Welcomeagain to the Bishop and Bear. Not just any Bishop and Bear this one. It’s our 100th.   This was recorded just two days after we got the awful news about the passing of Sean Tracey, one of our long time Guerillas. We thought long and hard about whether to delay recording.  But then we said that it’s going to be all about cricket and music. What could be more appropriate as a tribute to Sean? The show therefore went on, with him in our thoughts and hearts.   Once we had come up with the idea of our Bishop and Bear Cricket Island Discs 100 celebration, we knew immediately who we wanted not just a guest, but as guest host. A man whose music podcast, Sombrero Fallout, was the number one music podcast in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. He knows a bit about cricket too. It is, of course, Ian Forth, or Forthy as we know him.   Forthy takes over behind the bar and with a mix of musical expertise, urbanity and a firm controlling hand where necessary, he teases out of your ursine landlord and episcopal barman their most memorable cricket moments and a music selection to accompany them on their desert island.   We meander our way through our first and then most memorable matches, our top Guerilla experiences, the player we would have wanted to be and our best ever Guerilla guests. Each accompanied by a carefully and lovingly selected musical choice. We even nominate a player and relevant musical selection for each other. There is a mix of fabulously memorable cricketing moments and a distinctly eclectic music selection to go along with them. Do let us know what you think!   For your further delight and delectation, you can find our music choices here:   The Bishop Playlist:   The Bear Playlist:   And we of course, heartily recommend checking out Forthy’s excellent Sombrero Fallout too.   Hopefully we will see you for the New Zealand series. To make sure you don’t miss a ball, click here for our broadcast schedule.  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.   And do please raise a glass to Sean too.    All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear!   It’s number 99. That’s dedication for you and as the late Roy Castle sang "Dedication is what you need if you want to be a record breaker".   Next week, England travel to Ireland for 3 T20s at Malehide (a place dear to our hearts). To help us look ahead to that we have a very special guest in our pub today.  A cricketer who seems to make a habit of breaking records wherever he goes and who knows may break a few more next week. It’s Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher, no less!   Grab your drink and settle back as Curtis enjoys his Guiness and gets well and truly into the Guerilla swing of things. We natter about his background, how and why he chose Ireland (and loves it!), those records including his 5 wickets in 5 balls, and his recent 123 off 68 balls as Essex battered Surrey at Chelmsford in the One Day Cup.   But of course, we then get onto the Ireland vs England series which we all hope doesn’t get too rained on. There is a reason Ireland is so green.  Just how do Ireland prepare, who are their match winners and do they feel even faintly by miffed England’s squad selection?   Curtis is a fine and fun conversationalist, so we get plenty of time to hear how a modern international cricketer copes with the stresses and strains of international travel and what he does in his spare time too. The Bear even probed the poor lad on why Ireland doesn’t play more Test cricket, which Curtis answered both honestly and with consummate tact. We even gave him some advice on a speech for the forthcoming wedding of his brother. To be honest, he may be best advised to ignore that though.   Hopefully we will see you for the Ireland series. To make sure you don’t miss a ball, click here for our broadcast schedule.  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.    All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear!   It’s been nearly a month since the end of the thrill packed roller coaster ride of a Test series between England and India. Most of us have got over it and moved on, except perhaps Guerilla Hendo.   Your episcopal barman has found plenty of distraction in the One Day Cup, while others may have enjoyed The Hundred in all of its sugary snack glory. BUT, our focus is now back on international cricket and most particularly the ODI and T20I series between England and South Africa, which starts on Tuesday. To make sure you don’t miss a ball, click here for our broadcast schedule. To mull over all things South Africa (cricket wise at least) our guest is Guerilla, South African cricket expert and host of The Full Quota Podcast, Tim Dale Lace.   We seem to recall that the last time Tim popped into the old B&B, we were castigating South Africa for putting everything behind the SA20 and fielding weak Test teams and yet, here they are, World Test champions. World Cup Semi Finalists, WT20 Finalists and have just beaten Aus on their own patch in ODIs. So the big question for Tim was “What are his Proteas doing right and should we now be discussing them as part of a ‘Big Four’, muscling proudly in with the big money boys India, England and Australia?” Tim’s insight into the impact of coach Shukri Conrad and the positivity he has injected into all parts of the South African game are well worth a listen as you enjoy your drinks in the convivial surroundings of the internet’s favourite cricket boozer.  We look at both team’s chances, players to watch out for and of course, give our predictions. There is even a bit of time for some reflections on the One Day Cup too. We’ll be with you for every ball of the England vs South Africa series and England’s trip to Ireland of course. 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. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. Let us get you a drink and then feel free to make yourself comfortable, settle back and enjoy what is a very lively discussion indeed.  It’s England vs India – The Decider. A kind of Podcast 6th Test.  Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman are the all guns blazing BazChatters, against powerhouse Indian opposition in the form of our guests, BB regular and Indian cricket sage Anindya Dutta and Raj (the man David Brook chased round Lord’s) Patel.  A bit like the recent England vs India Test itself the conversation is fast, feisty and fun but despite our best efforts, I’m not sure anyone wins. Except our listeners of course.  As the drinks are sunk, we plough headlong into some of the BIG questions. Was a draw a fair result? Did the result even matter when the entertainment was so good? (spoiler alert, it did to the Bear and our guests). What were the moments of the series? How did the captains face off against each other? (Ollie Pope had a letter from his mum and wasn’t included). And crucially, where did this series rate amongst the greatest of all time? There plenty of diversions along the way too.  That all got us thinking, that if we have just seen five great Tests, all five enthralling days, how on earth could anyone even think that four-day Tests are a good idea?  And, how can the ICC improve the World Test Championship to ensure everybody gets to play longer, more, exciting Tests. Raj has an article coming out soon with a number of great ideas and you can rest assured; we will share that first with our Patreons and then publish it onto our website  For good measure we have a quick look forward to England’s white ball series with South Africa and we ask our Indian guests just how much does India really care about the Asia Cup?  We’ll be with you for every ball of the last two England vs South Africa series and England’s trip to Ireland. 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. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A huge welcome once again to The Bishop and Bear. What a week for Test cricket it’s been. As you will know if you have been watching or listening with us, we have been gripped by the 5-day drama of that Lords Test.  If you haven’t been with us, where on earth have you been?    Meanwhile, in Jamaica a rather shorter but equally dramatic Test Match was taking place where the West Indies had a real tilt at breaking New Zealand’s 1955 ‘lowest score record’ and Mitchell Starc was pink ball swinging his way into the record books with a five-wicket haul in his first 15 balls.   To celebrate and marvel over both events, your ursine landlord and episcopal barman have the company of Ajit with his ever present armchair and David Brook, who, as you will hear, is both scathing and insightful on the state of West Indies cricket and certainly does not hold back.   In animated conversation we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from Lords including last day drama, Flintoff and Lee vibes, slow pitch and battered balls, over rates and the seeming injustice of only England being docked points, Zak Crawley’s Oscar nomination, Jofra’s return, Siraj and Maradona, English batting and the forthcoming return of the Prodigal Dawson.   With a pause to refill glasses we lean exactly how the replacement balls make it into the magic box. It’s not as scientific a process as you might think by the way. From there it’s a race to the last orders bell to unpick the pink ball ballistics from Kingston and debate exactly why it happened and just where the West Indies go next. Does Brian Lara have a point in saying the team only play Tests to get picked for the global franchises?   We’ll be with you for every ball of the last two England vs India Tests. 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.   Allthe best   YourUrsine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Brooks World Of Cricket , David is joined by the legend who is Roland Butcher to preview the England vs India and West Indies Australia test matches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A very warm welcome once again.  The sun is shining and the Bishop and Bear bar and garden is humming with excited anticipation of the 5 Test England Vs India series that starts on Friday 20th June.   Our guest, as he so often is ahead of an India series, is the fabulous author, raconteur and expert on Indian cricket and particularly its spin bowlers, Anindya Dutta.   Armed with an Indian pink gin, Anindya helps us to forensically probe prospects for the series. And a fascinating one it promises to be (the series, not the gin). A new look India, shorn of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and led by rookie captain Shubman Gill is packed with potential, but some of it unproven. England, for their part, seem to be pretty solid in batting depth, but can’t keep bowlers fit. They will need all the experience in UK conditions that Chris Woakes can bring.   Of course, we each make our predictions, so let us know if you agree with them or not!   We also have time to celebrate South Africa’s World Test championship win and air some divergent views on the ICC moving ever closely to espousing four-day Tests.   We’ll be with you for every ball of the England vs India series. 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. All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A huge welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. The English international summer has barely got under way and yet already, it seems, we are as busy as one legged tap dancers.   Today our main focus is on the forthcoming World Test Championship Final between Australia and South Africa at Lords on 11th June. To help your landlord and episcopal barman assess the prospects we have two fabulous guests. At the Baggy Green end of the bar is none other than Cricket Bat Cat, whilst bounding in like a turbo charged Springbok for South Africa is Richard Asher, Lords ticket in hand for Day 1 and a map to find our studio for days 2 to five (or 6 if need be).   We start by asking Richard just how South Africa got to the final by only playing the minimum 12 Tests and go on to explain just how the format works. Which oddly it seems to, as it has served up a very tasty looking Lords final.   It’s not, you may be surprised to know, the first Test between Australia and South Africa at Lords, so we have a brief look back to 1912, when the Daily Telegraph reported that “there is a surfeit of cricket and English supporters have little interest in watching South Africa play Australia”. Fortunately cricket fans’ attitudes have changed. Perhaps not so much those of the Telegraph?   We also move on to chat about England getting on their bikes to win a fairly one sided one day series against West Indies and to celebrate Virat Kohli’s IPL win at the 18th attempt. Good for him we say. Keep those Kohli Cam operators in business!   We’ll be back in our new studio to bring you every ball of the WTC Final and the West Indies T20Is before that. 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.   All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The old Bishop and Bear has been closed for refurbishment since late March, but we are delighted to pull up the shutters again and welcome you back.   A special occasion demands a special guest and we have one of those in the shape of St. Annie of Exeter - national treasure, Guerilla and now best-selling cricket author too. Whilst liberally knocking back our finest rum, Annie undergoes the usual friendly but forensic examination we reserve for some of cricket’s finest authors.   The book in question is “Cricket Changed My Life – Eleven Personal Journeys”. Its, personal, heartwarming and genuinely delightful in the opinion of your barman who had diligently read every word. No doubt our landlord will agree when he gets around to reading it too. But we will forgive him this time. New studios don’t set themselves up after all, so his ursine paws have been rather full.   From a Pakistani teenager left for dead by terrorists to England’s first black international cricketer, from journalists and broadcasters who have battled adversity to forge careers in cricket to a pair of Syrian refugees, and from one of England’s greatest all rounders to the inimitable David’ Bumble’ Lloyd, Annie tells the stories of eleven very different people for whom the game of cricket has been transformative.   Each and every one of the 11 chapters is unique and delivered in Annie’s own style, always allowing the subject to shine and to clearly enjoy themselves whilst doing it. It’s charmingly understated in places, no more so than when she says “there’s an element of the extrovert about Dan Norcross” (who? Ed).   Listen in here and enjoy the chat. In fact, do that and also buy the book. You can do that here.   For good measure, we also have a look forward to the Zimbabwe Test and have to say that we are rather looking to seeing all 6 foot 8 inches of Blessing Muzarabani and wonder if the Joel Garner like bowler might just trouble England’ Baz Ballers if they are not on their mettle.  We’ll be in our new studio to bring you every ball and for that, so join us if you can.   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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.   The effect of climate change cannot be ignored in sport generally and in cricket particularly. Intense heat, drought, storms and flooding impact all levels of the game. We’ve seen it with international cricket at the top of the game, but think of those challenges faced regularly by your local cricket club and others at the grass roots of the game.   Our guest in the Bishop and Bear, Tanya Aldred, is one of the world’s foremost voices on cricket and climate change, contributing the Environment column to the Wisden Almanack since 2017. She is also a founder of The Next Test (a non-profit organisation, providing climate education and resources and collaboratively seeking climate solutions within the world of cricket).   Fortified with a Sauvignon Blanc, specially selected from the B and B’s ecofriendly and fully sustainable cellar, Tanya tells us about the very practical steps that can be taken by cricket clubs to address the challenges of climate change and make a tangible difference. In her own words, “grassroots changes are like singles, the small steps from which a significant innings is compiled”.   That’s where The Next Test is geared up to provide practical support to clubs in taking those steps. If you want to take that first single for your club and need help, then you can start here.   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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.   There were some big subjects to cover in the old B and B this week, so propping up the bar is a man more than able to address them…at length. It is none other than The Mersey Mouth, The Tooting Trumpet, maker of occasionally dubious points, but always with hyperbolic conviction, Gary Naylor.   We look back to the Champions Trophy which inevitably leads to a chuckle or two at how poor India had the odds stacked against them, or at least that’s what Gautam Gambir (subject of perhaps our shortest ever jingle), thought. We thought they were worthy winners though despite that.   We put our brains together using, it must be said, rather different analytical styles to figure out how England can restart their broken white ball motor. Suffice to say your landlord rather shot from the hip using ever more colourful vernacular, whilst our guest and episcopal barman took a more rounded view. Interestingly we ended up in the same place.   Add to all that, the unearthing of divergent views on whether the 150th Anniversary Test should be a Day/Night Pink baller. No, no, raged your barman. Since 1877, there have been 2,581 Tests but only 23 under lights. Why celebrate the history of Test cricket by playing it in a way that is not how the majority of Tests have been played? Your Landlord was, shall we say, less a defender of history and tradition and more for living in the moment. Where do you stand?   Finally, we round things off by asking if Pakistan Cricket’s malaise is a long-term issue and are the MCC really losing £4 million because India are not in the WTC Final.   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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Jadz is the mind behind OurCricket, a powerhouse in the cricket YouTube world. Always keen to keep our eye on fellow YouTube powerhouses, we despatched our agent Will Reynolds to interrogate Dan. Using a devastating combination of charm and persuasion, Will discovers from Dan, his background and what led him to cricket, the challenges and rewards of working with professional cricketers like Josh De Silva and Jo Gardener, commentating for Northants and just how terrifying is it to face a fired up Jayden Seales? You can see Dan in action here: OurCricket Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ourcricketpod   Support Guerilla Cricket: If you want to help us keep Guerilla Cricket on the road and great cricket match 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every now and then, somebody forgets something important and there are consequences. This week, the Bishop managed to forget to lock the front door of the Bishop and Bear pub, and three unruly Australians broke in and took it over for a time. While order will be restored in future weeks, we do have a recording of what they shared from an Australian perspective. Despite the fact that the Champions Trophy hasn’t turned out to be everything that Pakistan, or indeed England or Bangladesh, might have hoped, it is still well and truly underway. Mog, Messy, and Forthy have had a go at giving their perspective on what happened in the first week, and look forward to the coming matches. Fortunately, this was recorded before England’s loss to Afghanistan, so we are spared any analysis of this. Many thanks to all of you for your ongoing support – the Guerillas  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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

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