The Final Word with Cheteshwar Pujara

Another week of some pretty cool things happening in Final Word land. We've also finally caught up on the Patreon inbox. If you want to get onto the Discord chat page - hint hint to those recent arrivals - now is the time to message for the code. 

Of course, with things quieter, Adam has spent the week in Scotland making a mega episode, and TFW XI extended the Invincible streak to five wins, never beaten, after a triumph against the Eccentric Flamingoes in Edinburgh. More on that next week.

We also had a message from Patreon this week saying they've had an increase in problems with legit cards being declined. Their advice was: wait and hope that we solve it, or change payment methods. Not very helpful, but we are all at the mercy of tech giants.

What did we release over the past week?

Season 14, Episode 34: This has been on our wish list for a long time - Adam sits down with Indian great Cheteshwar Pujara. And contrary to reports, he's far from done, determined to get back into the side to add to his 19 Test tons. In this expansive conversation at Hove, where he's dominating for  Sussex in county cricket, the 35-year-old goes back to the very start, explaining how his father and late mother put in place the  foundation for a career that has bucked modern trends in the most wonderful way, whilst never forgetting that his first responsibility is to be a good person.

The audio episode is here, the video is above. 

The slowly vanishing adventures of Plucka Duck

Season 14, Episode 35: As time wears relentlessly on, archives and artefacts begin to vanish. That is why this week brings about an important foray into a historical moment of great import: the cricketing intervention of Plucka Duck. Speaking of flightless birds, the Kiwis get overturned in one of the great upsets. Jasprit Bumrah is back ahead of the World Cup, the organising of which continues to be shambolic with more fixture changes, while the World Cup 'mascots' are a front for selling NFTs. Australia chop and change their white-ball squad for South Africa, the thrilling talent of Mahika Gaur will debut for England's women, with that squad drawing debate, South Africa's women are in more captaincy disarray, Harmanpreet Kaur doubles down on her Bangladesh meltdown, the Hundred and Metrobank comps roll on, and there's a new segment of Corporate Bullshit.

Your Nerd Pledge number this week is:
2.46 - Randolph Brazier

We had some fun with this one... There's a full video version of it too, as well as the usual audio. We'll be doing video for eps like this when we have time to get it processed.

Story Time 146 - Busting the Colin Cowdrey myth

MCC Cowdrey walks down the MCC steps in the final over of the Test in 1963 against the fearsome Windies with a broken arm... one of the bravest acts in Test history? Right? Daniel Norcross is having a frolic with us this weekend, and explains why this tale isn't quite what it seems. Then on to Chuck Fleetwood-Smith - distinctive name, striking career - and a couple of Aussie leggies, one better known than the other. Lastly, a challenge for our listeners that we reckon you'll relish.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:
3.61 - Joe McDavitt
14.85 - Brendan Sharry
6.35 - Max Waters
2.85 - Jack Jorgensen
4.00 - Jeremy Bourke

Here's the audio episode. Might be a video at some stage...

Archive ep: The Best & Worst of 2015

We thought we had found our first Best & Worst segment, but it turns out it was a year earlier. Season 2, Ep 5: Reloading lost episodes from the early Final Word, it's the end of 2015! Cue the streamers. Australia have just beaten West Indies at the MCG. Usman Khawaja is making bulk runs, but not as bulk as Adam Voges: averaging 542 against West Indies, moving towards 20 innings batted, averaging 86, over a thousand runs in half a year since debut. Could James Pattinson survive injury? Can Peter Siddle get back in the team? Can Peter Nevill not bat through an entire series? Is this our first tilt at Nathan Lyon passing Murali's 800 wickets? Mitchell Marsh is bowling heat, carrying the burden of being the only Mitchell and the only Marsh in the team. Then it's the inaugural TFW Best & Worst.

Here's the episode. 

Finally, welcome to our batch of new Julios, those whose first Julio pledges started coming through in July. If you were an August sign-up you'll be there next time.

Joseph Hindle
Damian Flynn
Dylan Boyle
Andrew Chatterton
Mark Luby
Jo Torrens Fernandez
Tom (Robinson)
Cam Williams
Adam J Carey
Pkbaxter
Jack Jones
Archie Hood
Rhavine Chandrapala
Trevor Lawrence
Kevin McCreton
Timothy McCarthy
Paul Howden
Jamie
Richard Pringle
Mukul Sherekar
Ben Jamin
Laura Luedi
Kal
Michael Lynch
Deepak
Christopher McArdle
Kaz Kundakhar
Tom Downey
James Clark
Craig Millman
Peter Donnelly
Benjamin Seville
Alex23
Damien Menzies
Saleem Ahmad

Thanks for helping us do what we do. Stay tuned...