Baz goes full-time, the Black Caps on tour & the Cricket Olympics

In this episode of the show, Baldy, Binksy, Raj and Stu are back in the same room again after a short break to discuss the cricketing week (or couple of weeks) that was, with a focus on England v Sri Lanka and the upcoming six away tests for the Black Caps.

Recorded after Day 1 of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka, we begin with a conversation about bad light, prompted by the lack of play on that first day. Baldy looks to the Olympics for a solution, whereas Binksy suggests interchangeable balls – but how much of an issue is this, really?

We then move to the on-field action, where Kamindu Mendis has been Sri Lanka’s shining light in the series so far, Joe Root has strengthened his case as England’s greatest batter of all time, Brendon McCullum has extended his coaching contract and picked up the white-ball squad as well, and Gus Atkinson added a century to his already impressive home summer.

To round out the show, we look ahead to two months of the Black Caps playing Test cricket, first against Afghanistan, followed by Sri Lanka and then India. We talk about lineups, the threat of Afghanistan, spin-bowling, Glenn Phillips and two new names to the central contract list, with Nathan Smith and Josh Clarkson added this week. There’s also a quick mention about Australia’s new white-ball era sans David Warner, and Bangladesh’s historic Test series victory in Pakistan.

We’ll be back again next week to wrap up England v Sri Lanka and New Zealand v Afghanistan. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) 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.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes – including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, 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 thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro
2:25 Is bad light a huge issue for Test cricket?
12:25 Kamindu Mendis Sri Lanka’s shining light
17:20 Is Joe Root England’s GOAT?
25:40 Brendon McCullum to coach England in red- and white-ball cricket
35:00 A great summer for Gus Atkinson
40:00 Black Caps begin a subcontinent tour – what will final XI look like?
54:15 Australia v Scotland and Bangladesh v Pakistan