Welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. Let us get you a drink and then feel free to make yourself comfortable, settle back and enjoy what is a very lively discussion indeed.  It’s England vs India – The Decider. A kind of Podcast 6th Test.  Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman are the all guns blazing BazChatters, against powerhouse Indian opposition in the form of our guests, BB regular and Indian cricket sage Anindya Dutta and Raj (the man David Brook chased round Lord’s) Patel.  A bit like the recent England vs India Test itself the conversation is fast, feisty and fun but despite our best efforts, I’m not sure anyone wins. Except our listeners of course.  As the drinks are sunk, we plough headlong into some of the BIG questions. Was a draw a fair result? Did the result even matter when the entertainment was so good? (spoiler alert, it did to the Bear and our guests). What were the moments of the series? How did the captains face off against each other? (Ollie Pope had a letter from his mum and wasn’t included). And crucially, where did this series rate amongst the greatest of all time? There plenty of diversions along the way too.  That all got us thinking, that if we have just seen five great Tests, all five enthralling days, how on earth could anyone even think that four-day Tests are a good idea?  And, how can the ICC improve the World Test Championship to ensure everybody gets to play longer, more, exciting Tests. Raj has an article coming out soon with a number of great ideas and you can rest assured; we will share that first with our Patreons and then publish it onto our website  For good measure we have a quick look forward to England’s white ball series with South Africa and we ask our Indian guests just how much does India really care about the Asia Cup?  We’ll be with you for every ball of the last two England vs South Africa series and England’s trip to Ireland. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A huge welcome once again to The Bishop and Bear. What a week for Test cricket it’s been. As you will know if you have been watching or listening with us, we have been gripped by the 5-day drama of that Lords Test.  If you haven’t been with us, where on earth have you been?    Meanwhile, in Jamaica a rather shorter but equally dramatic Test Match was taking place where the West Indies had a real tilt at breaking New Zealand’s 1955 ‘lowest score record’ and Mitchell Starc was pink ball swinging his way into the record books with a five-wicket haul in his first 15 balls.   To celebrate and marvel over both events, your ursine landlord and episcopal barman have the company of Ajit with his ever present armchair and David Brook, who, as you will hear, is both scathing and insightful on the state of West Indies cricket and certainly does not hold back.   In animated conversation we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly from Lords including last day drama, Flintoff and Lee vibes, slow pitch and battered balls, over rates and the seeming injustice of only England being docked points, Zak Crawley’s Oscar nomination, Jofra’s return, Siraj and Maradona, English batting and the forthcoming return of the Prodigal Dawson.   With a pause to refill glasses we lean exactly how the replacement balls make it into the magic box. It’s not as scientific a process as you might think by the way. From there it’s a race to the last orders bell to unpick the pink ball ballistics from Kingston and debate exactly why it happened and just where the West Indies go next. Does Brian Lara have a point in saying the team only play Tests to get picked for the global franchises?   We’ll be with you for every ball of the last two England vs India Tests. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here.   Allthe best   YourUrsine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Brooks World Of Cricket , David is joined by the legend who is Roland Butcher to preview the England vs India and West Indies Australia test matches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A very warm welcome once again.  The sun is shining and the Bishop and Bear bar and garden is humming with excited anticipation of the 5 Test England Vs India series that starts on Friday 20th June.   Our guest, as he so often is ahead of an India series, is the fabulous author, raconteur and expert on Indian cricket and particularly its spin bowlers, Anindya Dutta.   Armed with an Indian pink gin, Anindya helps us to forensically probe prospects for the series. And a fascinating one it promises to be (the series, not the gin). A new look India, shorn of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and led by rookie captain Shubman Gill is packed with potential, but some of it unproven. England, for their part, seem to be pretty solid in batting depth, but can’t keep bowlers fit. They will need all the experience in UK conditions that Chris Woakes can bring.   Of course, we each make our predictions, so let us know if you agree with them or not!   We also have time to celebrate South Africa’s World Test championship win and air some divergent views on the ICC moving ever closely to espousing four-day Tests.   We’ll be with you for every ball of the England vs India series. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A huge welcome back to the Bishop and Bear. The English international summer has barely got under way and yet already, it seems, we are as busy as one legged tap dancers.   Today our main focus is on the forthcoming World Test Championship Final between Australia and South Africa at Lords on 11th June. To help your landlord and episcopal barman assess the prospects we have two fabulous guests. At the Baggy Green end of the bar is none other than Cricket Bat Cat, whilst bounding in like a turbo charged Springbok for South Africa is Richard Asher, Lords ticket in hand for Day 1 and a map to find our studio for days 2 to five (or 6 if need be).   We start by asking Richard just how South Africa got to the final by only playing the minimum 12 Tests and go on to explain just how the format works. Which oddly it seems to, as it has served up a very tasty looking Lords final.   It’s not, you may be surprised to know, the first Test between Australia and South Africa at Lords, so we have a brief look back to 1912, when the Daily Telegraph reported that “there is a surfeit of cricket and English supporters have little interest in watching South Africa play Australia”. Fortunately cricket fans’ attitudes have changed. Perhaps not so much those of the Telegraph?   We also move on to chat about England getting on their bikes to win a fairly one sided one day series against West Indies and to celebrate Virat Kohli’s IPL win at the 18th attempt. Good for him we say. Keep those Kohli Cam operators in business!   We’ll be back in our new studio to bring you every ball of the WTC Final and the West Indies T20Is before that. If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here.   All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The old Bishop and Bear has been closed for refurbishment since late March, but we are delighted to pull up the shutters again and welcome you back.   A special occasion demands a special guest and we have one of those in the shape of St. Annie of Exeter - national treasure, Guerilla and now best-selling cricket author too. Whilst liberally knocking back our finest rum, Annie undergoes the usual friendly but forensic examination we reserve for some of cricket’s finest authors.   The book in question is “Cricket Changed My Life – Eleven Personal Journeys”. Its, personal, heartwarming and genuinely delightful in the opinion of your barman who had diligently read every word. No doubt our landlord will agree when he gets around to reading it too. But we will forgive him this time. New studios don’t set themselves up after all, so his ursine paws have been rather full.   From a Pakistani teenager left for dead by terrorists to England’s first black international cricketer, from journalists and broadcasters who have battled adversity to forge careers in cricket to a pair of Syrian refugees, and from one of England’s greatest all rounders to the inimitable David’ Bumble’ Lloyd, Annie tells the stories of eleven very different people for whom the game of cricket has been transformative.   Each and every one of the 11 chapters is unique and delivered in Annie’s own style, always allowing the subject to shine and to clearly enjoy themselves whilst doing it. It’s charmingly understated in places, no more so than when she says “there’s an element of the extrovert about Dan Norcross” (who? Ed).   Listen in here and enjoy the chat. In fact, do that and also buy the book. You can do that here.   For good measure, we also have a look forward to the Zimbabwe Test and have to say that we are rather looking to seeing all 6 foot 8 inches of Blessing Muzarabani and wonder if the Joel Garner like bowler might just trouble England’ Baz Ballers if they are not on their mettle.  We’ll be in our new studio to bring you every ball and for that, so join us if you can.   If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course. All the best Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.   The effect of climate change cannot be ignored in sport generally and in cricket particularly. Intense heat, drought, storms and flooding impact all levels of the game. We’ve seen it with international cricket at the top of the game, but think of those challenges faced regularly by your local cricket club and others at the grass roots of the game.   Our guest in the Bishop and Bear, Tanya Aldred, is one of the world’s foremost voices on cricket and climate change, contributing the Environment column to the Wisden Almanack since 2017. She is also a founder of The Next Test (a non-profit organisation, providing climate education and resources and collaboratively seeking climate solutions within the world of cricket).   Fortified with a Sauvignon Blanc, specially selected from the B and B’s ecofriendly and fully sustainable cellar, Tanya tells us about the very practical steps that can be taken by cricket clubs to address the challenges of climate change and make a tangible difference. In her own words, “grassroots changes are like singles, the small steps from which a significant innings is compiled”.   That’s where The Next Test is geared up to provide practical support to clubs in taking those steps. If you want to take that first single for your club and need help, then you can start here.   To help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.   All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A warm welcome back to the Bishop and Bear.   There were some big subjects to cover in the old B and B this week, so propping up the bar is a man more than able to address them…at length. It is none other than The Mersey Mouth, The Tooting Trumpet, maker of occasionally dubious points, but always with hyperbolic conviction, Gary Naylor.   We look back to the Champions Trophy which inevitably leads to a chuckle or two at how poor India had the odds stacked against them, or at least that’s what Gautam Gambir (subject of perhaps our shortest ever jingle), thought. We thought they were worthy winners though despite that.   We put our brains together using, it must be said, rather different analytical styles to figure out how England can restart their broken white ball motor. Suffice to say your landlord rather shot from the hip using ever more colourful vernacular, whilst our guest and episcopal barman took a more rounded view. Interestingly we ended up in the same place.   Add to all that, the unearthing of divergent views on whether the 150th Anniversary Test should be a Day/Night Pink baller. No, no, raged your barman. Since 1877, there have been 2,581 Tests but only 23 under lights. Why celebrate the history of Test cricket by playing it in a way that is not how the majority of Tests have been played? Your Landlord was, shall we say, less a defender of history and tradition and more for living in the moment. Where do you stand?   Finally, we round things off by asking if Pakistan Cricket’s malaise is a long-term issue and are the MCC really losing £4 million because India are not in the WTC Final.   If you want to help us keep our show on the road and great cricket coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course.   All the best   Your Ursine Landlord and Episcopal Barman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Jadz is the mind behind OurCricket, a powerhouse in the cricket YouTube world. Always keen to keep our eye on fellow YouTube powerhouses, we despatched our agent Will Reynolds to interrogate Dan. Using a devastating combination of charm and persuasion, Will discovers from Dan, his background and what led him to cricket, the challenges and rewards of working with professional cricketers like Josh De Silva and Jo Gardener, commentating for Northants and just how terrifying is it to face a fired up Jayden Seales? You can see Dan in action here: OurCricket Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ourcricketpod   Support Guerilla Cricket: If you want to help us keep Guerilla Cricket on the road and great cricket match coverage free across the internet, then do please consider supporting us through Patreon here. There are loads of great benefits as well as our undying gratitude of course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every now and then, somebody forgets something important and there are consequences. This week, the Bishop managed to forget to lock the front door of the Bishop and Bear pub, and three unruly Australians broke in and took it over for a time. While order will be restored in future weeks, we do have a recording of what they shared from an Australian perspective. Despite the fact that the Champions Trophy hasn’t turned out to be everything that Pakistan, or indeed England or Bangladesh, might have hoped, it is still well and truly underway. Mog, Messy, and Forthy have had a go at giving their perspective on what happened in the first week, and look forward to the coming matches. Fortunately, this was recorded before England’s loss to Afghanistan, so we are spared any analysis of this. Many thanks to all of you for your ongoing support – the Guerillas  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices