Cricket with an Accent Podcast

Matt Roller on a variety of topics surrounding English cricket

Matt Roller of Espn cricinfo joins the show this week. Roller as a writer is versatile in his coverage of the sport where he covers all forms of the international game along with the domestic English county matches. Keeping the county coverage as a backdrop I asked Roller about the chances of one Matt Parkinson to make his test debut this summer. In this episode Roller talks about the space of cricket journalism in England and how the sport still remains a niche sport. 

The conversation covers lot of ground where the stats vs old school coverage of the sport gets mentioned along with the independent analysis of the game vs the established voices. Last but not the least Roller looks ahead at the clash vs India this summer. 

Matt Roller on twitter - @mroller98

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/eng-vs-nz-2021-ben-stokes-to-make-comeback-from-injury-for-durham-in-vitality-blast-1263411

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/cricket/matt-parkinson-i-don-t-just-want-to-be-in-england-squads-on-potential/ar-BB1gDKcy?li=AAggjDC&srcref=rss

 

In conversation with Vijay Lokapally

Senior cricket writer Vijay Lokapally joins the podcast for an episode where he recalls some of the fascinating battles between Delhi and Mumbai. In the era of domestic cricket that rivalry was seen as a test match itself. The conversation also focuses on Lokapally's early cricket memories of the Kotla - home of the Delhi cricket team.

Lokapally also takes us down the memory lane where we relive Bedi, Amarnath and Raman Lamba. Last but not the least we talk about K.P. Bhaskar - perhaps one of the best cricketers to not play for India. 

Nakul Pande previews RCB, RR, PBKS and MI

Nakul Pande (@nakulMpande) of Guerilla cricket returns to the show to talk about IPL 2021. In this episode Pande helps preview the roasters of RCB, RR, PBKS and MI. 

IPL 2021 Preview - Capitals, Sunrisers, Knight Riders and Super Kings

Its IPL time of the year. In this episode Gurkirat Singh Gill(@gurkiratsgill) and Rahul Vishwanathan(Rv__97) join the show to help me preview the Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings. 

Greg Chappell reflects on his cricket journey

Former Australian captain and all time great Greg Chappell is the podcast guest. Chappell engages in a candid chat that covers his cricket journey as a player, captain, coach, selector and now columnist. The conversation explores the historic 1975 series vs the West Indies which was Chappell's first rodeo as captain. Other major talking point is the phase of his career where he swapped the captaincy with his successor Kim Hughes on more than few occasions. 

Using his book Fierce Focus as a measure Chappell helps us understand how successful batting captains can compartmentalize batting and leadership duties. Also included are his views on coaching, Virat Kohli's all format focus, Australian cricket's test future and the work Rahul Dravid has done for India A.

https://wisden.com/stories/archive/news/overwhelm-people-greg-chappell-coaching

 

Ayaz Memon on India's 3-1 win and it's incredible bench strength

Senior cricket writer Ayaz Memon returns to the show to talk about the 4th test between India and England.  While breaking down India's series win Memon highlights the contributions of Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant. In depth talking points include Sundar's potential as top order batsman and whether Pant should play the situation. 

Memon also weighs in on the upcoming WTC finals between India and New Zealand. Last segment of the conversation is a look back at Sunil Gavaskar and his large imprint on Indian cricket, especially on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his test debut.

Vijay Arumugam and Aftab Khanna discuss test pitches along with the milestones of Ishant and Ashwin

Aftab Khanna and Vijay Arumugam join the show this week to look back at the playing surface from the Ahmedabad test. Khanna and Arumugam are true students of the game who offered lot of statistical nuance and historical references to support their points on the rank turners vs green tops debate. The observations further touched upon the history of Indian test pitches over the last two decades. There was a deeper dive in comparing this generation of Indian batsmen to their predecessors in terms of the spin playing ability. Devil is in the detail and this duo released a lot of detail in abundance on rich topics that covered Ishant Sharma's 100th test appearance to Ravi Ashwin's 400 test scalp. 

Gurkirat Singh Gill on Ravi Ashwin the all rounder and the IPL auction

Cricket analyst Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill on twitter) joins the show to talk about the midpoint of  India England series. Gill breaks down some of the narrative based notions on what a good test match pitch is and how to succeed on those pitches. He further elaborates on the importance of toss and team compositions. 

This episode's in depth feature is the return to batting form of Ravi Ashwin. The conversation covers Virat Kohli the test captain and how his decision making skills are slowly coming in harmony with his selection skills. Gill also emphasized the importance of Rohit Sharma's hundred in terms of the latter's career arc. Last but not the least we spoke about the IPL auction. A lot of astute observations packed in this episode.