Episoder

  • A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    There’s a few Guerillas stood, sat or drunkenly slumped at the old B&B bar this week. Whatever their state of sobriety or inebriation, they have gathered to preview the 9th edition of the Champions Trophy, which starts on Wednesday. Rest assured, your Guerillas will be covering every ball too.
     
    The ICC Champions Trophy was inaugurated in 1998, a cunning ICC plan to be a short form tournament to raise funds for the development of the game in non – Test playing countries. A very worthy ambition and one which we hope continues.
     
    Along with Tawhid, Messy, Anindya* and Jim Burchill, your ursine landlord and episcopal barman dig into the chances of all eight countries, leaving no stone unturned to assess squads, form and chances. Don’t worry, every Guerilla has his feet to the flames to predict a winner too, although we all felt the format and timing gave just about everyone a puncher’s chance.
     
    Grab yourself a drink, settle in and whoever you are rooting for they will covered in this chat.
     
    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
     
    *Author of the best- seller “Wizard’s – The Story of Indian Spin Bowling” available at all reputable book stores.
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  • 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
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  • Its 2025 and we are back! I don’t know about you, but Dry January hasn’t gone too well. To be honest by mid-morning on New Year’s Day it was starting to drag and by lunchtime we’d given it up altogether.
     
    Once again, the internet’s favourite virtual cricket pub has thrown open its doors and first through them for 2025 was our Richard ( Brim-full Of) Asher. And he was certainly brim – full of optimism and New Year cheer now that his South Africa have decided that they actually do like Test Cricket and have made it the WTC final.
     
    As we crack open a drink or two (a cider for Richard), we pick the bones out of that enthralling South Africa and Pakistan series and lament that it was just two Tests. Having warmed up with that, we celebrate a fabulous (and fabulously attended) Border Gavaskar Trophy pausing to consider who were stars, who were the fools and why did Virat Kohli act like a spoilt child?
     
    We cast an eye on the Women’s Ashes too and of course, discuss Richard’s 2024 review and just what he thinks about Vernon Philander’s punditry. Let’s just say he was a fine bowler but not such a fine wordsmith in Richard’s eyes (or ears).
     
    We are really looking forward to your company this year. Not long now until we are back on air. 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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
     
    Cheers and Welcome Back
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • 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
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  • Hello and welcome back to another episode of Hector and Henry’s World of Cricket. We are joining you from across the world – Henry is playing cricket for the Darren Lehman academy, in Adelaide, whilst Hector has recently touched down in Wellington for the second Test. 

    We were lucky enough to catch up with the great Jack Meacher – one-half of the cricketing social media sensations, Cricket District. Having risen rapidly in the world of YouTube content creation, Jack has helped amass a following of close to 400,000. He has spent the last few years traveling the world, filming content with some of the best players to ever do it – including the likes of Ben Stokes, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Rashid Khan. 

    Alongside debriefing the first Test between England and New Zealand, we chat to Jack about his progression through the ever-developing world of cricket YouTube, what it is like filming with the captain of England midway through an Ashes series, and the dynamic between mainstream and social media. 

    Thanks as ever for listening! 
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  • Welcome back to the Bishop and Mantis!
     
    Hang on what? Well, that is correct, just for today. Alas, our Ursine Landlord has been called away by family duties so your Episcopal Barman is flying solo serving drinks, mopping tables, changing barrels and with a broom firmly inserted to ensure the floor is swept as he goes.
     
    Fortunately, he has for company former New Zealand captain, scorer of 174* against England in 1984 and general renaissance man, Jeremy Coney. What better guest could there be ahead of the fascinating series coming up between New Zealand and England?
     
    Jeremy gives us the full run down on the seam attacks and what we might expect at the very seam friendly Hagley Oval where only once has a winning captain chosen to bat first. We celebrate the Black Cap’s extraordinary series win in India and ask what, if any, relevance that may have on the series and then meander down many other diversionary alleyways of discussion and discovery.
     
    Do you know how many draws there have been from 40 Tests this year? Listen and find out and see if you agree with our summary of the new adrenaline and money fuelled fast forward cricket landscape and its impact on Test Match results.
     
    Of course we also provide our predictions for the New Zealand vs England series before, for some reason, lurching off to lament the prominence of nasal hair in one’s more senior years. Which, as I’m sure you will agree, was about the right time to pull down the shutters of the Old B and B for the evening after what had been a fabulously entertaining hour.
     
    Grab yourselves a drink and join us. We love having your company. 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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord (in absentia) and Episcopal Barman
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  • Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear!
     
    England collapsed and lost the deciding Test to Pakistan in two and a half days. On the upside, your Episcopal Barman got a Sunday lie in he hadn’t been expecting, but that is really not a consolation for the meekness of the England collapse.
     
    Pakistan looked across the border to India and said “forget our illustrious tradition of demon reverse swing. Wasim and Waqar - Who were they? Rawalpindi Express? Only the slow train for us now. Used wickets, rakes, big fans and most importantly a highly quality left arm and right arm spin duo is the way to go”. No English man had an answer to Noman. The sparkly eyes and twirly pantomime villain tache, not to mention camp celebrations of Sajid Khan bamboozled and battered shoddy English batting defences.
     
    So much to unpick and our guest in the Bishop and Bear to help us do just that is young Billy Stevens. After your highly responsible Landlord had demanded to see proof of age of course. He may not have known that Billy Whizz was a famous Beano character, but with a Guinness in hand, the lad knows his cricket!
     
    There’s more too. We celebrate the magnificent Kiwis in India with Santna Baby hurrying down the chimney three months early to leave a present of India’s first home series defeat since 2012. Guess who NZ play next in Tests. Yup, England!
     
    Finally, as we switch from red ball to white, we chew over whether it will be a Caribbean Holiday or Death in Paradise of England’s experimental side.
     
    Grab yourselves a rum punch and settle in to join us. We love having your company. 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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • The warmest of welcomes back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    We’re delighted to get back together with you in the very short window of time allowed between the 1st and 2nd Multan Tests. And after records tumbled in the first, we now have all sorts of pitch shenanigans to discuss as it looks as though the 2nd Test will now be on the same pitch! And quelle surprise, on an old track being sundried and fan blown as we speak, Pakistan are packing their team full of spinners (mainly left arm and leg).
     
    Our guest to review the first Test and look ahead with a sharply critical eye is our very own Tooting Trumpet and Mersey Mouth, Gary Naylor. Don’t expect one word answers, but do expect some cracking insights.
     
    For good measure, we also find time to ask whether Australia can be beaten in the Women’s World T20, nod in passing to India’s humungous thumping of Bangladesh and even chew briefly on the gristle of packed cricket schedules.
     
    Grab yourselves a drink and settle in to join us. We love having your company. 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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Welcome back to Hector and Henry’s World of Cricket!  

    It is great to have you join us, and with the cricketing summer a thing of the past, it is vital that we can get our cricket fix from somewhere.   

    Now of course, every England fixture, we are treated (either via our TV channels or even better, in the flesh), to the dulcet tones of the Barmy Army. Widely renowned as one of the most creative, loosest fan networks out there, the Barmy Army have sent shivers down many an Australians spine.  

    Have you ever wondered how such an operation works? Whilst the group's main purpose is to incite crowds to get behind our national heroes, there is also a large amount of charity work, travel planning, and essentially business-running going on behind the scenes. We thought that it would be interesting for the listeners to get the inside scoop as to how such a successful organization is run.    

    Who better to talk to than the die-hard fan, Rob Lewis, aka Randy Caddick. The man who stole our hearts way back in 2021, stood atop the fort of Galle to watch our team play in such desperate circumstances, belting Jerusalem out as Rooty made lightwork of tricky conditions. 

    In this episode, we talk to Rob about his time in the Barmy Army (since recruitment in 2021), his future plans to get stuck in during the Ashes next year, as well as all the rogue news that recently has appeared in the world of cricket. And of course, his views on the slightly underwhelming English summer...  

    We hope you enjoy this episode and please get involved in the donations section to keep us up and running! 

    Thanks again for listening! 

     H and H 
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  • The warmest of welcomes back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    The English cricket summer is finally done, so late that Santa’s reindeer are already in pre-Christmas training. But if you think that means a short break for Guerilla Cricket, oh no, think again. England start a Test Series in Pakistan in just a few days’ time. 
     
    To look back with the Bear and I to the summer gone and forward to that Pakistan series, our guest is comedian, BBC voice of Pakistan cricket, winner of the Live Stand Up Comedy Award at the 8th annual UK Enterprise Awards 2024, but most importantly a Guerilla Cricket alumni – Aatif Nawaz.
     
    Not only do we reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly from the summer (Lords ticket prices for a start), we also find out what it’s like to get a lift off Jimmy Anderson, what car he has and indeed how many of them. And if you have some questions about ECB policies and decisions, just wait until we light Aatif’s blue touchpaper about the PCB. Safe to say, we well and truly poked that particular sleeping bear. Not our Bear of course, Heaven forfend!
     
    We all seemed to agree that none of us expected much from the late, late Australia white ball show, but actually really enjoyed it and we even find time to reflect on Cricket’s Manchester City, aka Surrey and their Oval Invincible alter egos winning again. And poor old Somerset not winning. Three times.
     
    And if you want to know why David Gower’s invitation for Aatif to go swimming in Pakistan turned out to be an empty promise, then you will find that answer here too.
     
    It’s a lot of fun, so grab yourselves a drink and settle in to join us. We love having your company. 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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear, cricket’s finest virtual pub.
     
    An absolute smorgasbord of discussion topics this week, so your ursine landlord and episcopal barman needed to find someone of weight and forthright opinion to help navigate through them. And we did find one too. Who else, of course, but our own Hendo.
     
    Delicately sipping a coffee liqueur or two , Hendo gets fully stuck in with us to cover all of the following and more besides:
     
    ·     The Sri Lanka series to date
    ·     A disappointing Sunday crowd for a great day of Test Cricket and what’s to be done?
    ·     The Lords Man of the Match Award
    ·     Breaking news about that award winner – Gus Atkinson
    ·     A look forward to the Oval Sri Lanka Test
    ·     The September return of the Kookaburra
    ·     Farhan Ahmed, WG Grace and Abraham Lincoln (and does the Bear know the connection between them?)
    ·     BMac as supreme ruler across formats and the impending Aussie white ball series
    ·     Bangladesh making history in Pakistan
     
     
    Do grab yourselves a drink and settle in to join us for the chat. We love having your company.
     
    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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Welcome to the very first episode of Hector and Henry’s World of Cricket.
     
    Your hosts, Hector and Henry, are avid badgers of the game, with very different cricketing careers. Henry is looking to go the distance, playing for the Derbyshire academy, and travelling out to Adelaide to play for the Darren Lehman academy, whilst Hector spent the summer gradually being dropped down the order from opener to number 8! Like with all fans, we are unified in our love of the game.
     
    Together, Hector and Henry (that’s us – think Bishop and Bear, but much younger and better looking, probably), will interview a range of exciting guests, from current players, to content creators, to provide you with a short engaging discussions.
     
    Episodes will be released every fortnight, and we are keen for this show to be refreshingly different – so please feel free to send in any suggestions/questions for us to ask our guests to [email protected]
     
    To kick off this series, we have a great guest, as we were lucky enough to speak to recent back to back Hundred champion – a vital part of the Oval Invincibles team, and potential future England superstar, Nathan Sowter.
     
    We chat about his time in the Hundred, his views on the future of Test Match Cricket and County cricket, what it’s like bowling to Kieron Pollard, and much more!
     
    Thank you so much for listening, we really hope you enjoy it and bear with us as it is our first try!
     
    By the way, if you want to help Guerilla Cricket 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.
     
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear!
     
    It’s always great to see you and even more so when a Test series is just around the corner. This one is against Sri Lanka. Perhaps not the force of old, but not to be underestimated either.
     
    Also not to be underestimated are the two guests on the barstools of bravado. It’s our Sri Lankan Olegasegram double act. Bennett and Son - the works never done, at least not until they have given us the lowdown on this year’s Sri Lankan tourists.
     
    The son is Dylan who explains how the times are a-changing for Sri Lankan domestic cricket and the truth behind B – Love Kandy. A Sri Lankan Cricket franchise apparently, not a chocolate aphrodisiac .
     
    We start with England though and debate not just how they will fare without Ben Stokes, but also whether his three appearances, four runs and no wickets for the Northern Superchargers was worth the few extra bums on seats in the Hundred as far as the ECB is concerned. Probably not, but we doubt they’ll admit that.
     
    From there, it’s a thorough review of the old, new and returning Sri Lankan squad, who have just beaten India in a One Day series don’t forget! They will have a very familiar name as batting coach for this series. None other than our old favourite Ian Bell…Bell….Bell….Bell.
     
    Finally, we circle back to the Hundred again. Mainly to assess Jimmy Anderson’s desire to play in it and other franchise tournaments. To us that seems a bit like asking Michelangelo to don his overalls and slap a lick of paint over cracks in the Bishop and Bear walls. But Jimmy has earned the right to do whatever he wants.
     
    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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Bon retour au L'évêque et l'ours. Or, if this is your first visit, a very warm welcome to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    Sorry, but that’s as much French as we are going to get despite our landlord having just returned sun bronzed from the south of France.
     
    It’s a bon retour aussi (sorry a bit more French slipped in there) to our special guest, St Annie of Exeter. The wonderful Annie Chave of course, who was very quick to get in the French spirit with several large glasses of our highly quaffable Côtes du Rhône.
     
    Hopefully you find us in up-beat, but also reflective mood as we chew over things from the wonderful world of cricket. We start by paying our tribute on the tragic passing of Graham Thorpe, taken too young, but a man who we and indeed all England fans, remember with great fondness.
     
    From there we look back to Jimmy’s final Test farewell, seeing it as reflective of an era’s end, not just a magnificent career. We celebrate some great cricket (and decent crowds) in the One Day Cup, consider the implications of the Hundred sale with Hampshire seemingly leading the way, consider the implications of England’s new selections for the Sri Lanka series and finally, for good measure, assess who might fill the shoes of the departing Mathew Mott.
     
    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. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Great to have you back with us in the Bishop and Bear.
     
    It’s raining outside our pub window which can only mean one thing. There’s an England Test Match starting next week AT LORDS against the West Indies in Jimmy’s farewell. We will look forward to that and also briefly back at the World T20.
     
    BUT first you may know that the first time the West Indies won a Test in England was at Lords in 1950. A thumping 326 run victory inspired not just by Ramadhin and Valentine, BUT also by a 2nd innings 168* from Clyde Walcott.
     
    Our special guest today on the Barstool of Bravado is author Peter Mason, whose book “Clyde Walcott – Statesman of West Indies Cricket” is released in September. It’s an essential biography of a cricketing great exploring his achievements as a player, manager and political activist. Peter's book gives us a timely reminder of the huge impact that Clyde Walcott had both on and off the field. It is also a fascinating exploration of how theWest Indies came to dominate the game for so long at the end of the twentieth century. You can preorder the book at most good bookstores and there is a link below to point you in the right direction.
     
    It’s the start of a West Indies series, so no surprise that our other guest is the ever-eloquent David Brook. Together with Peter, we look back to the World T20 and more importantly forward to the England Vs West Indies series and Jimmy Anderson’s Lords farewell.
     
    You can pre order your copy of book “Clyde Walcott – Statesman of West Indies Cricket” at most good bookshops, including here.
     
    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. There’s loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • A huge welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    “As strange as it sounds, what I want to be doing right now is playing cricket. Sweating and getting tired at training sessions, the ball hitting my legs and body.
    But I have a sniper’s rifle in my hands instead of a bat and a grenade instead of a ball”.
     
    Those are the words of Ukraniain cricketer and now soldier defending his homeland from Russian invasion, Sasha Romanenko. His story, and others like him, is brilliantly told in the book “Getting Out – The Ukrainian Cricket Team’s Last Stand on the Front Lines of War”.
     
    It’s author, Jonathan Campion is our guest in the Bishop and Bear today to discuss not just of how Ukraine’s cricketers helped the people around them to escape from Russia’s invasion (including first – hand accounts of the war), but also about the growth of cricket in the Ukraine to the cusp of ICC membership before Putin’s aggression.
     
    Personal, harrowing yet heartwarming, your ursine landlord and episcopal barman strongly recommend it. You can find a link on where to buy it below.
     
    Of course, we also take the opportunity to chat with Jonathan about the World T20, now at the Super 8 stage and we look at the two groups and ask “Can anyone stop another Australia vs India final”? Yes, is the answer, so listen in to see who we favour.
     
    You can buy ‘Getting Out – the Ukranian Cricket Team’s Last Stand on the Front Lines of War’ at all reputable book stores, but here is one of them.
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • A huge welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    Having just staggered across the finishing line of the IPL marathon, don’t think for a second we have time to put our feet up in the Old B and B. Oh no! The WT20 looms. All 20 teams, 4 groups, 2 countries, nine venues and specially grown and flown drop in pitches of it.
     
    So much to talk about with our special guest Gargi Raut, presenter, broadcaster and writer with Revsportz in India. Gargi and your episcopal barman have worked together before, so it was high time she had an invite into cricket’s favourite virtual pub! Is a lively chat too.
     
    We dissect the IPL and agree, to put it nicely, that this year was far from its finest showing. Certainly, the final wasn’t. We conclude that six, six, six truly is the number of the beast as most bowlers were reduced to mere cannon fodder. Jason Holder has had some interesting things to say about that and we tend to agree with him. 
     
    Should they stay or should they go? We also discuss whether English players should have been hauled home or whether staying in India would have been better World Cup prep. Michael Vaughan thinks they should have stayed. But hey, that’s Michael Vaughan.  
     
    With Gargi’s insight, we also dive into the cult of personality and the intrusions on player privacy that cricketing celebrity in India entails. It is, we all tend to think, bonkers.
     
    Finally, or course, we look ahead to the World Cup and ask whether India can finally bring home an ICC Trophy again or whether a cheeky punt on Uganda at 1,500/1 might be worthwhile (probably not, but it’s up to you of course).
     
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
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  • Hello and welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. Now who do you think of when you think about a hard man? Vinny Jones, Norman Hunter? Mike Tyson? Nigel Walker? Well, it’s none of those that we are discussing in the old B&B today. We want to focus on Cricket’s Hard Men – the Toughest Characters from the History of Cricket and our guest on the barstool of bravado is Richard Sydenham, sports journalist and author of a book which is all about that very subject – Cricket’s Hard Men. So, what actually constitutes a hard man of cricket? The truth is there is no simple definition. Whether it's resilience to defy injury from players like Kepler Wessels, Mike Atherton and Allan Border; sheer physicality from cricketer turned cage fighter Adam Hollioake; the bloody-mindedness to snub tradition by Douglas Jardine and John Reid; a chest-thumping need from Arjuna Ranatunga to show pride for a flag that had a reputation of being soft in the cricket world; or the blind courage of Brian Close, each player has his own unique story. Cricket’s Hard Men is a cricket book with a difference, not focused on runs, wickets and averages but on the characters who have excelled in the challenging environment of professional cricket, through the generations. Richard has picked 22 of them and mad a very good case for their inclusion. Here is the full 22: Mohinder Armanath, Michael Atherton, Eddie Barlow, Allan Border, Brian Close, Brian Davidson, John Edrich, Andy Flower, Roy Fredericks, Adam Hollioake, Douglas Jardine, Javed Miandad, Anil Kumble, Bruce Laird, Dennis Lillee, Arjuna Runatunga, John Reid, Viv Richards, Graeme Smith, Steve Waugh, Kepler Wessels and Peter Willey. But who is the ultimate Hard Man of Cricket? Listen here to find out who we think and let us know who would make your cut! You can find the book here But of course, other retailers are available. Cheers! Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal BarmanLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.
     
    If you fancy a cracking night out, plenty to eat and drink, plus the chance to play some cricket and even face some of the world’s best bowlers, there is a bar you can go to. It’s called Sixes. If you are in the UK, you probably already know it. If you are in the USA, you soon will as they are have already opened in Dallas and will be opening more there too.
     
    At Guerilla Cricket, the social side of cricket is central to what we do. It’s the philosophy of our guest today too. Andy Waugh is the co - founder of Sixes Social Cricket and shares with us the story of Sixes, and tells us about some of their backers and fans which include the likes of Yuvraj Singh, KL Rahul, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and others. How did a Scotsman who never played cricket, end up creating a chain of social cricket experience bars? You are in the right place to find out.
     
    Andy seemed to feel straight at home in the Bishop and Bear and the conversation quickly turned to how social cricket and Sixes is a perfect opportunity to help people find their way to the game. Our thoughts also turn of course to the World T20 and the run fuelled IPL amongst other things.
     
    It’s a lively chat, so do have a listen and let us know what you think.
    And, if you haven’t tried Sixes yet. Get down to one and give it a go. We are planning a Guerilla night in one very soon.
     
    Do enjoy the chat and see you again soon in the Bishop and Bear.
     
    Cheers!
     
    Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices