Greatest Season That Was, Episode 10 – Damien Fleming. By this stage on the re-release of The Greatest Season That Was series on the 1999 Men’s World Cup, we have revisited interviews with players and broadcasters who were front and centre from South Africa, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, England and India. But what about Australia? The story o…

Season 16, Episode 6: One of our staples is to speak with Lawrence Booth, the editor of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, on the day of its release in the Lord’s Library. In this, his 13th edition in charge, no punches are pulled. As he says in his editors’ notes, it’s clear that the future of Test cricket, beyond the wealthiest nations, really is a…

Season 16, Episode 5: Deep into western Victoria, in the land around Harrow and Edenhope, was the home of the great cricketer Unaarrimin, more broadly known as Johnny Mullagh. We've told the story before of his 1868 Aboriginal team that toured England. Last weekend, Geoff headed to Harrow for commemorative matches between the veterans' Indigenous t…

Ben Bloom - Batting for Time: The Fight to Keep English Cricket Alive Moreso by the year, the future of domestic cricket in England is up for grabs. Operating in a squeezed schedule at the same time franchise tournaments are changing the global landscape, the place of the County Championship and many of its clubs is complicated like never before. I…

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, what is the worst bowl-first decision of all time? And what does it have to do with the Vengaboys and the bravest innings ever played near a giant fruit? Plus the byword for cricket arcania, the portrait that should grace the mantelpiece of Daniel…

Season 16, Episode 4: Cricket got underway in England over the last week, with more rain than balls bowled but some bumper days of play nonetheless, not least the one in which Sam Northeast knocked together 335 at Lord's. Will Nathan Lyon's two overs count as a game played? The wait remains. In Australia, Nic Maddinson moves states again. There's a…

Season 16, Episode 3: Made in heaven, Michael Bevan. He was the very best at what he did - finishing 50-over run chases with the onboard computer scanning every option. But he was a lot more than that: a red-ball maestro, a Test spinner, the most prolific player to walk onto the Sydney Cricket Ground. We were lucky enough to spend our Sydney live s…

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, how did Learie Constantine become lord of his domain? Also, the remarkable tale of a pioneering New Zealander, an Adelaide mystery, a triumph that didn’t feel like one, and Geoff’s favourite of all time. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week: 1.97 - …

Season 1, Ep 6: Reloading lost episodes from the early Final Word. It's Season 1! At the end of Australia's 2015 tour of England, after the one-day series to follow the Ashes, it was great to be joined by our friends Jesse Hogan from the Fairfax papers and Stephan Shemilt from the BBC. At the top of the order - I can't stand it, I know you planned …

Season 16, Episode 2: If asking who has the most interesting story in world cricket right now, a leading candidates would be David Wiese. From the South African national team to England as a Kolpak, until Brexit put a stop to that. Then another door opened into the Namibian national team, getting the chance to represent a second country at multiple…

Season 16, Episode 1: After two Test caps and about a hundred tours on the bench, Michael Neser has lost his Australian contract and is way down the pecking order. Is it over for the hashtag man? Various South African players are actively dodging contracts, while Jason Gillespie has left South Australia and may be bound for Karachi. Also this week,…

Steve Cannane - First Tests: Great Australian Cricketers and the Backyards That Made Them Steve Cannane has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and the ABC's senior foreign correspondent in Europe since 2021. But aside from his important work, his passion is cricket - for decades, he charged in every Saturday as an opening bowler. And it was …

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, disregard all fakes - this involves one of the fastest REAL centuries in first-class cricket. We hunt for a phantom spell via a bowling feat rarer than a double hat-trick, look at some less famed examples to more famed counterparts, and consider t…

Greatest Season That Was, Episode 9 – Lance Klusener. At the 1999 World Cup, Lance Klusener stole the show. During a golden era for South African one-day cricket, the Proteas men were meant to fulfil their destiny in England by holding up the trophy for the first time. Being seen as the best team in the world was heavily due to their left-handed br…

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 …

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 a…

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,…