Wisden Cricket

Yas Rana and Katya Witney discuss the announcement of the 2025 women's schedule and look ahead to England's tour of South Africa. Three special guests join us on this week's show, including Beth Barrett-Wild, the mastermind behind the domestic restructure in England. Surrey Director of Cricket Emma Calvert speaks to Yas, and Katya is joined by South Africa's Anneke Bosch to reflect on her career so far, including that incredible semi-final knock against Australia at the T20 World Cup. 0:00 Intro / 1:20 2025 schedule / 9:36 Beth Barrett-Wild, the mastermind behind the restructure / 43:27 Emma Calvert, Surrey's Director of Women's Cricket / 57:19 South Africa vs England / 1:04:36 Anneke Bosch interview / 1:26:27 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana, Ben Gardner and Mark Butcher look ahead to the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and reflect on England's white-ball tour of the Caribbean. There's also discussion about the ongoing Champions Trophy fiasco, Tim Southee's Test retirement, some Abu Dhabi T10 chat and why Test batting has become so difficult. 0:00 Intro / 0:49 Australia vs India preview / 18:54 Is there a global run-scoring crisis? / 31:59 West Indies vs England / 47:52 Tim Southee / 53:11 Champions Trophy / 59:46 Other news / 1:04:02 Outro

Yas Rana and Katya Witney discuss England’s squads to tour South Africa, headlined by Alice Capsey’s exclusion from the T20I side as the World Cup fallout continues. Since that chat was recorded, Capsey has earned a recall following a number of injuries in the squad. Lauren Winfield-Hill chats to Yas about that saga, Courtney Winfield-Hill’s role in the England coaching staff and the latest action from the WBBL. 0:00 Intro / 1:12 Lauren Winfield-Hill / 13:10 Alice Capsey / 22:10 Jon Lewis / 31:24 Paige Scholfield The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana and Phil Walker discuss England’s ongoing tour of the Caribbean, their ideal England ODI and T20I XIs, Australia’s new Test opener, begin to preview the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and much more. Elsewhere in the show, Mark Butcher gives his thoughts after England took a 3-0 T20I series lead, and Jo Harman is joined by a very special guest in the form of Australian white-ball superstar Glenn Maxwell to talk about the release of his new book. 0:00 Intro / 1:22 Mark Butcher on WIvENG / 13:18 WIvENG / 23:04 Picking our best England XIs / 36:21 Glenn Maxwell interview / 1:03:01 Liam Norwell / 1:05:16 Nathan McSweeney / 1:09:15 India / 1:16:57 AUSvPAK / 1:17:49 Charlotte Edwards / 1:21:30 Questions / 1:28:02 Outro

Following New Zealand's famous 3-0 whitewash against India and South Africa's victory in Bangladesh, Ben Gardner, Phil Walker and Dan Gallan discuss the state of the World Test Championship and the wider Test game. There's also chat about England's ODI series defeat to the West Indies – Mark Butcher joins us for that from the Caribbean – as well as their Test squad to tour New Zealand and the relentless nature of the international schedule. 0:00 Intro / 1:13 Mark Butcher on WIvENG / 19:24 WIvENG / 24:12 The state of the schedule / 31:42 England Test squad / 44:41 Central contracts / 46:20 India vs New Zealand / 56:38 South Africa / 1:07:54 Is the World Test Championship good? / 1:19:02 Anderson & Warner / 1:20:41 Outro

A slightly different episode today. New Zealand legend Suzie Bates chats to Lauren Winfield-Hill and spinner Eden Carson joins Katya Witney to reflect on the White Ferns' historic T20 World Cup triumph in the UAE. 0:00 Intro / 1:23 Suzie Bates / 40:30 Eden Carson / 56:33 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana, Ben Gardner and Katya Witney conduct a deep dive into England's disappointing T20 World Cup campaign, examining what needs to change if they're to win the tournament on home soil in 2026. Lauren Winfield-Hill also joins the show to discuss England's next steps and the start of the WBBL. 0:00 Intro / 0:59 Lauren on WBBL & England / 28:56 England deep dive / 41:41 Struggling under pressure / 45:37 Structure / 50:44 The Hundred / 56:02 Captaincy / 59:58 Fitness / 1:03:28 Six hitting / 1:09:36 Personnel changes / 1:13:47 Reasons for optimism / 1:17:46 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana, Phil Walker and Mark Butcher react to a thrilling week of Test cricket, one which saw England comfortably beaten in Pakistan and New Zealand pull off a rare series win in India. 0:00 Intro / 1:05 Pakistan vs England / 26:51 Sajid Khan & Noman Ali / 39:50 Rehan Ahmed / 45:48 Ollie Pope / 58:03 India vs New Zealand / 1:15:40 Wisden Cricket Monthly / 1:23:40 Outro

Yas Rana, Katya Witney and Ben Gardner discuss all the latest news from the world of cricket this week, including New Zealand's stunning victory against India in Bengaluru, Kagiso Rabada's 300th Test wicket and more. Mark Butcher also joins the show to preview the third Pakistan-England Test in Rawalpindi. 0:00 Intro / 1:11 India vs New Zealand / 16:45 Mark Butcher / 25:54 Pakistan vs England / 38:47 West Indies vs England ODIs / 44:49 Kagiso Rabada / 49:24 David Warner & Australia / 56:47 Fulltrack AI / 1:08:51 Outro

Yas Rana, Ben Gardner, Katya Witney and Lauren Winfield-Hill review the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, which saw New Zealand beat South Africa in the final on Sunday. 0:00 Intro / 1:11 New Zealand / 14:59 Lauren Winfield-Hill / 45:22 South Africa / 53:06 Players of the tournament / 1:00:04 The tournament as a whole / 1:07:42 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana, Phil Walker and Ben Gardner review Pakistan's 152-run victory against England in the second Test and react to an action-packed first two days of India vs New Zealand. Mark Butcher also joins the show to reflect on an enthralling Test match in Multan. 0:00 Intro / 1:39 Pakistan's selection calls / 7:33 Did England do much wrong? / 12:09 Ben Duckett / 17:50 England on spinning pitches / 22:12 Pakistan's spinners / 24:36 Kamran Ghulam / 28:10 Brydon Carse & Matthew Potts / 32:59 England's spinners / 36:11 Jamie Smith & Ollie Pope / 43:16 England's sloppiness / 46:05 Mark Butcher on PAKvENG / 59:37 India vs New Zealand / 1:06:07 Zimbabwe / 1:07:41 Outro

Yas Rana and Lauren Winfield-Hill try to make sense of England's comprehensive defeat to West Indies last night, which saw them crash out of the Women's T20 World Cup in the group stages. 0:00 Intro / 1:16 England vs West Indies / 19:00 Fitness and fielding / 26:10 Smith vs Bell / 29:11 West Indies / 34:26 Group A / 40:29 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Saj Sadiq joins Yas Rana to discuss a turbulent week in Pakistan cricket, which saw three huge names – Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah – dropped for the second Test against England in Multan. 0:00 Intro / 1:10 Dropped or rested? / 3:36 Babar Azam / 11:59 Management / 19:10 Shaheen Afridi & Naseem Shah / 27:49 Priorities / 31:18 Second Test / 36:47 Outro

Mark Butcher, Ben Gardner and Yas Rana review the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan. In response to Pakistan's 556 on an extremely flat pitch, England racked up a stunning 823-7d in just 150 overs, with Harry Brook making a triple century. Joe Root made 262, surpassing Alastair Cook as England's leading Test run-scorer in the process, before England's bowlers got the job done on the fourth evening and fifth morning. 0:00 Intro / 1:14 England's approach / 10:57 Harry Brook / 15:54 Joe Root / 23:17 England's bowling / 33:38 Ollie Pope / 37:17 Pitch / 43:39 Pakistan / 54:42 Changes for the second Test? / 57:48 Outro

Yas Rana and Lauren Winfield-Hill review the first week of action from the Women's T20 World Cup. Tammy Beaumont also joins the show, reacting live to England's victory against South Africa in Sharjah alongside Yas and Katya Witney. 0:00 Intro / 1:02 Tammy Beaumont / 26:41 T20 World Cup so far / 45:59 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Yas Rana, Katya Witney and Lauren Winfield-Hill preview the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, which gets underway in the UAE this week. 0:00 Intro / 1:09 Part 1: with Lauren Winfield-Hill / 34:27 Part 2: with Yas & Katya / 58:02 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Katya Witney, Phil Walker and Yas Rana reflect on the England-Australia ODIs, review the 2024 English season and look ahead to the upcoming Test tour of Pakistan. There's also chat about India's thrilling win against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka hammering New Zealand, Hampshire's takeover and more. Mark Butcher also joins the show to discuss the ODIs and preview the Pakistan Test tour. 0:00 Intro / 0:35 Patreon / 2:20 England vs Australia / 28:25 Mark Butcher / 46:05 Rado / 46:32 Pakistan vs England / 53:59 County Championship / 1:18:06 Hampshire / 1:21:35 India vs Bangladesh / 1:23:06 Sri Lanka vs New Zealand / 1:26:33 Outro

Yas Rana, Katya Witney and Ben Gardner review the end of the 2024 English season, domestic women's salaries and cover all the latest news from the international game. Lauren Winfield-Hill joins Yas to chat about equal pay and what 2025 currently looks like for Tier 2 counties, while Andy Tennant talks to Katya about Sunrisers' RHF triumph. 0:00 Patreon / 3:06 Intro / 4:00 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy / 14:19 Equal pay / 23:25 2025 season / 26:36 Lauren Winfield-Hill / 40:43 Andy Tennant interview / 57:08 Heather Knight / 57:54 AUSvNZ / 59:23 PAKvSA / 1:06:30 Sri Lanka / 1:08:09 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.

Ben Gardner, Phil Walker and Yas Rana discuss the ongoing England-Australia ODI series, Surrey's third successive County Championship title and much more. Mark Butcher also joins the show to reflect on England's impressive win and Harry Brook's excellent century in the third match of the series. 0:00 Patreon / 4:05 Mark Butcher on ENGvAUS / 17:46 England vs Australia ODIs / 39:35 Rado / 40:02 County Championship / 1:00:19 Player power & One-Day Cup / 1:08:20 SLvNZ & INDvBAN / 1:10:30 Wisden Cricket Monthly / 1:15:03 Outro

Yas Rana, Katya Witney and Cam Ponsonby discuss what to expect from pitches at the T20 World Cup, and chat about concussion checks following a couple of incidents in the first Australia-New Zealand T20I. Alice Capsey joins the show to talk about how England's preparation is going ahead of the showpiece event in the UAE. 0:00 Intro / 1:28 England's next generation / 6:48 Concussion checks / 13:11 T20 World Cup pitches / 22:03 Alice Capsey / 34:28 Outro The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.