Season 17, Episode 2: It's time for Mr Sheffield to rise again, which means the annual jostling for national position begins in earnest. Some players are rested, some are tested, some are bested, while Michael Neser is inevitably fastest to impress-ted. England get their Test tour of Pakistan going without Ben Stokes, Shan Masood tons up, the Women's T20 World Cup is up and running, Sanath Jayasuirya needs a new phone for his new job, Tim Southee goes south, and Ireland knock off South Africa in a one-dayer. Plus, County Championship Trade Radio, (not) featuring Kane Cornes. And later, Andrew Probyn from the Nine Network joins us to talk about the day Bob Hawke top-edged a ball into his eye some 40 years ago this week. Your Nerd Pledge revisit for this week: 18.77 - Chris Byrne Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Go Ambassador cruising with Goochy, Aggers, Blowers and Alex Tudor from December 12-19! Pick up 10% off with finalword10 at checkout here - www.ambassadorcruiseline.com Get your Nord VPN discount - nordvpn.com/tfw Find all our links at linktr.ee/thefinalword - including our Australia Live Show tickets! Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com Title track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices