Shows
Oborne & Heller on CricketSovereigns, stars, stewards, scorers, statisticians … Steven Lynch on this year’s Wisden obituariesTwo monarchs lead the obituaries in the 2023 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. As always, it is a melancholy but matchless memorial to global cricket’s losses, and a section to which many readers turn first. Its compiler and editor, Steven Lynch, discusses its selection and preparation as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. In this edition Roger Alton replaces Peter as co-host.Steven outlines the late sovereign’s long connexions with cricket, understandably placed above the alphabetical list (“we could not file her under Q for Queen”.) He does the same for her gr...
2023-04-1854 minOborne & Heller on CricketFrom teenage record breaker to players’ champion: James Harris of Glamorgan and the PCAAfter a record-breaking early start in county cricket for Glamorgan, James Harris is back with them after spells with Middlesex and Kent. He has also begun his second term as chair of the Professional Cricketers Association. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. In this edition Roger Alton replaces Peter as co-host.James has just returned from Glamorgan’s pre-season tour of Zimbabwe. He gives an upbeat account of the country and its cricket.He looks forward to reconnecting with his colleague Marnus Labuschagne, who will be re...
2023-03-2856 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe weird genius who revolutionized cricket historyMany eccentric geniuses have written about cricket, and indeed played it. Few have been as eccentric as Major Rowland Bowen – or had his genius. In 1970, after years of dedicated research (not all his own) he published Cricket: A History of its growth and development throughout the world. Long out of print, it is still unmatched in its global sweep, its presentation of arcane facts, and its insurrectionary daring (which delighted C L R James) in overturning almost sacred cricketing myths. It riled the cricketing Establishment of its day, especially those seeking to defend white supremacy.Russell Jackson is...
2023-03-211h 02Oborne & Heller on CricketAnother thrilling spell from fast bowling legend Wes HallFew sights in cricket’s history have been more thrilling than the great West Indian fast bowler Wes Hall in the 1960s bounding in from his long run. He is now Sir Wesley Hall and the subject of a fine new biography Answering The Call by Paul Akeroyd. He creates the same thrill in his spell as the guest in the latest cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller. In Peter’s absence, Roger Alton again faces the bowling.Peter, Richard and Roger are delighted to put out the...
2022-11-2957 minOborne & Heller on CricketBefore D’Oliveira – the glories and the shame of England’s Tests against South AfricaIn his book Swallows And Hawke, co-written with past podcast guest André Odendaal, the historian Richard Parry gives a uniquely penetrating account of England’s first eighty years of cricket relations with South Africa, ended by the D’Oliveira affair. It is full of pulsating cricket matches in exciting locations – but all deeply entwined with racism and imperialism. He is the guest in the latest edition of the cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller. In Peter’s unavoidable absence, Roger Alton takes up the attack.Richard explains that racial segregati...
2022-11-221h 04Oborne & Heller on CricketThe cricketing car park of BeirutFernando Sugath, a Sri Lankan expatriate, has been playing cricket in Lebanon for 25 years, in some extraordinary places and despite some extraordinary obstacles. With Will Dobson, an English expatriate and a bookseller in Beirut, he recently organized the biggest cricket tournament in Lebanon’s turbulent history. They are the guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-103-the-cricketing-car-park-of-beirut/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-11-0143 minOborne & Heller on CricketWendy Wimbush – fifty years of keeping but never settling scoresWendy Wimbush has given a lifetime of service to cricket. She is best known as the BBC scorer in the 1970s but has also worked in other capacities in other countries and with some of the most famous names in cricket. She is the guest in the latest edition of the cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller. In Peter’s unavoidable absence, Roger Alton takes up the attack.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-102-wendy-wimbush-fifty-years-of-keeping-but-never-settling-scores/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-10-2547 minOborne & Heller on CricketMike Coward - sixty years of great cricket writingAfter sixty years’ experience in all forms of media, Mike Coward has become one of the most honoured reporters and analysts of cricket in his native Australia and across the world. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-101-mike-coward-sixty-years-of-great-cricket-writing/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-10-1856 minOborne & Heller on CricketAt the wonder house of cricket booksMost of cricket’s history for nearly three hundred years can be found behind a small shopfront in a quiet suburban street in Surrey, forty minutes on the commuter train service from London Waterloo. It is easy to miss on a first visit. The most obvious landmark is the large plastic poodle promoting the dog grooming parlour next door. But a closer inspection shows a handsome carved wooden cricket frieze at the base. Peter Oborne and Richard Heller went there to meet England’s premier cricket bookseller, John McKenzie, the guest in their late...
2022-10-1149 minOborne & Heller on CricketGeoff Boycott celebrates yet another centuryThroughout his playing career, Sir Geoffrey Boycott made a habit of celebrating special occasions with a century. It makes him the ideal and appropriate guest for Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on the hundredth recorded edition (according to official statisticians) of their cricket-themed podcast. With him is his new opening partner, Jon Hotten, his collaborator on a revealing, intimate book Being Geoffrey Boycott.Signed copies and two limited editions – celebrating Sir Geoffrey Boycott’s 100th first-class hundred and 108 Test caps, respectively – of Being...
2022-10-041h 02Oborne & Heller on CricketHigh performance or last performance? Campaigner Alan Higham dissects the ECB review of English cricketAlan Higham has become a leading campaigner for the preservation of the county championship as the foundation of first-class cricket in England and Wales and for real consultation with its supporters over its future. He explains why this is essential now in the light of the ECB’s just-published high-performance review, as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-98-high-performance-or-last-performance-campaigner-alan-higham-dissects-the-ecb-review-of-english-cricket/
2022-09-2751 minOborne & Heller on CricketCan serious cricket survive pornography asks Simon HefferSimon Heffer has had a distinguished career as a journalist, historian, academic and man of letters, above all as a cricket-lover who contributes a monthly column on the game to the Daily Telegraph. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-97-can-serious-cricket-survive-pornography-asks-simon-heffer/
2022-09-1352 minOborne & Heller on CricketRebuilding Ukraine cricket and children’s lives – despite the ICCWhen Peter Oborne and Richard Heller last spoke to Kobus Olivier, CEO of the Ukraine Cricket Federation, he and his four dogs had escaped to Poland from the war-shattered city of Kyiv. A lot has happened since to him and to Ukraine cricket. He updates Peter and Richard as the first guest in their returning cricket-themed podcast.Donations to the programme can be made directly to Kobus Olivier through PayPal to @wardogsandIFollow Anna’s journey on Facebook and Instagram.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/ep...
2022-09-061h 01Oborne & Heller on CricketThe joy of Sri Lankan cricket, expertly distilledGiven the joy it has given to the world, the history of Sri Lankan cricket has been strangely neglected. A young author, Nicholas Brookes, has now filled the gap with a masterly study: An Island’s Eleven. He shares its rich and often surprising contents as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. In Peter’s absence, Roger Alton is co-presenter of this episode.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-95-the-joy-of-sri-lankan-cricket-expertly-distilled/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-07-0549 minOborne & Heller on CricketDutch cricket – and when it can be dangerous to watchThe Netherlands has played organized cricket almost as long as England. Steven van Hoogstraten was chairman of the Royal Dutch Cricket Association for over a decade and is a current member of its supervisory board: he has also had a distinguished career in public service in the Netherlands and with the United Nations. As England play their first one-day international series in the Netherlands, Steven explores the rich history of Dutch cricket and analyses its current state as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast....
2022-06-2144 minOborne & Heller on CricketWriting and cricket: two matching crafts for Harold PinterThe 2009 edition of Wisden Cricketers’Almanack contains a beautiful tribute to Harold Pinter. It was written by the academic and musician Ian Smith, his friend and teammate in the celebrated Gaieties Cricket Club. Ian traces Pinter’s deep dedication to cricket and its influence on his life and work, as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. In Peter’s absence, Roger Alton is co-presenter.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-93-writing-and-cricket-two-matching-crafts-for-harold-pinter/Get in contact by emailing oborne...
2022-06-0748 minOborne & Heller on CricketCricket – a prisoner of market forces?Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde won major awards in 2020 for their book Cricket 2.0, tracking the T20 cricket revolution. Tim has now joined forces with one of the world’s leading sports economists, Stefan Szymanski, to write Crickonomics The Anatomy of Modern Cricket. He reveals its essential messages about the inescapable impact of economic and social change on the future of cricket, and surprising conclusions from its data, as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-92-c...
2022-05-3157 minOborne & Heller on CricketCharles Sale digs deep into the tunnels at Lord’sCharles Sale has been a sports journalist for forty years, almost half of them as the incisive sports diarist of the Daily Mail. In his book The Covers Are Off, he excavates the chaotic and costly story of the redevelopment of Lord’s cricket ground, blighted by two decades of unnecessary conflict between the Marylebone Cricket Club and a sharp-witted local property developer. He shares its story and analysis with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the guest on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk...
2022-05-2453 minOborne & Heller on CricketNon-racial sport: its slow journey with English cricket in the rearThe former Sports News Editor of the BBC, Mihir Bose, has written with great authority about British and international sport for nearly fifty years. His latest book, Dreaming The Impossible, tracks the slow journey towards a non-racial sports world. It draws on dozens of interviews with leading sportspeople, coaches, managers, administrators, business leaders and campaigners for change. He outlines its vital messages as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-90-non-racial-sport-its-slow-journey-with-english-cricket-in-the-rear/Get in...
2022-05-1749 minOborne & Heller on CricketWriter, broadcaster, cricketer Isabelle Westbury celebrates the upward trajectory of women’s cricketAfter a playing career in the Netherlands, Middlesex and Somerset Isabelle Westbury has become one of Britain’s most acute writers and broadcasters on cricket, in combination with a professional legal career. She is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their cricket-themed podcast. In Peter’s unavoidable absence, Roger Alton shares the bowling in this edition.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-89-writer-broadcaster-cricketer-isabelle-westbury-celebrates-the-upward-trajectory-of-womens-cricket/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-05-1056 minOborne & Heller on CricketHaringey Cricket College – a missing engine of opportunity in English cricketIn modest premises in a deprived part of north London, the Haringey Cricket College was a unique institution which developed a generation of talented black players into English first-class cricketers. Its disappearance was a lasting loss. Adrian Rollins was one of its alumni, an opening batter with over 7000 first-class runs for Derbyshire and Northamptonshire between 1993 and 2002. Julien Cahn was chair of its successor, the London Cricket College. They are the guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar...
2022-05-0347 minOborne & Heller on CricketWisden’s obituary section, a tapestry of cricket, by their master weaver Steven LynchYear after year the obituary section of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is one of its most admired features. Its tributes to people who have contributed to cricket mean a great deal to their families, friends and followers. But they also form a tapestry of cricket itself. They capture its varied settings and moods: they reveal why millions of people in all walks of life across the world have been drawn to the game. Even the briefest typically contain the germ of a novel. Their long-serving compiler is Wisden’s international editor, Steven Lynch, who discusses the 2022 edition as the...
2022-04-2648 minOborne & Heller on CricketWisden 2022, the global publishing event of the year, and its editor Lawrence BoothThe arrival of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack is the global publishing event of the year. It makes butterflies stop flapping their wings in the Amazon. On their latest cricket-themed podcast Peter Oborne and Richard Heller celebrate it with Lawrence Booth, its distinguished editor since 2011.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-86-wisden-2022-the-global-publishing-event-of-the-year-and-its-editor-lawrence-booth/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-04-2052 minOborne & Heller on CricketSuing the ECB? Former board member and Somerset chairman Andy Nash suggests how to resist its destruction of English cricketAfter a varied and highly successful business career, Andy Nash was chairman of Somerset County Cricket Club for ten years full of achievement on and off the field. He became a non-executive director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, but resigned dramatically and publically over fundamental issues. As the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast he forensically dissects the ECB’s errors and failures in running English cricket – and tells fans how to oppose them.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episo...
2022-04-1255 minOborne & Heller on CricketSome searing yorkers at wreckers of cricketJonathan Collett is a devotee of Warwickshire, whom he represented at under-19 level. He was Press Secretary for Michael Howard, then Conservative party leader and later Public Relations advisor for Pakistan’s successful cricket tour of England in 2016. He shares fierce but trenchant views on what’s gone wrong with cricket in Warwickshire, England and the world – and who’s to blame – as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-84-some-searing-yorkers-at-wreckers-of-cricket/Get in contact by...
2022-03-2947 minOborne & Heller on CricketA classic cricket book republished for a new generationThe late Mike Marqusee, who described himself as a “deracinated New York Marxist Jew”, wrote two of the most daring and important cricket books of modern times. The second, War Minus The Shooting, was long out of print. The distinguished cricket journalist Siddhartha Vaidyanathan explains why he republished it and what it has to say to a new generation, as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-83-a-classic-cricket-book-republished-for-a-new-generation/Get in contact by emailing obor...
2022-03-2249 minOborne & Heller on CricketGreat cricket writers – and capping the PopeWhat defines great cricket writing? Should it be on the side of “progress” in the game? Should it be more representative of the global world of cricket and its players and lovers? Is there too much of it by louche comic incompetents? These are among themes of a fascinating hour with two distinguished practitioners. Jon Hotten is the author of The Meaning Of Cricket, a collection of essays which illuminate … well, the meaning of cricket. Matt Thacker is managing editor of The Nightwatchman, Wisden Cricket Quarterly’s collection of fine cricket writing and publisher of Fairfiel...
2022-03-1555 minOborne & Heller on CricketEscape from Kyiv; the Modi grip on India’s cricket ballKobus Olivier, CEO of the Ukraine Cricket Federation, returns to the latest cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller, with an update on his personal situation and the impact of the war. They are joined by Sharda Ugra, one of India’s leading cricket writers, who has analysed with great authority the relationships between Indian cricket and the country’s politics, business and wider society.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-81-escape-from-kyiv-the-modi-grip-on-indias-cricket-ball/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-03-0846 minOborne & Heller on CricketWaiting for the Assault on Kyiv“It’s quite a pleasant day here, warmer and sunny,” says the expatriate cricketer, “and if we won the toss it’s definitely a day to bat first.”The problem for Kobus Olivier is that he is speaking to Peter Oborne and Richard Heller from Kyiv, in the apartment where he has had to barricade himself against Vladimir Putin’s savage assault.The 62-year-old South African is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ukraine Cricket Association. Before the war, cricket was beginning to thrive. He personally had introduced the game to over 2...
2022-02-2839 minOborne & Heller on CricketReporting the whole world of cricket: Osman SamiuddinOsman Samiuddin is Senior Editor at Cricinfo, the largest cricket website in the world. He is also the author of The Unquiet Ones, which during the past decade was one of a trio of epochal books on Pakistan’s cricket history. He joins the authors of the other two, Peter Oborne and Richard Heller, as the guest on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-79-reporting-the-whole-world-of-cricket-osman-samiuddin/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-02-2256 minOborne & Heller on CricketEnglish cricket’s biggest and longest crisis: economic inequalityMohammed Sadiq Patel is a long-serving activist for equality in sport – and the rest of life. As a lawyer he has pursued some notable cases in the cause and as a charitable entrepreneur launched some important initiatives. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-78-english-crickets-biggest-and-longest-crisis-economic-inequality/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2022-02-1544 minOborne & Heller on CricketClass and the myths of English cricket analysed by historian Duncan StoneThe sports historian Duncan Stone has written a thoroughly irreverent book about English cricket. Different Class destroys many cherished myths about his history. It smashes many icons of English cricket writing. All this has a moral purpose, to tell the true story of English cricket and strip it of the class-based ideology that has stunted its growth as a national game. He explains this to Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the guest in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-77-class-and-the-myths-of-english-cricket-analysed-by-historian-duncan-stone/...
2022-02-081h 00Oborne & Heller on CricketThe shocking sight of a dive in the field: Micky Stewart remembers highlights of a vanished world of cricketMicky Stewart’s service to English cricket began in the 1950s as a county cricketer for Surrey – a stylish opening or top-order batsman and one of the finest close catchers in the world. He played eight Test matches. He captained the county from 1963 to 1972, winning the County Championship in 1971. He was Surrey’s cricket manager from 1979 to 1986, and then England’s from 1986 to 1992. For another five years he was England’s Director of Coaching and Excellence. He shares highlights of his career and reflections on English cricket past and present as the latest guest of Peter Oborne...
2022-02-0151 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe Graces CC, the club which opens up cricket to LGBT peopleFounded in 1996 and based in London, the Graces CC is the first cricket club in the world specifically for LGBT people. Until this year, it was the only such club but there is now one other, the Birmingham Unicorns. Stuart Anthony is the Graces captain, Chris Sherwood its press and publicity officer. They explain what the club has meant for them and other members, and review the situation of gay cricketers in Britain and worldwide as the guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast....
2022-01-1146 minOborne & Heller on CricketTwo festive offerings from Henry BlofeldThe incomparable Henry Blofeld switches on the festive lights as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Henry explains his choice of the nailbiting finishes in the cricket matches beautifully described in his latest book Ten To Win… And The Last Man In. He also describes his recently-completed project: a three-part documentary of his full and vivid life.For more information on At Home With Henry visit: simonfielder.com/productions/at-home-with-henry/To purchase Ten To Win... And The Last Man In visit: waterstones.com/bo...
2021-12-1457 minOborne & Heller on CricketTanya Aldred and the global pressure to save cricket from climate changeTanya Aldred has become one of Britain’s most respected cricket writers, contributing notably to The Guardian, The Cricketer, Wisden Cricket Monthly and many other media. She is a co-editor of The Nightwatchman, the publication which showcases the best cricket writing every quarter. For the past three years, she has contributed one of the most significant sections of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, on cricket and the environment. She is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-73-tanya-aldred-and-the-global-pressure-to-save-cricket-from-climate-change/ Get in contact by email...
2021-12-0744 minOborne & Heller on CricketScyld Berry – England’s greatest cricket-watcher – shares highlights from over forty years of England on tourScyld Berry, a former editor of Wisden, has watched nearly 500 England Test matches (more than anyone in history), and reported them for The Observer and then The Daily Telegraph. He has just published a penetrating account of all the countries where he has seen England on tour: Beyond The Boundaries, published by Fairfield Books. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Listeners are invited to contribute to the MCC Foundation appeal donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001v5HIzAAM It will aid the Fo...
2021-11-3056 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe great commentator Fazeer Mohammed brings up to date the stories of BlackLivesMatter and West Indian cricketBy popular demand … the brilliant West Indian cricket commentator Fazeer Mohammed returns as a guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Speaking from Sri Lanka, where he is commenting on the current West Indies tour, with his customary ebullience, eloquence and erudition he reviews a turbulent period for English and West Indian cricket.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-71-the-great-commentator-fazeer-mohammed-brings-up-to-date-the-stories-of-blacklivesmatter-and-west-indian-cricket/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-11-2346 minOborne & Heller on CricketSeventy years of revolution in English women’s cricketRafaelle Nicholson is the author of Ladies And Lords: A History Of Women’s Cricket In Britain. Having previously presented the highlights of the first six hundred years or so, she returns to share the dramatic events and big personalities of the next eighty, as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-70-seventy-years-of-revolution-in-english-womens-cricket/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-11-1648 minOborne & Heller on CricketTantrums and turmoil, racism and riots, class conflicts and colonialism – and some great cricket – in a historic tourIn the winter of 1953, the MCC sent a full-strength England team to the West Indies for the first time, led by Len Hutton, the first professional captain. The party included Denis Compton, Tom Graveney, Peter May, Trevor Bailey, and two pairs of great bowlers, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, and Fred Trueman, and Brian Statham. They played a thrilling series against a West Indian team with the three Ws, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell, and the spinners Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine, who had triumphed in England three years before. The series was billed informally in advance...
2021-11-0251 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe magisterial Imran Khan: the inspirational Lingard Goulding“I expected a bit more from England”, says a magisterial Imran Khan, at the start of the latest podcast from Peter Oborne and Richard Heller, rebuking the recent cancellation of England’s short cricket tour of his country. In a clip from an extended interview with Peter Oborne, the Pakistan Prime Minister and former captain suggests that England still think they are doing Pakistan a favour by playing them at all: they would not dare treat India in the same way, because of its financial power over international cricket. He says that there was no security reason for can...
2021-10-1945 minOborne & Heller on CricketA great umpire raises his finger against discrimination in cricketAfter a first-class career as a pace bowler for Hampshire, John Holder became one of England’s finest umpires. He was a popular expert on Test Match Special and the regular Observer newspaper feature “You Are The Umpire.” On the first-class list from 1983 to 2009 , he joined the Test panel in 1988 and after only a handful of matches was chosen to be one of the first “third-country” Test umpires for a dramatic series between Pakistan and India. But his Test career was interrupted without explanation for ten years after his report on a controversial home Test match. As the latest...
2021-10-1251 minOborne & Heller on CricketEngland’s most incisive cricket writer, George Dobell, who never forgets the fansGeorge Dobell, chief correspondent of Cricinfo but not for much longer, is one of the most independent, incisive and informed cricket writers in Britain. Never a captive of the cricket Establishment or a champion of any interest except everyday cricket fans, he has broken or developed some of the biggest stories in English cricket. He brings unique insights as the first guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their new season of cricket-themed podcasts.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-66-englands-most-incisive-cricket-writer-george-dobell-who-never-forgets-the-fans/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook...
2021-10-0554 minOborne & Heller on CricketPainful testimonies of racism shake the culture of denial of apartheid in South African cricketIn recent months, South Africa has been rocked by the testimonies from black players of the isolation, hostility and outright racial abuse they have encountered playing in first-class and international cricket. Two expert South African cricket broadcasters and authors, Mo Allie and Aslam Khota, relay these stories and their impact as the guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-65-painful-testimonies-of-racism-shake-the-culture-of-denial-of-apartheid-in-south-african-cricket/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-08-3158 minOborne & Heller on CricketWho needs the Hundred when Two Hundred Parents Start Playing Cricket?Annie Chave is the founder and editor of County Cricket Matters magazine and a regular contributor to Guerilla Cricket. Rob Eastaway is a writer, lecturer and cricket-lover who produced a clear and witty book explaining cricket’s mysteries called What Is A Googly? as well as several explaining the mathematics behind such everyday mysteries as why buses arrive in threes. They are joint trustees of a new charity called the Googly Fund which supports adult recreational cricket. They describe its origins, purpose and successes as the latest guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in th...
2021-08-2455 minOborne & Heller on CricketSouth African cricket – still haunted by its unacknowledged legacy of white supremacyFormer first-class cricketer and leading historian André Odendaal has made it his personal mission to reconstruct the true story of South African cricket from its beginnings. He reveals more of the black, mixed-race and Asian-descent players whose talents and achievements were suppressed and for whom opportunity was denied by South Africa’s white rulers and cricket administrators. He suggests that South Africa is at last coming to acknowledge the deep poisoned legacy of white supremacy, as a returning guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: http...
2021-08-1756 minOborne & Heller on CricketLonsdale Skinner: a cricket career blighted by racismLonsdale Skinner was Surrey’s wicketkeeper-batsman in the early 1970s and also played cricket in the same role for his native Guyana in the West Indies. Since 2013, he has been chairman of the African Caribbean Cricket Association which campaigns for fair treatment and greater representation of African Caribbean people throughout English cricket. As guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast he gives powerful first-hand testimony of the impact of the racism he encountered in his English cricket career and expresses his deep scepticism over official efforts to overcome enduring discrimination and prejudice.
2021-07-2739 minOborne & Heller on Cricket“Caught Eagle bowled Eagle” and other highlights from a political cricket loverDame Angela Eagle has been the Labour MP for Wallasey in the Wirral since 1992. When her sister Maria was elected as Labour MP for Liverpool Garston five years later they became the first twins to sit together in Parliament in modern times, and later they became the first twins to be Ministers of State in the same government. Angela held a variety of posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including wide-ranging responsibilities as the first Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. She has also been a long-serving member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee. But mo...
2021-07-2054 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe hidden history of a huge success: women’s cricket in BritainThe rise of women’s cricket is one of the biggest sporting stories in modern Britain – but behind it is nearly 700 years of history. That is one of many surprises revealed by Rafaelle Nicholson, a leading authority on women and sport, in her book Ladies And Lords: A History Of Women’s Cricket In Britain. She is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-60-the-hidden-history-of-a-huge-success-womens-cricket-in-britain/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-07-1352 minOborne & Heller on CricketBehind the stumps but never the times in eight decades: the multiple lives of Lingard GouldingLingard Goulding kept wicket superbly in three continents over eight decades. He also found much else to do with his life, as an industrialist, a master of early computing, an author, a Formula 5000 motor racing driver and most importantly an inspiring head master and cricket coach, mentor and recorder. He shares highlights of an astonishing portfolio career, and memories of his high-achieving family, as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-59-behind-the-stumps-but-never-the-times-in-eight-decades-the-multiple-lives-of-lingard-goulding/Get in contact by emailing...
2021-07-0648 minOborne & Heller on CricketRestoring the lost history of South African cricketProfessor André Odendaal has made it his life’s work to tell his native South Africa its true cricket history. He has restored to memory the achievements of thousands of black, mixed-race and Asian-origin players deliberately suppressed to serve the cause of white supremacy. Besides giving back to South Africa its cricketing past he shares responsibility for its present and future as a board member of Cricket South Africa. Born into apartheid, he describes his personal journey into truth and liberation to Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the latest guest in their cricket-themed podcast.Rea...
2021-06-291h 03Oborne & Heller on CricketCricket’s romantic numbersCricket has always been rich in statistics, but lately they have deepened and multiplied. Cricket’s new professional data analysts can access the detailed results of every single ball bowled in major cricket matches for over twenty years and use them to influence team selections, tactics and onfield decisions. This has alarmed many critics, who say it is turning cricket into a process without character or the thrill of the unexpected. Not so, argues Ben Jones, the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast. He is a leading member of the new pr...
2021-06-2254 minOborne & Heller on CricketNo longer underdogs but still undervalued… New Zealand’s world-class cricketersIt is an almost unnoticed revolution in global cricket: New Zealand’s cricketers have completed a journey from amateur whipping-boys to worldbeaters. They have secured an emphatic Test series victory over England while enjoying the luxury of six team changes to prepare for the ultimate prize of the World Test Championship. David Leggat, former chief cricket writer of the New Zealand Herald, gives unique insight into their modern success and the present state of New Zealand cricket, as a returning guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full des...
2021-06-1555 minOborne & Heller on CricketCricket’s clarion call… from the man who delivered itFor about fifteen years no England Test match seemed complete without the golden notes of Billy Cooper, the professional trumpeter who accompanied the Barmy Army. It made him the best-known musician in the cricket world since the celebrated pianist Don Bradman. He shares his memories of matching music to the many moods of cricket with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-55-crickets-clarion-call-from-the-man-who-delivered-it/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-06-0855 minOborne & Heller on CricketGeorge Headley and a supporting cast of two emperors, one king and Evita Peron, in Latin America’s cricketing dramaTimothy Abraham and James Coyne are co-editors of the perennially fascinating and expanding section of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack on cricket around the world. Together they completed a long-cherished project, a personal odyssey into Latin American cricket, which took them from Mexico to the southernmost tip of Chile. They have just published an unputdownable book about it called Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion. They discuss it with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their cricket-themed podcast, which returns after a short interval. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-54-george-headley-and-a-supporting-cast-of-two-emperors-one-king-and-evita-peron-in-latin-americas-cricketing-drama/
2021-06-011h 04Oborne & Heller on CricketThe County Championship – past, present and future – by its great historian Stephen Chalke Author, publisher and supreme recorder of cricketers’ memories Stephen Chalke returns as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. They celebrate a tremendous start to the English County Championship, before Stephen draws on his detailed and beautifully illustrated history Summer’s Crown, to analyse the competition’s past and its prospects. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-53-the-county-championship-past-present-and-future-by-its-great-historian-stephen-chalke/Get in contact by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com
2021-05-0457 minOborne & Heller on CricketWisden 2021: cricket and class, race, plague and global warmingSteven Lynch, International Editor of Wisden Cricketers Almanack, returns to the regular podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller to celebrate a landmark edition which more than ever lights up the mighty issues which shape global cricket and the lives of all its players and devotees. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-52-wisden-2021-cricket-and-class-race-plague-and-global-warming/
2021-04-2644 minOborne & Heller on CricketRich lives in a few words: the obituaries in Wisden 2021The arrival of Wisden Cricketers Almanack is always one of the great publishing events in the calendar. The latest edition had rather less cricket to record than usual, but was nonetheless packed with important content. Indeed, it is a major source book for future political, social, economic and cultural historians. In their latest cricket-themed podcast Peter Oborne and Richard Heller celebrate it with its International Editor Steven Lynch.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-51-rich-lives-in-a-few-words-the-obituaries-in-wisden-2021/
2021-04-2053 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe park cricketer who married the QueenAnnie Chave is a cricketer and editor of County Cricket Matters, journal of the members organization of the same name which supports the county structure of English cricket. She is also part of the team at Guerrilla Cricket, which provides eclectic and independent commentary and analysis of major matches. She is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podcast. County Cricket Matters can be obtained through www.countycricketmatters.comRead the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-50-the-park-cricketer-who-married-the-queen/
2021-04-1258 minOborne & Heller on CricketWhy crowds roar for the Tigers of world cricketWhether in victory or defeat, Bangladesh’s cricket team, the Tigers, have some of the most passionate supporters in the world. Athar Ali Khan is a former Bangladesh international players and selector, now a freelance commentator. He explains how and why their cricketers have captured the hearts of their nation on its fifty-year journey since independence, as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their cricket-themed podcast. In Peter’s absence for family reasons Roger Alton is the replacement opening bowler.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-49-why-crowds-roar-for-the-tigers-of-world-cricket/...
2021-04-0652 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe man who discovered Eoin Morgan (and other stories)Over twenty years ago an expert watcher predicted that a boy called Eoin Morgan would make his name in world cricket. These and other wonders of Ireland’s rich cricket story are related by author, cricketer, lawyer and all-round man of letters Charles Lysaght, returning by popular demand as guest on the latest cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-48-the-man-who-discovered-eoin-morgan-and-other-stories/The literary event of the year is imminent: the publication of Wisden Cricketers Almanack. Peter and Richard invite listeners to submit the...
2021-03-2955 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe great Pakistani fast bowler who nearly became a Hollywood movie starThe Lahore Gymkhana ground is one of the most delightful places in the world to play or watch cricket. It houses a cricket museum, small but full of treasures, which was the first of its kind in Pakistan. Its founder and curator is the eminent cricket historian Najum Latif. He has watched generations of Pakistan’s great players perform at the ground, played with many himself, befriended many more and, vitally, captured their oral memories of past epochs of Pakistan cricket. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.
2021-03-2348 minOborne & Heller on CricketWilf Wooller – the man at so many great moments of Welsh cricketWelsh cricket gets off to a noisy, swearing start in Swansea on a Sunday in 1771. Local landowners, railways, the British army and industry all help the game to spread. After success as a Minor county, Glamorgan are the first Welsh team into the County Championship in 1921. They struggle but are revived by inspiring leadership from Maurice Turnbull, who meets a hero’s death in the Second World War. Under another inspiring leader, Wilf Wooller, they win their first Championship in 1948 – celebrated by the ex-Glamorgan umpire who gives them an lbw decision to clinch victory. To take the story forward is t...
2021-03-1559 minOborne & Heller on CricketAndy Flower: inspiring cricketer – and protestorAndy Flower was one of the most talented cricketers of his generation. In 2003 he and his teammate Henry Olonga amazed and inspired the world when they played a cricket match in black armbands, in mourning for the death of democracy in their country, Zimbabwe. He gives a vivid and moving account of their protest as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-45-andy-flower-inspiring-cricketer-and-protestor/The literary event of the year is imminent: the publication of Wisden Cricketers Almanack. P...
2021-03-0855 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe Modification of Indian cricket, expertly assessedA dramatic first Test match at the giant new Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad is the cue for an insightful assessment of the Prime Minister’s impact on Indian cricket by Mihir Bose, in his second innings as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their regular cricket-themed podcast. The former Sports Editor of the BBC is the author of over thirty books, including Nine Waves, a comprehensive history of Indian cricket and, most recently Narendra Modi The Yogi Of Populism. He has led three cricket tours of India, which have included frequent encounters with fo...
2021-03-0159 minOborne & Heller on CricketKashmir – where cricket has become a political statementKashmir contains some of the most beautiful settings for cricket in the world – but cricket there has been blighted for over seventy years by the political and military conflicts which were a legacy of the partition of India. It has become not just a game but a political statement, as is explained by a local journalist, author, historian and cricketer Gowhar Geelani, the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-43-kashmir-where-cricket-has-become-a-political-statement/ A BBC briefing on Kashmir can be found here ht...
2021-02-2257 minOborne & Heller on CricketMaurice Turnbull – and other heroes of cricket in WalesThe rich history of Welsh cricket still comes a surprise to many English people, even after Glamorgan’s hundred years in the County Championship. That is no fault of Dr Andrew Hignell, author of some 40 books about it, Glamorgan’s scorer (since 1982) and archivist, and curator of the Museum of Welsh Cricket at the county’s headquarters at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-42-maurice-turnbull-and-other-heroes-of-cricket-in-wales/Get in contact with the podcast by emailing oborne...
2021-02-1559 minOborne & Heller on CricketA great historian’s love affair with cricketRamachandra Guha is a hugely distinguished historian not just of Indian cricket but of India itself. His most recent book, A Commonwealth Of Cricket, has a detailed descriptive sub-title “A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind.” He talks about that relationship and its high and low points as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-41-a-great-historians-love-affair-with-cricket/Get in contact with the podcast by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from yo
2021-02-0850 minOborne & Heller on CricketAnother fast-scoring innings by Mahela JayawardeneMahela Jayawardene is a busy man these days: chairman of the Sri Lankan National Sports Council, head coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, running a chain of successful crab restaurants with his friend Kumar Sangakkara. But characteristically, the former Sri Lankan captain scored rapidly in a few overs with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the latest guest in their cricket-themed podcast. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-40-another-fast-scoring-innings-by-mahela-jayawardene/Get in contact with the podcast by emailing obornehellercricket@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!
2021-02-0131 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe sky is the limit for Alsama Cricket Club, where refugees from Syria get new lives“It was very hard to live with Isis. You could see them cutting off the heads and cutting off the hands of some people.” Maram, 15-year-old refugee, on the life cricket is helping her to forget. Alsama means “the sky” in Arabic. It gives its name to a cricket club in one of the world’s most astonishing locations – the teeming Shatila camp in Lebanon where tens of thousands of refugees are trying to rebuild lives shattered by war, tyranny and deprivation. https://alsamaproject.com/cedar-cricket-club/Three expressive teenagers – Louay, Maram, and Amani – are among the 200 or so chil...
2021-01-2550 minOborne & Heller on CricketWhat happened to the magic of Sri Lankan cricket?In 1996 Sri Lanka won the World Cup with electrifying, innovative cricket. They brought solace and hope to a deeply troubled nation and joy to all the world’s neutral cricket-lovers. For the next fifteen years or so, players such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, and the brothers-in-arms, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, delivered often magical performances which kept their country in the top flight in all forms of the game. But now Sri Lanka is struggling to keep up its standards. The young historian Nicholas Brookes explains why in his forthcoming book An Island’s XI...
2021-01-1855 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe United States: Paradise Regained For Cricket?The United States is the Paradise Lost of world cricket. For about half of the lifetime of the Republic cricket was its major summer sport. Then it lost its hold to baseball and other sports and recreations. In modern times waves of immigrants from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent have fostered many attempts at a revival. Another big effort is under way, backed by high-profile investors – but will it prove another false dawn? Giving an expert assessment is the author and journalist Peter Della Penna who has penned astute and astringent coverage of United States cr...
2021-01-111h 04Oborne & Heller on CricketThe man who changed cricket for ever: Peter HainHe was once the most hated man in cricket. He faced down threats to his career and to his life. He achieved his mission, an epoch-making change in international sport. His new book (with the great historian André Odendaal) Pitch Battles not only narrates his astonishing personal journey but sweeps up the history of South African sport and society, especially the lost stories of non-white players, and throws down major challenges for everyone today who cares about the state of global sport. Peter Hain discusses these themes and makes new revelations as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard H...
2021-01-041h 01Oborne & Heller on Cricket“Absent, caught fire” and other great moments from Scotland’s cricket heritageTo most English cricket-lovers Scotland is an exotic foreign country, but it has a rich, independent cricket history, as Peter Oborne and Richard Heller discover from an expert guide in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Fraser Simm is an author, historian, analyst and collector who has been chairman of the Cricket Society of Scotland for over 25 years. Fraser speaks of his first introduction to cricket – from Richie Benaud’s Australians visiting Edinburgh at the end of their long 1961 Ashes-retaining tour. They became lifelong heroes to him for playing on through constant drizzle which (said Benaud) turned his normal legbre...
2020-12-2854 minOborne & Heller on Cricket“To take us to tea – and beyond”: the incomparable Henry BlofeldFor over fifty years, there have been few pleasures to compare with spending a cricketing hour with Henry Blofeld. He was the joyous guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast.Henry explains his philosophy as a radio commentator on TMS and elsewhere of making listeners feel part of a real cricketing event. If they hear only the events in the middle “it all becomes rather two-dimensional and not very warm or human.” Hence the buses, pigeons and colourful spectators which made his commentaries world-renowned. After his early nervous start on TMS...
2020-12-211h 01Oborne & Heller on CricketNew Zealand cricket’s long journey to successCharles Darwin watched a cricket match in New Zealand in 1835 – but the country had to wait a long time for international recognition and even longer for its first Test match victories. Things began to change in the 1970s, and David Leggat explains the reasons for its climb, and not only the one named Richard Hadlee. Formerly the chief cricket writer of the New Zealand Herald who has reported and toured with many New Zealand teams, he is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast.David profiles the latest addition to New Ze...
2020-12-1448 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe thrill returns of Ted Dexter at the creaseIn the pomp of his playing days, Ted Dexter filled cricket grounds with spectators. The former Sussex and England captain returns to the crease as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podcast. This also includes an appeal from Mike Atherton for the MCC Foundation. For the week from 1 December donations will be doubled in value, and will help to give cricketing experience and access to coaching for disadvantaged boys and girls. See https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001eojcBAAQ Ted has generously donated to the Foundation the royalties from...
2020-12-071h 01Oborne & Heller on CricketSouth African cricket and the poisoned legacy of apartheidAs England’s tour of South Africa gets under way, the two latest guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast offer deep insight into South African cricket past and present. Mo Allie, of the BBC Africa service has reported on South African sport for many years and is the author of More Than A Game, telling many heroic stories of South Africa’s non-white cricketers in times of racial segregation. Cricket historian and analyst Arunabha Sengupta has written Apartheid – A Point To Cover, the story of South African cricket to 1970 and of the successful Stop The 70...
2020-11-301h 00Oborne & Heller on CricketJohn Cleese Shares His Lifelong Love of Cricket“In that moment I went absolutely rigid with real terror, far worse than facing Jeff Thomson.” That is John Cleese, sharing with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast his experience as a performer of the “yips”, that dread loss of control which can blight cricketers on the field. He shares joyous memories of a lifelong love of cricket, which began watching the postwar Somerset team play at Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare. A previous guest, Jeffrey Archer, might also have been in the crowd but he cannot remember meeting him there. He does remember the fast bowl...
2020-11-231h 09Oborne & Heller on CricketJill Rutter on watching cricket with Prime Ministers and othersJill Rutter had many high-profile roles in British public service, including Director of Communications at the Treasury and a spell in the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit. She is now a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London and a senior Fellow at the Institute For Government (which has the uphill task of promoting better government.) She has been a regular and trenchant commentator on Brexit issues and the machinery of government (especially when this breaks down). But most important, she is a lifelong cricket lover, which is why she is the latest guest on the regular podc...
2020-11-1654 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Pakistan Women’s Former Cricket Captain Sana MirSana Mir played in 226 international matches for Pakistan, as an off-spinning all-rounder, 137 as captain, an appointment she received at just 23. She won many awards in her career, including two Asian Games Gold Medals, and was the first woman cricketer to be honoured by her country. Wisden named her Captain of the Women’s Team of the last decade. On her retirement earlier this year, she received messages from admirers all over the world, in tribute to the inspiration she has given to women in cricket. She is the latest guest in the regular cricket-themed podcast by Peter Obo...
2020-11-0955 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe glorious social and cultural heritage of Irish cricket with Charles LysaghtBesides being a celebrated student debater, who replaced Ken Clarke and handily defeated Vince Cable in 1964 as President of the Cambridge Union, then one of Ireland’s leading constitutional and administrative lawyers, a biographer, obituarist and a man of letters Charles Lysaght has been a noted cricketer and host of cricketers in Ireland for over sixty years. (For the curious, he is a distant kinsman of Cornelius Lysaght, the racing commentator.) He shares his deep love and knowledge of the history of Irish cricket and its literary heritage with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the latest gu...
2020-11-0246 minOborne & Heller on CricketCricket's growth in remarkable places: the man who knowsJames Coyne, Assistant Editor of The Cricketer magazine, has prepared each year since 2012 the section in Wisden Cricketers Almanack on Cricket Around The World. He is also the co-author of a book Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion (to be published next April) a record of an epic cricketing odyssey in Latin America. As the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their cricket-themed podcast, he shares his knowledge of all the astonishing places in the world which now play cricket. He outlines the cricketing crime instigated by Evita Peron, and explains its background in...
2020-10-2645 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Human Rights Lawyer Clive Stafford SmithClive Stafford-Smith OBE is a cricket-lover who is also one of the leading human rights lawyers in the world. He is the founder of Reprieve, an organization which specializes in defending people facing execution and victims of rendition, extrajudicial detention and torture in the name of counter-terrorism. As a lawyer practising in the southern United States he personally represented over 300 prisoners sentenced to death: all but six were spared. He won five cases in the (pre-Trump) Supreme Court. He has secured the release of 80 inmates detained without charges at the American facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, i...
2020-10-1957 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Historian and Author, Dr Prashant KidambiIn 1911 the first cricket team to represent all of India made a long tour of all parts of the United Kingdom. Professor Prashant Kidambi wrote a book about it, Cricket Country, which won the Lord Aberdare Prize awarded by the British Society of Sports History and was the first sporting work to be shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize for history. Cricket Country not only describes the events on the field but also the long and complex preparations for the tour, and its role in the history of India and the British Empire. As the guest of Peter...
2020-10-1255 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with ECB's Managing Director of Women’s Cricket Clare ConnorThe rise of women’s cricket, in England and worldwide, is the biggest story in the modern history of the game. Clare Connor CBE is a witness to this journey and a key driver of it. As a cricket-crazed girl, she played in boys’ and men’s teams, not even aware of English women’s cricket. But still in her teens, she played Test cricket for England women, then captained the side to a famous long-delayed Ashes triumph. After retirement she became a top administrator. Since 2012 she has been the chair of the ICC’s women’s committee, and more recentl...
2020-10-0547 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with MCC's Head of Heritage and Collections Neil RobinsonNeil Robinson is the MCC’s Head of Collections and Heritage at Lord’s. He is responsible for one of the world’s greatest collections of sporting art, artefacts, and memorabilia, as well as a constantly expanding Library of over 20,000 books and complete collections of journals, many rare, as well as the MCC Archive, a treasure trove for historians and not only of cricket. Previously the MCC’s Librarian and head of research, he has given unstinting help to thousands of writers on cricket. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Neil...
2020-09-281h 03Oborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Huw Turbervill and Simon Hughes of The CricketerThe Cricketer, on the edge of a well-deserved century, is the oldest surviving cricket magazine in the world – and shows no sign of leaving the crease. With Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast are its managing editor, and historian, Huw Turbervill, and its editor, Simon Hughes, known to millions from his televised appearances as the Analyst. They reveal that another distinguished centenarian, Captain Sir Tom Moore is a subscriber and an avid cricket follower. They trace the history of The Cricketer, from its foundation in 1921 as a worthwhile activity for Plum Warn...
2020-09-2159 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Former First-Class Pakistani Cricketer Qamar AhmedQamar Ahmed is a legend in global cricket. He reported 450 Test matches – about one in six of all those ever played since 1877 – and 738 one-day internationals, including nine of the twelve World Cups. He is respected throughout the cricket world for his authority and integrity. He recently published his memoir Far More Than A Game. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast.As a boy, Qamar Ahmed experienced the sudden and traumatic end of an idyllic childhood in Bihar, in pre-Partition India through communal violence. Movingly he describes the heroic Hindu famil...
2020-09-1459 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Journalist and Author Mihir BoseMihir Bose, author of over 30 books and the BBC’s first sports news editor has analysed and reported global sport incisively for nearly 50 years. He has written with special authority about Indian cricket, tracing its journey from colonial dependency to superpower in his book Nine Waves. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. He explains how the Board of Control for India (BCCI) acquired its dominance over world cricket through its commercial revenues and as gatekeeper for tours by India (which for England are now more profitable than Ashes tours b...
2020-09-0758 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Sports Writer and Radio Broadcaster Pat MurphyFor well over forty years, as author, reporter and commentator with the highest standards of integrity, Pat Murphy has been telling the world about cricket as it really happened. He is the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. He sets out his ideals as a radio commentator, above all, being authentic, the same person off air as on it – like Terry Wogan. He adds: “you’ve got the best seat in the house, bring people alongside you.” The paramount need is to tell the score as soon as it...
2020-08-2456 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with Lord Jeffrey ArcherAn ebullient Jeffrey Archer shares his lifelong passion for cricket as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their regular cricket-themed podcast.He describes his earliest memories of watching his beloved English county Somerset at the Clarence Park ground in Weston-super-Mare (sadly no longer used for first-class matches). As a boy, he demonstrated entrepreneurial flair selling scorecards and especially teas: this inspired resistance from trade unions and helped to shape his political outlook as an opponent of the British Labour party.He gives vivid portraits of a host of cricketers he has...
2020-07-2744 minOborne & Heller on CricketTalking with ICC Umpire Simon TaufelSimon Taufel, for five years in a row the ICC’s Umpire of the Year and author of Finding The Gaps, is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket podcast, joining them from Don Bradman’s home town of Bowral, NSW, Australia. His book Finding the Gaps can be found here: bookdepository.com/author/Simon-James-TaufelHe offers unique personal insight into the role of modern umpires and match officials at the highest levels of cricket. They have become a “third team”, with responsibilities much wider than int...
2020-07-1355 minOborne & Heller on CricketPeter Gibbs on his County CareerIn their eleventh podcast to help the cricket-deprived Peter Oborne and Richard Heller have a fascinating conversation with Peter Gibbs. With imposing initials as PJK Gibbs he appeared on first-class cricket scorecards for Oxford University and Derbyshire in the 1960s and 1970s: as Peter Gibbs he became an award-winning screenwriter, dramatist and novelist.
2020-06-1243 minOborne & Heller on CricketAfghan Cricket with Dr Sarah Fane OBEAfghan cricketers have burst onto the international scene making a huge impression in recent years and even establishing the sport in Germany. Peter Oborne and Richard Heller talk to Dr Sarah Fane OBE, who founded the charity Afghan Connection about how cricket has played a huge part in helping her develop education projects in the war torn country. She also talks about her new role as Director of the MCC Foundation.You can support the MCC Foundation by visiting: lords.org/mccfoundation/support
2020-05-2945 minOborne & Heller on CricketThe Impact of T20 with Tim WigmorePeter Oborne and Richard Heller are joined by Tim Wigmore, cricket correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and author (with Freddie Wilde) of Cricket 2.0 a comprehensive history and analysis of T20 cricket which was chosen as Wisden’s best book of 2019.
2020-05-2247 minOborne & Heller on CricketAnalysis with Nathan LeamonPeter Oborne and Richard Heller talk to Nathan Leamon, performance analyst for the England cricket team for ten years and author of the cricket novel The Test: an insider’s view of the stresses and strains at the top of the game.How in lockdown are professional cricketers keeping themselves ready to resume major cricket? How they might react to playing international matches behind closed doors? These are among many topics discussed in a wide ranging and sparkling conversation.
2020-05-0846 minOborne & Heller on CricketBritish Politics and Cricket EntwinedIn their fifth podcast to help the cricket-deprived journalists Peter Oborne and Richard Heller reveal a series of astonishing stories, which show the importance of cricket in British politics.They argue that cricket wrecked Boris Johnson’s chances of becoming Prime Minister in 2016, reveal John Major’s fear of being described as a lame duck in a match with Commonwealth leaders and describe how only weeks into his leadership of the Labour party, Keir Starmer faces a make-or-break challenge, because of cricket.
2020-05-0140 minOborne & Heller on CricketCricket anyone? Anywhere?In their latest cricket podcast Peter Oborne and Richard Heller discuss the prospects of seeing or playing any cricket in season 2020, in Britain and worldwide. They analyse the health and political obstacles that must be overcome for cricket and other sports to escape from lockdown. They speculate on the adaptations cricket might have to make if social distancing is still in force (matches with no live spectators? all fielders outside the circle? no on-field umpires?) They describe the financial threat to local community and social cricket clubs from the lack of match fees and bar receipts.
2020-04-2441 minOborne & Heller on CricketPublication of Wisden 2020In their second podcast Peter Oborne and Richard Heller root for truffles in the rich soil of the new Wisden Cricketers Almanack.
2020-04-1039 min