

The Final Word Cricket Podcast
Adam Collins, Geoff Lemon
Cricket for everyone – your friendly guide to the world's strangest sport. Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins combine match analysis with irreverence, politics, interviews and history as they follow the game they love around the world. You can support the show at patreon.com/thefinalword.Get your big NordVPN discount: https://nordvpn.com/tfw
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 26, 2025 • 1h 10min
TFW Book Club – Jarrod Kimber, The Art of Batting and challenges of dyslexia
Jarrod Kimber was a trailblazer in how the modern game was covered, disrupting press and commentary boxes in the best possible way. But throughout his interesting career, he’s always been an author, and his latest offering includes all the passion and insight you would expect as he goes deep on a simple yet essential topic – making runs. Once he and Adam have finished with that, they move onto another area that has dominated much of their lives over the last little while, neurodiversity. And within that, how they’ve written books by harnessing how their brains are hardwired rather than letting it become an unclearable hurdle.Pre-order The Art of Batting from bloomsbury.com/uk/art-of-batting-9781399416542Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 24, 2025 • 1h 29min
Khawaja v Queensland
Season 17, Episode 31: Yes, we said the wrong episode number. Let's all be grown-ups about that. We're leading up to the Mr Sheffield Shield final, while Queensland's former captain Usman Khawaja smacks down his home state association for putting out false stories. Meanwhile, the sackings have started after England's surrender tour of Australia for the Women's Ashes, we have some new nonsense for the World Test Championship structure, and then the first segment of a season regular: the IPL with Ben Jones.Your Nerd Pledge revisit for this week:3.21 - Ed HentySupport the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount: nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 22, 2025 • 1h 27min
Story Time 220 – DK Lillee back for one last job
It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, Bharat Sundaresan joins us for tales from the beginning of India's national team, and the inadvertent birth of the BCCI. Gandhi flashes some kneecap, before we turn back twice through the tale of a heist-master who had one more job in mind. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:5.93 - Rama Subramanian8.05 - Michael Holden6.26 - Cam Tero3.39 - Nick Mildenhall3.01 - Matthias HineSupport the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 21, 2025 • 59min
TFW Book Club – A Striking Summer, with Stephen Brenkley
99 years ago, England was in turmoil, leading to unprecedented industrial action. What kept the country together? In no small part, so goes the thesis of Stephen Brenkley in his beautiful new book, a terrific last-gasp Ashes victory - the first time they had defeated the Australians in a series since before the First World War. A Striking Summer – How Cricket United a Divided Nation, paints a vivid picture of post-war Britain and the tourists who made the 1926 Ashes something to behold, with champions filling both teamsheets. He joins Adam.Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 20% off your cask of MacIness scotch whisky! ICCWHISKYCRICKET20 is the code, email sales@macinneswhisky.com to get the ball rolling. Get 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 19, 2025 • 49min
The Final Word with David Gower, part two
Season 17, Episode 30: In November 2023, we interviewed with David Gower for over an hour and a half but still had plenty of his massive story still to tell. With Adam speaking with the former England record run-scorer at a Lord’s Taverners event in London last week, they picked up from where they left off, moving from the 1989 Ashes through to the end of his playing career then on to becoming one the game’s most substantial broadcast voices. A man we have a lot of admiration and respect for, not least due to the remarkable amount of time he puts into the Tavs, where he’s serving a fifth year as president in 2025. Enjoy.Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 17, 2025 • 1h 20min
Stuart MacGill's very strange court case
Season 17, Ep 29: It wasn't a good week for Stu MacGill, with a guilty verdict in court but on a pretty minor criminal count. That doesn't begin to reflect how strange the story was though, with family conflict, kidnapping, and the inevitable dodgy conduct from NSW police. In other news, Saudi Arabia's entry into cricket is being teased again, via a tournament whose proponents including the Australian players' union. Yep, it's a weird week. All the news we could find, as the final Shield round wends towards its conclusion.Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auSort your super with CBUS in their 40th year: cbussuper.com.auGet 20% off your cask of MacIness scotch whisky! Email them with the code ICCWHISKYCRICKET20 at macinneswhisky.comGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 15, 2025 • 1h 27min
Story Time 219 – Dark Jo Angel, starring Jessica Alba
It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, an all-time thrilling finish involving a classic Australian side, a trip back to rare winter cricket under the roof, the high craft of a maligned spinner at his best, and all the cherubim and seraphim who come to mind via a heavenly fast-bowling presence who an English county is unaccountably trying to thieve. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week:2.26 - Ryan Smith11.75 - Rhys Morgan3.55 - Justin English6.29 - Craig McGowen2.21 - Graham ParkerSupport the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 14, 2025 • 44min
The Australia/India rivalry: what we learned making Final Frontier
The Greatest Season That Was - The Final Frontier season finale During the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, The Greatest Season That Was pod focused its attention on the relationship between the cricketing giants over the decades, some 20 years from the staggering 2001 encounter in India. After speaking with a range of excellent guests, it was time to end the story with a conversation between Adam Collins, Shannon Gill and Daniel Brettig about what they had learned making the series.Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 12, 2025 • 1h 32min
What idiot put the 150th anniversary Test at night?
Season 17, Ep 28: We've been excited about the 150th anniversary Test scheduled for 2027, so it was deflating to see the news that Cricket Australia have planned for it to be day-night. A range of specious arguments will try to cover for the fact that it's about the overseas TV market. Also this week, some Champions Trophy wash-up, Steve Smith's ODI retirement, South Australia on track for a domestic double, while the Shield final might be moved to Adelaide Oval if the logistics can be pulled off. Also this week Sabina Park won't have lights in time for their own pink-ball Test in Jamaica, the regional women's T20 World Cup qualifiers are coming up with our favourite Brazil team involved, and perhaps the first case of a player being dismissed in cricket for having fallen asleep. Your Nerd Pledge revisit this week:1.04 - Michael FallonSupport the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auSort your super with CBUS in their 40th year: cbussuper.com.auGet 20% off your cask of MacIness scotch whisky! Email them with the code ICCWHISKYCRICKET20 at macinneswhisky.comGet 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mar 10, 2025 • 51min
TFW Film Club – Ange & The Boss, with Tony Wilson
A variation on our Book Club, this time we turn to film with a man well known to Final Word listeners, Tony Wilson. We change sports too, to (round ball) football. Why? The tale of Ange Postecoglou is fascinating one, and the influence of all-time great Ferenc Puskás - when they combined together at South Melbourne in the ‘90s - is central to it. With Cam Fink having shot and edited Ange and the Boss, who has also worked with us on many Final Word mission, this felt like a perfect fit. A joyous story with Melbourne migration at its core.Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalwordFind out where you can see Ange and the Boss around Australia: angeandtheboss.comGet your big NordVPN discount:nordvpn.com/tfwMaurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.auGet 20% off your cask of MacIness scotch whisky! ICCWHISKYCRICKET20 is the code, email sales@macinneswhisky.com to get the ball rolling. Get 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORDFind previous episodes at finalwordcricket.comTitle track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices