The Mankad goes mainstream

We've been predicting this for a while, but here it is. In the closing stages of a close ODI between two Full Member nations, a non-striker run out by the bowler is a big story but not the biggest of the match. The times are indeed changing. 

In a rare month of five Wednesdays, this is Week 5 of August for The Final Word. It will also be the last TFW Weekly recorded on the road until the World Cup starts. Geoff will be back home to Melbourne in a few days so we'll be able to spend September getting up to speed on Story Time and the Nerd Pledge list. 

Adam spent last week away too, recording our Scotland Special and overseeing the fifth win in our TFW XI's unbeaten start to existence.

The video up top is our Grace Harris interview from a couple of weeks back, if you want the visual to add to the audio. Her expressions are probably worth it.

In the rest of this week's Weekly, that being Season 14, Episode 37: Heath Streak is much more alive than first anticipated, Virat Kohli's beep test is a state secret, Meg Lanning is on the comeback trail as the injury list swallows up Glenn Maxwell, Sophie Ecclestone and Tayla Vlaeminck, and the Hundred ends but not without a final helping of controversy.

Here is the episode. 

The Final Word Scotland special 

Season 14, Episode 36: Today’s episode is about Scotland, a nation we’ve not given enough time to over the years. Complicating this is the current mess surrounding Cricket Scotland off the field. Following allegations from national players, the board commissioned a report with its authors concluding in July 2022 that cricket in the country was institutionally racist. The board resigned en masse, and the churn of administrators has continued as reports of racist acts continue to occur and to be investigated. While this has played out publicly and bitterly, the Scottish men’s team came within a few balls of qualifying for the one-day World Cup, while Scotland’s women are on the road to professionalism with a generation of players aspiring to qualify for World Cups themselves.

It is here that we pick up our conversations featuring four guests. Toby Bailey is Cricket Scotland’s high-performance boss. Kathryn Bryce is their gun all-rounder and captain of the women’s team. Matthew Cross is the men’s vice-captain and a veteran behind the stumps Pete Fitzboydon is Interim chief executive, brought in to sort what he can in the short term.

The audio episode is here.

Story Time 147 – The greatest French cricketer and violinist of all

This week, who is the greatest French cricketer you've never heard of? This story comes thanks to historian John Peck. Daniel Norcross tries to untangle a slew of distinguished 1930s signatures on a bat, we detour via Esther Williams and 1920s silent film, develop a heavy Dutch theme, and look at some of the maddest finishes to T20 matches. An unmissable Story Time.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:
Jenny - 3.10
Rooto - 2.10
Richard Jones - 2.01
Sam Brown - 4.11
Ramaswamy - 4.20
Nick Dempsey - 3.65

Solutions: Joe McDavitt, Jeremy Bourke, Jack Jorgensen

Here is the audio episode. And here > is Jenny's bat.

Archive ep: Chasing Australia's biggest records at Wobby's World

Season 2, Ep 4: Reloading lost episodes from the early Final Word, it's December 2015. West Indies have just been blown off Bellerive Oval as Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh pile on 449, within a whisker of the record for the biggest Australian partnership. We have more mad stats for Voges, who has bettered Mike Hussey's first ten Tests. Also doing their thing were some up-and-coming bowlers named James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. There was Wobby's World versus Warner's World, with Little Davey close to becoming Australian captain. And what do you know, our old pal Grace Harris made the first Women's Big Bash ton.

Here's the episode.

We've got more Story Time coming up on the weekend, and by then we'll be into November and heading for a change from the northern season to the southern. See you there. 

TFW