 25 years ago was their left-arm swing ace, Geoff Allott, who made white Dukes talk throughout to claim 20 wickets - matched only by Shane Warne. His conversation here with Dan Brettig and Shannon Gill, documenting a brief but memorable career, is a beauty. Enjoy.

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. In a week when an Under-19s player was out obstructing the field and a Shield player survived a similar appeal, along came not one but two numbers linking us to some of the least common methods of dismissal in the game. We also go back to World War I, look at one of the tallest to play the game, find one of the rarest feats for opening batters, and end up even further back in 1855 for a run chase you won't believe.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

2.14 - Rossi

1.64 - Packo

21.00 - Dave Hornsby

6.80 - Matthew Lincoln

5.00 - Aditya Chaoji

21.49 - Adam T

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Season 15, Episode 23: Mitch Marsh won more hearts this week while winning the Allan Border Medal, while Ash Gardner confirmed her supremacy in the Australian women's team with the Belinda Clark Award. That didn't stop South Africa's women knocking off Australia for the first time in 50-over cricket, after notching their first 20-over win the week before. Marizanne Kapp is currently Superwoman. New Zealand predictably battered South Africa's 5th-tier team in the men's Test, but not without plenty of statistical quirks, Afghanistan battled hard in their Test in Sri Lanka, and there's a new women's domestic structure in England.

Your Nerd Pledge for this week:

2.29 - David Nicholls

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It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. Let's hear a tale we had never found before, about one of the unlikeliest mismatches of them all. Also, an equally unlikely change of allegiance, a game with four results on the table, the player who faced the longest wait, a real wrong number, a curious cumulative record, and the little-discussed batting of a bowling legend,

Your Nerd Pledge revisits this week:

6.35 - Max W

78.00 - Peder Roberts

10.70 - Rafael Szumer

1.14 - Guy Hornsby

5.00 - Xavier Bochat

12.32 - Glenn Finkelde

and new number 6.79 - Ben Woolgar

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India v England, Vizag Wash-up: With the series squared and players heading in their different directions for a week off, Cameron Ponsonby is joined by Cricinfo's Vithushan Ehantharajah to review the latest reactions from the second Test and look ahead to Rajkot.

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India v England, Vizag Day 4: In the end, it was Bumrah taking a stump out of the ground. Appropriately so after he turned this match on its head a couple of days earlier doing just the same, putting the home side into a position of authority they would never cede. England gave it a crack in pursuit of 399 - they were always going to - but India have pulled this very watchable series into parity after two Tests. Cam Ponsonby has enjoyed the lot of it in Vizag and he's with Adam Collins in London.

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India v England, Vizag Day 3: They couldn't, could they? Nearly 400 to chase for England, but they're off to a bright start and they believe. That's after a day when James Anderson did the new-ball business again, Shubman Gill made a stylish hundred after some early fortune, and India then let a dominant position slide against England's spinners.

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