Zimbabwe special, with Sikandar Raza

Season 12, Ep 26: Let us level with you: we have done a poor job of covering Zimbabwean cricket. The easiest reason for that, however unsatisfactory, is that they haven't been as present as they should be, for a whole host of complicated reasons. So, with The Chevrons currently in Australia for their first bi-lateral series in nearly two decades, we've dedicated an entire episode to them. For this, Adam has acclaimed author and journalist Liam Brickhill with him as co-host, taking on the task of trying to get us up to speed. And he comes with good news: there are green shoots and they look real this time. Veteran all-rounder Sikandar Raza, in the form of his life at the moment and with one of the best backstories in the game - from fighter pilot training in Pakistan to university in Scotland to international cricket - also drops by for a detailed chat about his fascinating career.

Your Nerd Pledge number this week:

3.04 - Julian King.

Audio is here.

High performance, pretty graphs or both? The Strauss Review.

Season 12, Ep 27: With Geoff a long way from anywhere, Adam has Will Macpherson for company at The Oval after another busy week off the field as well as on. Of particular interest is the first iteration of the Strauss-led review, which was primarily set up to get to the bottom of why England's men don't win more often. They're going alright at the moment though under Ben Stokes, who has a documentary out about his altogether fascinating existence. Over in Australia, it's Zimbabwe in town - let's hope it's the start of something. Meanwhile, in short-form world, the Big Bash Draft didn't go quite to plan.

We had a nice vantage point to record this at The Oval - check it out.

Audio is here: 

Story Time 103 - The best dive bar in America

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, possibly our longest episode as we clear the decks before Geoff departs for three weeks in the wilderness. What did we talk about over a couple of hours? Bradman’s quadruple, Bob Taylor (a couple of times), one-eyed greats, Danes, Dusty Old Kiwis, ancient Wisdens, Big Brother, the Hawthorn/Geelong rivalry… you get the idea. Tuck in.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:

6.85 – Michael Hall
6.39 – Jake Cuncliffe
9.95 – Jeremy Le Roux
6.87 – Aaron Hoskins

With revisits for: Harry Bainton, Tanya Wintringham, Hamish Stares, Richard Bond McNally, Tom Humphreys, Emil Varghese, Jeremy Nash, Richard Jones, Nick Donovan, Elia Andrews, Ian H, Dom Philp, Jack Jorgensen

And confirmations! Dannish Babar, Lee Geldard, Ian Wolstenholme, Jonathan Brand, Tim Unwin, Michael Fallon, Steve Dodd.

Audio is here.

TFW Daily - England v South Africa

Daniel was there, I was not. Here's a look at how I set up when recording remotely. A tripod/phone to film myself for youtube - these days, the iPhone is better than my once-expensive camera. Oh, and Daniel has my nice tripod - this one falls over every time we use it. On the ground, the Zoom h5n, which collects the audio via an SM58 mic, then synced to the vision. And a second phone (Rach's), through which I'm talking to Daniel into headphones. And an iPad for notes. Et voila!

Alright, that's the lot. Can't stop, won't stop. We love you all.