The Guerilla Cricket Podcast

A huge welcome once again to The Bishop and Bear. What a week for Test cricket it’s been. As you will know if you have been watching or listening with us, we have been gripped by the 5-day drama of that Lords Test. If you haven’t been with us, where on earth have you been? Meanwhile, in Jamaica a rather shorter but equally dramatic Test Match was taking place where the West Indies had a real tilt at breaking New Zealand’s 1955 ‘lowest score record’ and Mitchell Starc was pink ball swinging his way into the record books with a five-wicket haul in his first 15 balls. To celebrate and marvel over both events, your ursine landlord and episcopal barman have the company of Ajit with his ever present armchair and David Brook, who, as you will hear, is both scathing and insightful on the state of West Indies cricket and certainly does not hold back. In animated conversation we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from Lords including last day drama, Flintoff and Lee vibes, slow pitch and battered balls, over rates and the seeming injustice of only England being docked points, Zak Crawley’s Oscar nomination, Jofra’s return, Siraj and Maradona, English batting and the forthcoming return of the Prodigal Dawson. With a pause to refill glasses we lean exactly how the replacement balls make it into the magic box. It’s not as scientific a process as you might think by the way. From there it’s a race to the last orders bell to unpick the pink ball ballistics from Kingston and debate exactly why it happened and just where the West Indies go next. Does Brian Lara have a point in saying the team only play Tests to get picked for the global franchises? We’ll be with you for every ball of the last two England vs India Tests. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. Allthe best YourUrsine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A very warm welcome once again. The sun is shining and the Bishop and Bear bar and garden is humming with excited anticipation of the 5 Test England Vs India series that starts on Friday 20th June. Our guest, as he so often is ahead of an India series, is the fabulous author, raconteur and expert on Indian cricket and particularly its spin bowlers, Anindya Dutta. Armed with an Indian pink gin, Anindya helps us to forensically probe prospects for the series. And a fascinating one it promises to be (the series, not the gin). A new look India, shorn of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and led by rookie captain Shubman Gill is packed with potential, but some of it unproven. England, for their part, seem to be pretty solid in batting depth, but can’t keep bowlers fit. They will need all the experience in UK conditions that Chris Woakes can bring. Of course, we each make our predictions, so let us know if you agree with them or not! We also have time to celebrate South Africa’s World Test championship win and air some divergent views on the ICC moving ever closely to espousing four-day Tests. We’ll be with you for every ball of the England vs India series. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The old Bishop and Bear has been closed for refurbishment since late March, but we are delighted to pull up the shutters again and welcome you back. A special occasion demands a special guest and we have one of those in the shape of St. Annie of Exeter - national treasure, Guerilla and now best-selling cricket author too. Whilst liberally knocking back our finest rum, Annie undergoes the usual friendly but forensic examination we reserve for some of cricket’s finest authors. The book in question is “Cricket Changed My Life – Eleven Personal Journeys”. Its, personal, heartwarming and genuinely delightful in the opinion of your barman who had diligently read every word. No doubt our landlord will agree when he gets around to reading it too. But we will forgive him this time. New studios don’t set themselves up after all, so his ursine paws have been rather full. From a Pakistani teenager left for dead by terrorists to England’s first black international cricketer, from journalists and broadcasters who have battled adversity to forge careers in cricket to a pair of Syrian refugees, and from one of England’s greatest all rounders to the inimitable David’ Bumble’ Lloyd, Annie tells the stories of eleven very different people for whom the game of cricket has been transformative. Each and every one of the 11 chapters is unique and delivered in Annie’s own style, always allowing the subject to shine and to clearly enjoy themselves whilst doing it. It’s charmingly understated in places, no more so than when she says “there’s an element of the extrovert about Dan Norcross” (who? Ed). Listen in here and enjoy the chat. In fact, do that and also buy the book. You can do that here. For good measure, we also have a look forward to the Zimbabwe Test and have to say that we are rather looking to seeing all 6 foot 8 inches of Blessing Muzarabani and wonder if the Joel Garner like bowler might just trouble England’ Baz Ballers if they are not on their mettle. We’ll be in our new studio to bring you every ball and for that, so join us if you can. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. There were some big subjects to cover in the old B and B this week, so propping up the bar is a man more than able to address them…at length. It is none other than The Mersey Mouth, The Tooting Trumpet, maker of occasionally dubious points, but always with hyperbolic conviction, Gary Naylor. We look back to the Champions Trophy which inevitably leads to a chuckle or two at how poor India had the odds stacked against them, or at least that’s what Gautam Gambir (subject of perhaps our shortest ever jingle), thought. We thought they were worthy winners though despite that. We put our brains together using, it must be said, rather different analytical styles to figure out how England can restart their broken white ball motor. Suffice to say your landlord rather shot from the hip using ever more colourful vernacular, whilst our guest and episcopal barman took a more rounded view. Interestingly we ended up in the same place. Add to all that, the unearthing of divergent views on whether the 150th Anniversary Test should be a Day/Night Pink baller. No, no, raged your barman. Since 1877, there have been 2,581 Tests but only 23 under lights. Why celebrate the history of Test cricket by playing it in a way that is not how the majority of Tests have been played? Your Landlord was, shall we say, less a defender of history and tradition and more for living in the moment. Where do you stand? Finally, we round things off by asking if Pakistan Cricket’s malaise is a long-term issue and are the MCC really losing £4 million because India are not in the WTC Final. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every now and then, somebody forgets something important and there are consequences. This week, the Bishop managed to forget to lock the front door of the Bishop and Bear pub, and three unruly Australians broke in and took it over for a time. While order will be restored in future weeks, we do have a recording of what they shared from an Australian perspective. Despite the fact that the Champions Trophy hasn’t turned out to be everything that Pakistan, or indeed England or Bangladesh, might have hoped, it is still well and truly underway. Mog, Messy, and Forthy have had a go at giving their perspective on what happened in the first week, and look forward to the coming matches. Fortunately, this was recorded before England’s loss to Afghanistan, so we are spared any analysis of this. Many thanks to all of you for your ongoing support – the Guerillas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. We may be hurtling at speed into 2025, but we start today looking back the best part of 100 years. Our guest on the Barstool of Bravado is Stephen Brenkley, former cricket correspondent for the Independent and the Independent on Sunday who once commented that our predecessor Test Match Sofa ‘were not as funny as they think they are’. Clearly a man of great perspicacity. He’s here though to chat about his new book A Striking Summer (How cricket united a divided nation). The summer in question was 1926. A post war Britain was riven by a general strike and by class divide. Anything but the land fit for hero’s that Lloyd George had promised. England’s Cricket team had lost 3 consecutive Ashes series winning just one Test all of them. An Ashes series took place that transfixed and united the nation. Over 30,000 people thronged to Victoria station just to see the Australian team arrive for goodness sake! Along with Stephen, we dive into the drama of the series, delve into the characters of the players and look at just how, in such troubled times, the game of cricket briefly united a deeply troubled nation. It is a superbly engaging read and comes heartily recommended. At the bottom of these notes you’ll find exactly where to get the book at a special Bishop and Bear price. Fuelled with a couple of generous gin and tonics, Stephen stays to reflect on the battering England have received in the India T20s, the battering our Women were dealt in the Ashes and the less than stellar performances for the Lions and the U19 Women too. We ask the question “Are the ECB more focused on franchise sales than international competitiveness. Or is one a route to the other?” Here is where you can find Stephen’s book. A Striking Summer by Stephen Brenkley is published by Fairfield Books: Buy the hardback for £16 + p&p with coupon code GC20: https://www.thenightwatchman.net/buy/a-striking-summer Buy the ebook for £3.99 with coupon code GC20: https://www.thenightwatchman.net/buy/a-striking-summer-ebook By the way, if you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. Cheers Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ho Ho Ho. It’s nearly time for the fat jolly bearded gentleman to arrive. To be fair, that could describe most Guerillas (obviously the likes of Annie and indeed our guest today excluded). The halls and walls of the Bishop and Bear are decked with boughs of holly and our Barstool of Bravado guest to look back on the New Zealand series and the year in general is the admirable, ambitious and prolific Hector. Hector has been our man on the spot at all three New Zealand Tests, hobnobbing with media glitterati, asking the tough questions in press conferences and drinking and dining with Fleet Street’s finest and former England Test alumni alike. If you haven’t been following his daily match previews, reports, interviews where have you been?! Settle back with a drink and enjoy the chat as we find out just what else the lad has been up to as well as ask why England are so much like the little girl in Longfellow’s poem – “When they are good they are very good, but when they are bad they are horrid”. We chew over the Test year in general, pick our magic moments and horror stories and look, not just at England, but at Test cricket in general. To round up, as our Ursine Landlord is about to shut up the shutters for Christmas, we each reflect upon what we would we do if we were in charge for a day of the ICC and the ECB respectively. And finally we let Santa know, loud and clear, what’s top of our Cricket Christmas list and what our cricketing New Year resolutions are. What are yours by the way. Let us know. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course. Season Greetings from Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices