The Last Wicket team is joined by the multi-talented Jamie Alter (journalist, writer, actor, YouTuber, anchor and so on) for an in-depth conversation on the structure of cricket in India. We discuss the pathways from clubs and academies to domestic teams, the structure of school cricket in various regions of the country, how the IPL has changed the landscape for budding cricketers, and so much more. Links Jamie Alter 😷 🇮🇳 (@alter_jamie) / Twitter Jamie Alter - YouTube Jaime Alter - The...

Former player and fast bowling coach Ian Pont joins Mayank take a deep dive into the art of fast bowling and discuss the 4-tent peg approach that Pont pioneered, it's effect on speed and reducing the rate of injuries, and the evolution of technique in fast bowling. Pont also discusses his experience of working with all types of bowlers, ranging from Shoaib Akhtar to Harshal Patel, including his stints with the Netherlands and Bangladesh teams.  Links Ian Pont 🇬🇧 (@Ponty100mph) /...

Human Movement specialist and Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics - Dr. Paul Felton joins host Mayank for a freewheeling discussion on the role of biomechanics in cricket. Paul talks about how he got hooked into cricket, the difference in biomechanics between the men’s and women’s game, the acceptance of cricket biomechanics at the international level, and much more. Links The Cricket Biomechanist (@TheCricketBiom) / Twitter Paul Felton (drpaulfelton.com) Four Tent Pegs Visual.pdf...

ECB Level 3 Advanced Coach Josh Sivier joins host Mayank for a deep dive on all things related to wicket keeping. We discuss the importance of feet movement for keepers, grabbing takes down the leg side, what the best wicket keepers do on a consistent basis, and much more. Follow Josh on Twitter! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/support Please subscribe and...

BBC-TMS and ABC broadcaster Prakash Wakankar joins The Last Wicket to share his thoughts on the future of the game as we know it, including the sustainability of specialist teams for multiple formats, the resulting impact on quality of the cricket itself, the future of ODIs, feasibility of a franchise-based test league, and much more.  Follow Prakash on Twitter. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lastwicket/message Support this podcast:...

Indian cricket 'superfan' Johns Benny aka @CricCrazyJohns joined The Last Wicket pod to share his experience of watching cricket in the Caribbean recently. Along with co-host Mayank, Johns talks about the difference between watching cricket in India and watching the game abroad, interacting with players and other fans, and how the Indian team is shaping up ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup.  Follow Johns on Twitter --- Send in a voice message:...

Freelance cricket writer and broadcaster Gaurav Joshi joins host Mayank for a chat on his journalistic ethos, and what other sports can teach cricket. We also discuss what ails Indian test cricket at the moment, whether it's time for more youngsters to be groomed in the long format, key differences between Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid as coach, and of course what the pesky "Bazball" is all about. Follow Gaurav on Twitter --- Send in a voice message:...

Benny of The Last Wicket and Jay Dansinghani of All Over Cricket team up to chat with London-based lawyer and vice-captain of the Hong Kong women's cricket team - Yasmin Daswani. We discuss Yasmin's journey to become a cricketer, balancing law and her love for the game, the ongoing challenges faced by women in cricket, her platform "Associate Women in Cricket" among many other things. Links Home | Associate Women in Cricket (associatecricket.com) Associate Women in Cricket - AWC |...

Sports agent and former Derbyshire captain Luke Sutton joins The Last Wicket to talk about his book - "Welcome to the Wonderful World of Wicket Keeping". We talk about the intricacies of wicket keeping, how it has evolved over the years, and the keepers who have redefined the role. We also discuss the role of a sports agent in modern cricket, as well as Luke's journey in dealing with mental health and addiction issues. Links Luke Sutton (@luke_sutts) / Twitter Amazon.co.uk: Luke Sutton:...

Rajan Shah (@momocricket) joins The Last Wicket to talk all things Nepal cricket. We discuss the structure of domestic cricket in Nepal, the case for longer format competitions, the scope for improved administration of the game, rising stars to look out for and much more. Links Rajan Shah (@momocricket) / Twitter Home - Momocricket --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lastwicket/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lastwicket/support

Amit Sinha (@RandomCricketP1) joins The Last Wicket to talk about his passion behind unearthing stories related to random cricket photos. We talk about how his understanding of the game has evolved through researching the stories, how teams are more strategic in their use of social media, his interaction with some of the rising stars of Indian cricket, and much more. Amit shares a lot of fascinating anecdotes, including a couple from the iconic 1999 World Cup semifinal between Australia and...

Returning guest Gurkirat Singh Gill joins The Last Wicket at the midway stage of IPL 2022 to discuss ongoing travails of the Indian cricketing stars - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. We share our thoughts on the calls for Kohli to take a break, if Rohit needs to step away from IPL captaincy, and if expectations need to be reevaluated for Jadeja the T20 cricketer. Also, we discuss how fan perspectives can be maintained when our favorite players go through a prolonged rough...

Abhishek Mukherjee (Editor-in-Chief of Cricketnews.com) drops in to talk about a select group of cricketers whose international careers didn't quite pan out the way they were widely expected to. We spoke about Venkatesh Prasad, Nikhil Chopra, David Hussey, Vinod Kambli, Maninder Singh and Grame Hick among a few others. Links Abhishek Mukherjee on Twitter Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town: Indian and South African Cricket Through the Prism of a Partnership - Amazon link --- This episode is...

Cricket's own jack-of-all-trades (writer, analyst, podcaster, author, broadcaster, etc.) Jarrod Kimber joins The Last Wicket for a free-wheeling chat on his unconventional journey from amateur blogger to one of the more prominent voices in cricket media today. We talk about if his trajectory is replicable, the sustainability of freelance content creation in cricket, and if this content can bring about actual change in the game. Also, some stray thoughts on Shane Warne and redesigning test...

Deputy Sports Editor at Scroll.in - Vinayakk Mohanarangan joins The Last Wicket to talk about the ongoing Women's World Cup in New Zealand and what it tells us about the talent and future of the women's game. We also touched upon India's performance, the role of social media engagement, and of course the pesky topic of a full-fledged Women's IPL. Links Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) / Twitter Vinayakk Mohanarangan | Scroll.in Streamlit - IPL Stats Page --- This episode is sponsored by ·...

Host of the first established cricket podcast in Australia, The Cricket Library Podcast, and author of the new book - "For The Love Of Cricket: Haiku Poems Inspired By The Summer Game" - Matt Ellis joins The Last Wicket podcast to pay tribute to Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne, talk about the ongoing tour of Pakistan by the Australian team, and share how he fell in love with Australia's favorite summer game. Links The Cricket Library (@CricketLibrary) / Twitter thecricketlibrary.com | We love...

Special guest David Paynter - founder of Payntr footwear brand and great-grandson of England Ashes Legend Eddie Paynter - joins us to chat about his cricketing heritage, his journey from player to entrepreneur, the challenges associated with running a cricket-themed business, and much more.  Links PAYNTR | Cricket Shoes, Golf Shoes, Trainers - Performance Multiplied PAYNTR™ (@payntr) • Instagram photos and videos PAYNTR™ Cricket (@PayntrCricket) / Twitter --- This episode is sponsored...

Former India captain and current coach Mamatha Maben joins us for a chat about her playing career, coaching assignments with China, Bangladesh and now Karnataka, the evolution of Mithali Raj as leader, development of leadership within the younger crop of women cricketers, and player-journalist dynamics.  Also features some thoughts on the new IPL format and the Indian test squad for the Sri Lanka series. Links Mamatha Maben (@MabenMaben) / Twitter ‘Mithali Raj is both best and worst…’:...

It is a no-guest episode, as hosts Benny and Mayank discuss the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup that resulted in yet another Indian win. We talk about what the tournament tells us about the future of men's cricket, if these World Cups have really helped young cricketers take a step up to the next level, the players we enjoyed watching, and the reasons why India are consistently good at the Under-19 World Cups.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a...

South African team physio Craig Govender joins in for a free-flowing chat on his work in both the domestic and national setup, his thoughts on modern techniques in fitness trainings, juggling individualized approaches for different formats of the game, and much more.  Links Craig Govender (@Craig_gov) / Twitter How New Zealand beat the heat in the UAE | Cricbuzz.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a...

ESPNCricinfo USA correspondent Peter Della Penna joins us to discuss all things cricket in the United States. We explore the unique challenges the game faces, as well as possible ways cricket can make inroads among the American sporting public. Can cricket displace any of the existing big four sports in the country? Could any of the athletes among these sports be remolded to cricketers in a bid to expand the game's footprint?  Links Peter Della Penna (@PeterDellaPenna) / Twitter The Stars...

We were joined by Saqib Ali, host of the Cricket with an Accent podcast to discuss our love of cricket - how we got into it, what we love about the game and what we dislike about it, how our Indian cricket fandom has evolved over the years, and what we hope to see in the future of the game.  Links Azhar caught and bowled Cricket with an Accent Podcast | a podcast by Saqib Ali (podbean.com) Saqib (@saqiba) / Twitter ----------- Please register and vote for The Last Wicket in the ‘Best...

Dr. Habib Noorbhai is back to discuss the paper he authored in 2020 - "Attending boys-only schools: Is it an incidental or a strategic contributing factor to South African cricket development and success?". We discuss the quintile system in South African schools and how it relates to wealth disparity, the stark difference between co-ed and boys-only schools in yielding future cricket captains, the existing infrastructure for disadvantaged South African youngsters who want to play cricket, and...

Returning guest Dan Weston chats with The Last Wicket to give some perspective on what ails English cricket at the moment. We discuss the structure of county cricket, role of private schools in developing cricketers, the effect of limited overs success, the Azeem Rafiq saga and much more. Darren Stevens gets mentioned a lot. Links Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) / Twitter 'Stevo's gonna get ya' The Ashes 2021-22 - Joe Root 'We need to put some pride back in the badge' (espncricinfo.com) Tom...

Cricket history buff Abhishek Chopra joins The Last Wicket for a special episode on the historic 'Bodyline' series of 1932-33. We talk about how the epic Ashes series upended the cricket world, created tensions between Australia and England, and inspired one of the first known debates over the spirit of the game. More importantly, we revisit some of the lesser-known incidents and anecdotes from an eventful passage in cricket history. More Follow Abhishek Chopra (El_Chopernos) on...