Test Match Special

Kate Cross and Alex Hartley give their thoughts on the new women's domestic set-up and have tales of their winter adventures. Plus, Alex is becoming a golf person...

Kevin Howells is alongside Tymal Mills & Emily Windsor to bring you all the huge stories from the County Championship this week. They speak to Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson about the impact the Kookaburra ball has had on the competition and whether it's a good or bad thing for English cricket. They discuss the pressures of a player proving themself when moving to a new team and how can you put a stop to a batting collapse. Plus, Kevin speaks to the editor of Wisden, Lawrence Booth, about the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2024.

Tymal Mills and Steven Finn join Nikesh Rughani to discuss Jos Buttler's latest heroics after another dramatic week in the IPL. Plus, we hear from Punjab Kings' Kagiso Rabada.

Steve Crossman, Tymal Mills, Mark Ramprakash and Georgia Elwiss assess the key issues from the opening weeks of the County Championship season. Vic Marks joins the team to reflect on the death of England's most prolific spin bowler Derek Underwood. The team also look at whether using the Kookaburra ball is making it harder to take wickets and get results in the County Championship. And Georgia looks at England women's tour of New Zealand. TIMECODES 03:50 - Vic Marks on Derek Underwood 14:52 - Start of the County Championship season 33:12 - Kookaburra ball v Dukes ball 43:59 - England women's white ball tour of New Zealand.

Kevin Howells is alongside Tymal Mills to bring you all the huge stories from the opening round of County Championship fixtures. They speak to Sam Northeast who hit an unbeaten 335 for Glamorgan against Middlesex at Lord’s, which is now the highest first class score recorded at the ground - overtaking Graham Gooch’s 333 for England against India in 1990. Sam Cook reflects on his season opener for Essex as he took 10 wickets in the match, leading Essex to beat Nottinghamshire by 254 runs. Also, Kashif Ali talks to Kevin and Tymal about his journey to playing for Worcestershire and hitting two centuries in his two innings against Warwickshire. Plus, the Chief Operating Officer of the Professional Cricketers’ Association Daryl Mitchell joins the podcast to talk about the schedule demands of cricketers, how players are looked after with the commercial demands of playing so much cricket, and making sure players are staying safe when travelling for matches. And Emily Windsor wasn’t able to join Kevin and Tymal for the podcast, but she does send the guys a voice note as to why.

Simon Mann, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Nikesh Rughani talk through some Buttler and Kohli brilliance, and we've got an exclusive interview with Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan.

England bowler Kate Cross is fresh off the field at the end of the tour to New Zealand. Kate, Alex Hartley and former New Zealand wicket-keeper Katey Martin discuss the action.

Kevin Howells is alongside Tymal Mills & Emily Windsor to look ahead to this season's County Championship. Durham head coach Ryan Campbell talks about his team's chances of winning Division 1 having just been promoted back up from Division 2, and he also gives an update of when we can expect to see Ben Stokes bowling. Whilst Durham's Chief Executive Tim Bostock talks about the 'honest conversation' the domestic game needs about private investment.

Nikesh Rughani is alongside former England wicketkeeper & former Kolkata Knight Riders coach James Foster and Aatif Nawaz to look back on the first two weeks of IPL action. They discuss what has shocked them so far, why the Rajasthan Royals have started so well, and where it’s going wrong for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. ECB CEO Richard Gould speaks to Henry Moeran ahead of the upcoming season and winter just gone, and the news that Ben Stokes has decided to rule himself out of the T20 World Cup in the USA & West Indies. This is something England white ball batter Sam Billings also reacted to when speaking to Henry about a busy cricketing summer ahead.

Kate Cross and Alex Hartley react to England Women's successful T20 series in New Zealand and preview the upcoming ODIs. Plus, a full analysis of Alex's first round of golf!

Simon Mann is with former England and IPL star Ravi Bopara as well as Aatif Nawaz to discuss tight finishes, captaincy conundrums and English performances at the start of the IPL.

As the 2024 Indian Premier League gets underway Henry Moeran, Simon Mann and former IPL star Abhishek Jhunjhunwala look ahead to all of the excitement of this year's competition.

Royal Challengers Bangalore are WPL champions and Kate Cross has the inside story. Meanwhile, Alex Hartley's Multan Sultans come so close to winning the PSL in last-ball drama.

Kate Cross and Alex Hartley are busy in the franchises of India and Pakistan, including seeing some remarkable individual performances. Plus, Alex has FINALLY discovered golf.

Andy Zaltzman hosts the inaugural, and probably final, Test Match Special post series awards. Along with Jonathan Agnew, Mark Ramprakash and Deep Dasgupta, they debate and decide which players win awards such as 'player of the series', 'best batting innings of the series', and 'worst review of the series'. Plus, as Andy Zaltzman is hosting, there's a huge amount of stats that breaks the series down into numbers.

Jonathan Agnew is alongside Phil Tufnell and Deep Dasgupta to reflect on England's crushing defeat to India in Dharamsala. They dissect England's collapse, looking at the wicket of Ben Duckett, and hear from Ben Stokes as he reacts to the series defeat. Also, they look back on Jimmy Anderson's incredible career as the 41-year-old becomes the first fast bowler to take 700 test wickets.

Jonathan Agnew is alongside Jack Leach, Phil Tufnell and Stephan Shemilt to discuss India’s dominant display in Dharamsala. Stephan speaks to England’s spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel after the day’s play and Leach gives an update on his recovery from knee surgery. Leach talks about what it’s like watching on from home with England struggling out in India and they also debate just how good Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja are as a spin attack, while Leach gives insight on what it’s like to face the trio.

Jonathan Agnew is alongside Phil Tufnell and Deep Dasgupta for analysis of day one of the final test in Dharamsala. They discuss England's dismal display with the bat, having started so strong, and ask why England's batter recklessly throw away their wickets. England's batting coach Marcus Trescothick speaks to Stephan Shemilt about where it went wrong for the tourists. Plus, they look at Yashasvi Jasiswal's rise in this series, the performances of India's spinners, and the prospect of Jimmy Anderson reaching 700 wickets in this final test.

Mark Chapman is joined by former England internationals Phil Tufnell and Mark Ramprakash, as well as ex-India wicket keeper Deep Dasgupta, to look ahead to the final Test between India and England. The team hear from England spinner Tom Hartley on his learning experience from breaking through in the series, and also chat about Jonny Bairstow, who's set to become an England Centurion. And finally, the team chat about India's next generation coming through. 05'15: England's selection headache 08'38: Tom Hartley interview 23'00: Barrel vs over spin 35'18: Jonny Bairstow the Centurion, and can Foakes make his way into the setup? 46'14: The passing of the Indian baton

Kate Cross and Alex Hartley are busy playing and coaching overseas and have much news to bring. Plus, Alex’s coaching buddy Cath Dalton drops in to talk through the PSL so far.