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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices