The Top Order Cricket Podcast

In this episode of the Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, we continue our countdown by discussing players 10 to 8 (scroll to the bottom of the description if you can't wait to find out who they are).

Now that we're at the business end of the list, we couldn't resist throwing a few extra minutes on the clock to discuss these legends of the game. Baldy reveals the algorithm's best fast bowler of all time, plus we discuss two stylish left-handers who scored stacks of runs all around the world.

Do you agree with our assessments? Or have we got it horribly wrong? We'd love to continue the conversation, so don't hesitate to share your views via email or on social media.

Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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. A few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

For an even deeper dive on the theory and process behind the Hall, head to our website. You'll find the Preamble, plus the list, which will eventually feature detailed write-ups about every player from 103 to 1 as we make our way through the Hall in the coming weeks and months. We're playing catch-up a little with the written content, but we'll get back up to date as soon as we can.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Finn Allen, Katey Martin, Andre Adams, Gary Stead, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Lesley Murdoch, Jarrod Kimber and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

If you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

*SPOILER ALERT*

This episode features players from 10-8 in the following order.

10 - SF Barnes

9 - Brian Lara

8 - Kumar Sangakkara

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In this episode of the show, Baldy, Stu and Raj react to Australia's win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, as well as South Africa's win against Pakistan that makes them the first team to qualify for the World Test Championship final.

We start with some initial reaction to the Day 5 action in Melbourne as Australia secured victory against India. Was the decision to bowl Travis Head after tea a masterstroke? Did India get their tactics wrong? And what's going on with Rohit Sharma?

Next there's praise for the young stars who shone brightly - Sam Konstas, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Yashasvi Jaiswal - as well as the old heads like Pat Cummins, Steve Smith & Marnus Labuschagne who provided the backbone for Australia's win. We also discuss Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance, whether he's getting enough support from the other bowlers, what India need to do to turn this around, and whether the Aussies need to consider changing a winning side for the Sydney test.

We finish up with a discussion about South Africa's win against Pakistan, which books them a spot in the World Test Championship final. Is it great for the game? Does their path to the final justify their inclusion? Are they massively under-rated? And how do we process the fact that they played a second-string side against NZ and still qualified with a test in hand?!

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We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Black Caps v Sri Lanka series and more. 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 with 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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Introduction

1:20 Australia v India Day 5 instant reaction - Travis Head turns the game

6:30 India's tactics

10:20 Rohit Sharma's frustration

15:35 Young stars shine - Sam Konstas

24:20 Is Mitchell Marsh under pressure?

27:15 Nitish Kumar Reddy's breakout hundred

31:30 Yashasvi Jaiswal continues to impress

36:45 Australia's experienced players stand up

45:00 Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance

50:15 How can India turn things around in Sydney?

57:00 South Africa make the World Test Championship Final

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No Raj this week but Binksy and Baldy are together in the studio as Lippy dials in from the boot of his car (it's a long story, but the resulting audio quality is great!) to review another eventful week.

We start in New Zealand, where Finn Allen and Devon Conway have been on fire to propel Wellington into the Super Smash final. On the women's side of the draw, it's the Canterbury Magicians who are one win away from glory.

Lippy squeezes in a shout out to the Nelson Griffins after they lift Hawke Cup, then we move across the Tasman to discuss the Sydney Sixers' BBL win, James Vince, player name pronunciation and the Aussie T20 squad.

Things take on a serious tone as we chat through the Covid postponement of the South Africa v Australia series and the implications for the World Test Championship. No permutations this week, but all eyes are on India v England as we wait to see who will face the Black Caps in the final.

Binksy gives us a live update from Chennai and reminds us all that Joe Root is quite good at batting, before we finish the show by discussing Justin Langer in light of recent comments from Steve Smith.

We'll be back in your feed again shortly to talk Test cricket - India v England, Pakistan v South Africa and West Indies v Bangladesh. If you're new to the show and can't wait that long, check out our back catalogue. You'll find plenty of timeless interviews with current players, legends, journalists and characters from all over the cricketing world.
Please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider. It really helps others find the show.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected] or on any of our social channels.

Thanks for listening.

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Just the two of us this week after a couple of late scratchings, but Michael and Stu talk through the events of another fascinating Test match at Trent Bridge. Records tumbled, catches went down, there were runs galore and the game was perfectly poised until Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes took hold of the match with a five-over barrage of boundaries that the Black Caps couldn't recover from.

We discuss Ollie Pope, Daryl Mitchell, Joe Root, Brendon McCullum and much more as we try to make sense of the performances from both sides. Are England good now? What's gone wrong for the Black Caps? Why Neil Wagner? Will Zak Crawley and Will Young keep their spots for the third Test? And isn't Test match cricket fantastic?

If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes, including chats with Shane Bond, Mike Hussey, Katey Martin, Tim Southee, Barry Richards 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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

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The international cricket calendar is thinning out, but there's still plenty to talk about this week.

The IPL leaderboard is starting to take shape - with powerhouse franchises CSK and Mumbai Indians languishing at the bottom of the ladder. Ravi Ashwin is in the news again for deciding he'd had enough of batting for the night, but his Rajasthan Royals are looking like an impressive outfit - despite not always picking their full complement of overseas players.

Later in the show we turn our attention back to the NZ home summer. Now that it is (almost) over, we reflect on the performance of the White Ferns and the Black Caps, and discuss candidates putting their hand up for upcoming international tours, such as Tom Bruce.

If you haven't already, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) 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, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're slowly chipping away at populating this channel.

We'll be back later in the week with the next instalment in our Men's Test Cricket Hall of Fame, but in the meantime dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Michael and David Hussey, Finn Allen, Matt Henry, Katey Martin, Ajaz Patel, 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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

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