🎙️Following On – Jimmy Anderson’s Retirement; The Hundred Latest & Ireland Shock Pakistan

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Neil Manthorp is joined by former England fast bowler Steve Harmison to react to the news that England’s first Test against the West Indies in July will be Jimmy Anderson’s final one for his country as he retires from International Cricket. They also get his thoughts on his former team-mate Graeme Swann.

The Telegraph’s Chief Cricket Writer Nick Hoult discusses the latest on the ongoing story surrounding private investment as the counties agree for the ECB to move onto the next stage of finding investment. They also round up the week’s County Championship action. Nathan Johns from the Irish Times explains why Ireland’s cricketers could play at the World Cup on expired contracts, and they bring you the final word.

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00:00 – Jimmy Anderson retirement / Grae
14:04 – LIVE GUEST: Nick Hoult / Sale Of The Hundred
26:00 – County Championship Review
39:10 – LIVE GUEST: Nathan Johns / Ireland make history against Pakistan
49:30 – Final Word

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hary I we’ve been talking about Jimmy Anderson and paying tribute to him for years um ever since this show started and before that uh I mean it’s um the news that Brendan McCullum flew over from New Zealand primarily to to uh deliver the um news or would it be termed a request that he retire after the first test this summer himself in person 20,000 m round trip um is a you know just a tiny indication of the esteem with which he is held um I I I don’t I don’t know what to say I’ve got a couple of questions for you about Jimmy but uh first of all your thoughts um I’m not surprised that this is the final year um I think that I think that that was always coming I think we could probably say you know over the last few years we we’ve had this we have had that sentence waiting haven’t we not surprised that he’s retired not surprised that he’s going to go probably waiting for it last year waiting for it the year before and then he kept getting 40 50 wickets at 21 and in a in a in a summer and or a calendar year and and you know consistently shutting the the the uh the doubters when I talked about his agge up because of the ridiculous skill levels the lad’s got so I think eventually it’ had to come it has come um Brenda McCullum and listening to Jimmy didn’t seem Jimmy didn’t seem to be um too pleased that it came out as quickly as it came out because obviously they was scouring around to try and tell family members that it it is the time it is going to happen and it’s going to happen at fit and ground which is Lords I thought I actually thought and I said a few weeks ago maners on this show that I don’t think Jimmy can get to Australia so if he doesn’t get to Australia the best thing for me would be to go out at Old Trafford if you could get to Old Trafford which would be the the fourth test match but I think the sign was now the wri was on the wall a little bit when Chris WS didn’t get picked in the T20 World Cup that M’s WS would be the one that starts the summer and if he is then Jimmy might find it a little bit difficult to get it to get ahead of him you know that sounds ridiculous because of Jimmy Anderson and who he is but I’m sure England going for the future but look the initial thoughts are we have seen probably the end of I think the the gold generation of cricketers that came out of of English Cricket the The Cook The the broad the Anderson were’re probably just waiting on root and and and Stokes after after that after the for the Next Generation that came through um what he’s done for for English Cricket Jimmy Anderson has has been amazing and um a lot of people thought he might have gone last year he give it one more go in India where his record was unbelievable now he’s got a chance to to sign off at Lords um in front of of what will be five days hopefully it goes five days because personally believe that it’s the biggest ground in the country and it should have the capacity full every single day to send off one of the greatest cricketers that’s ever play cricket for England um and that for me would be a fit and send off that every seat’s taken because somebody you need to be there to say I was there when Jimmy Anderson retired because the like will never ever be seen again I want to ask you about the way in which it was handled um and word in defense of the brilliant Guardian crickets chief chief Cricket writer Ali Martin um he he broke the story it was obviously ahead of when Jimmy wanted it to to be announced um and he hastily had to ring around all of his uh friends and family in particular he said that he would have preferred to have told all of his teammates in person but um you know Ali Martin has a job and if he heard the news and um he it was he would have been remiss in his duty as the chief correspondent for the guardian not to write it so you get your thoughts on that in a moment but when we got to make sure that we fit in the reaction from another one of his former teammates former England spinner Graham Swan who was in great form um this morning talking to talk for break to talk sports breakfast program I’ll tell you what swanie um to a sort of novice like me in in in from the world of cricket Jimmy allerson what made him so special why did he get so many wickets what could he do that others couldn’t I said it one of the main things that first of all let me just say one reason I love Jimmy so much and you just heard it then in his talk says I’m just delighted that I could play so long in the most monotone boring voice I’ve ever heard I’ve never known anyone so miserable as Jimmy and honestly he sledges his own kids at The Breakfast Table he is that miserable but he’s absolute hero what he did with the ball basically his his action whenever someone changes whether they’re going to swing the ball away from the batsman or into the batsman it’s very very obvious he was quick enough um that it was very hard to pick through the air and he did it so there was no change in his action whatsoever so Batman just couldn’t read him he was also very intelligent he’s one of the few fast Ballers I’ve ever met who can spell his own name um and so he was very good at thinking out the batsman he was playing as well he’s an absolute Legend I I texted him the other day saying you’ve had a good career for a little medium paced swinger from Burnley well done mate SW where do he rank I mean and and and I’m not even talking about an English Cricket I’m talking about alltime Bowlers I mean first seem he had over 700 is absolutely remarkable he made his test debut in 2003 he’s been playing test Cricket for over 20 years where does he rank in world cricket well first of all English Cricket he’s the best we’ve ever had full stop best bowler English have ever produced worldwide I think he’s if you’re talking swing bowling he is the best swing bowler um certainly that I’ve ever witnessed that my dad’s ever witnessed and he goes back like 75 years I can’t go before that but obviously um he’s not the quickest bowler that’s ever been in the world um he’s got the best um Fitness I’ve ever seen considering his diet the five years I played with him was pizza and chips he’s like Shan War how they actually manag to keep going I think he just eats quinoa these days he’s absolutely ripped but um yeah back in the day when he was younger he had a dreadful diet he did train hard but he just he’s got such a sort of single-minded approach to Cricket that he gets out there and just does his job come rain or shine um and he’s really good at it there’s already talk about his future might include a coaching role would he make a good coach do you think swanny he should immediately be made coach there shouldn’t be any messing around he is um the leader of the English attack whenever new Bowlers had come in he’d immediately take the guys aside and teach him different balls that he bowls weapons that he would never have to give away normally a lot of Bowlers would never do that they’d keep their own sort of skills to themselves um for job sort of protection but Jimmy never did that he’s always very good with the younger fast Ballers who come in I I think that coaches should go immediately into the team when they’re fresh when they know all the opposition when they’re still current um and I I would immediately put in charge of some role of the bowlers with England I think they probably will as well knowing Rob key as I do um he’s very forward thinking and I think that they’ll be desperately trying to do that gram Swan um in typical swanny form uh and he was speaking to Jeff Stelling and Ali mccoist on talk sport breakfast this morning um so I mean as you as you said um he’s got a great sense of humor although when you share a changing room with him you want to punch him more often than you want to laugh or or at least um in equal amounts but um it’s interesting isn’t it hary that that um you know that the way that it was handled I always had the sense to be honest that Jimmy would be closer to his great friend aliser cook in the way that he went out and it would have been so he would have preferred it to be lowkey um instead of which he’s gonna have two months talking about his final test match yeah he is and it’s unfortunate that because Jimmy doesn’t like talking to be honest he’s not the one he’s not the most sort of force coming with his his opinions well depends if you’re in in the team or you standing mid off or you dive over one he let he let you know that he wasn’t two best please swanny can you know vouch for that as well and again Swan knew him as good as anybody else um I made my one day debut you know two days after Jimmy Anderson you know the majority of my career with him in out of the team team or the squad or or thereabouts um and he’s amazing man Jimmy Anderson who unfortunately he has to take the linelight he doesn’t want it he has to take it though because of who he is and what he’s done Jimmy will say all I’ve done is I’ve getting out of bed every morning tried to be the best version of myself as a person as a cricketer um and that version of a cricketer I mean there’s nobody come close in in English Cricket so he he is going to have to talk about it for the next two months I played golf for him at the back end of last summer goofy was up there sty was up there we talked about you know potentially going why didn’t you go with Stuart and all that and I’m saying God man it it just hurts too much I can’t believe me and goofy looking at him with our bellies hanging out and you know he’s you know he’s still going in and he just said I might wake up one morning and I might just say that’s it I’ve had enough and it was like unfortunately Jim you can’t do that we want to tell we want to we want to say thank you for you’ve done and that for me is is what’s going to happen over the next few weeks and and a couple of months getting to the Lords and yeah you’re right Ali Martin had to make the story brenon McCullum had to go and say it in person whether it was brend McCollum Rob key he had to sit down they had to go and knock on his door they had to put him in a in a comfortable environment an honest conversation about you know the time to move on um it’s never hard but I think for me it’ be one of of fulfillment to talk to a guy who has done everything in the game gave everything in the game um and unfortunately um good news or bad news you nobody likes them conversations but when it’s done right I think you appreciate it and I’m sure Jimmy Anderson when he sits down and reflects on it in two or three months time when when it’s all done and dusted he’ll reflect on it was done in such a a dignified way that um you’ll have no complains and have the utmost respect for the people at the hierarchy okay um we’re going to be amongst the people talking hopefully to him and about him for the next two months so um let let’s move on and I just want to say that as well you’ve done a separate um video on the YouTube Cricket Channel which people can can uh can can have a look at and have a listen to Just a final word though um why why do I find it slightly um disconcerting that he might never actually leave the change room let’s talk about him becoming the bowling fast bowling coach or a bowling consultant you know playing the first test and then and then not going home for a couple of weeks or months or a year or two um I I just find it I mean surely you’d want some time off after over half of his life as a professional cricketer yeah I’m sure he does but he he likes to g a golf to gym and these Lads play a lot more golf when they’re when they’re all together than they do when they’re when they’re not so I think he might be eyeing that up possibly thinking how much of a great environment that Ben Stokes and Brendan McCollum he’s got a win win in my eyes if he can get that job because it’s it’s like what an environment he’s he’s gone through all the the sorts trials and tribulations and the stress of you know defeats and Ashes and Chris Silverwood and and Ashley Giles and Andrew Strauss before he’s now finally yeah hung on till he’s 42 year old and he’s he’s in an environment which he absolutely loves McCullum and Stokes and why would you want to leave that so he’s probably thinking I’m G this could be a win-win because I I can have everything I really want and don’t have to go through the the sort of pain of you know getting myself fit and ready and bowling as much as I had to so look I’m joking if Jimmy Anderson if you can convince him to hang around and you can have him around in the dressing room why wouldn’t you I mean why wouldn’t you if you’re a young bowler now you other the lik of pots and C from Durham you know I see OE Stones had a good week you know the the likes of Josh Tong um there’s one or two others flying around who you on the radar of English Cricket if they come into a dressing who and have a conversation with Jimmy Anderson yeah that their their education in cricket will will surely be enhanced so if you can keep him around and he does want to steal around I don’t see him going into commentary I don’t see him going into the media as such that he likes that dress person environment if if you if you can hang him around then why not it would be a great CP for ECB to keep him around yeah and Oli Stone scored 90 as well at number nine you can imagine how happy that made me lower order runs love it lower order runs is exactly you’re listening to following on here on talk sport 2 with me Neil manop along with former England fast baller Steve harson and next up daily telegraphs Nick halt will join us as we move one step closer to the inevitable private investment in the hundred right let’s talk money now let’s talk hundred money hundreds of money uh Nick Holt as promised at the top of the show The Daily telegraph’s Chief Cricket writer joins us to give us an update on the sale of the hundred and the salvation of the England game the English game will be future proof Nick Holt the answer to to everyone’s Financial worries the sale of the hundred give us an update sir yes I mean you could probably do this once a week so I suspect it’s one of those things that’s going to drag on for a very long time uh it’s actually the ecb’s AGM today um so there will be a few more discussions around that but um well the latest is at back end of last week that there the nonhost ground so those are the ones that are not uh home to 100 team that’s 11 of the counties uh gave sort of lukewarm approval to the ecb’s uh plan to move forward to the next stage which is actually going out there and and trying to sell these things I mean that’s going to be the next interesting side to this story is who and how much so who are the people are going to buy the the the the the franchises and how much are they willing to pay um so that that that to me is the next sort of really interesting bit I think we’re still going to have quite a lot of horse trading over percentage splits and you know all those sort of things behind the scenes between the counties and who gets what and how much but really the next stage is who’s going to buy the county who’s going to own Lords who’s going to own laner and what are they willing to pay for Al who to the counties did they really have much Choice did they have to take the deal that was on the table uh well yeah I mean they could have turned it down but I think the feeling is that if they do that they’re missing out on a on a potential winfall that is that they would never have had in their Wildest Dreams a few years ago and some of them are under huge financial pressure as I’m sure you discussed on your program many times before that they they they need this injection of money and and cost rising in the game um inflation and player salaries uh the ECB have got a lot of costs to meet with the recommendations the ICC report which they wouldn’t have which fair enough they wouldn’t have budgeted for a few years ago um and the women’s game is growing that needs funding so the pressures are on the game to find new ways of investment and this at the moment is really the sort of only route that they have got so I think there was always General agreement uh that this would this would go ahead it’s just obviously the finer points of the detail and who gets what and how much that are going to be argued over I respect behind the scenes and in hopefully in the Press halty what about the members obviously 15 of the 18 counties are member owned and they’re concerned about uh Heritage History tradition losing control of their clubs um or at least their venues while the hund is on um that is going to happen uh I mean you know if we go if we take the sa2 as an example I mean the the six venues um have no control at all over their venue during uh the the sa2 um and you know you’ve got one side paying a lot of money and the other side receiving it so whatever you call percentage split um it’s clear that the people with the money are going to control things rather than those receiving it and these are all the the valid discussions that are going to be going on and this is why some of the counties are you know taking extra legal advice really on what their rights will be going forward it’s not just who plays when and what time of the year it’s it’s also deeper things as well like you know future expansion you know there’s aund spill over into six weeks does it go into seven weeks we’ve all seen this with other leagues that they start with four weeks don’t they and they say oh this is great look at all these people coming in why don’t we I said why don’t we play a few more games let’s make it five weeks and then of course the creep becomes to March so yeah these are all the things that are going to be on discussion the county members actually will not have really have a say on this the the clubs will make the decision without recourse to a vote for the membership the only difference probably being the MCC because they have they are a member own club they don’t have a professional team so they are in a slightly different position and they’re the ones to keep an eye on I think because um the MC the Lords is obviously the most valuable franchise uh it will attract the highest bids it’s the most uh uh it’s the most prestigious obviously um but also the MCT are controlled very large very by and large by their membership so they are going to have to run everything by the by the membership so um that’s going to be an interesting one to watch and could potentially delay things uh going further down the line but yeah you’re right these are all things that that that the members and supporters will will have concerns about and you know that we we we all understand that the members are sort of out of the equation but with me and Manz are quite you know quite good on this show talking about the halves and the Have Nots we try and dig up for the have knots as much as we possibly can because in my opinion we need 18 counties we need 18 satellites not for not for you know the product that they produce on the field but the Avenue they give young players and you Juniors and you young women cricketers girls cricketers to come into our great game um how is important how important is it that to make sure that deal for the have nuts is right and the cash that they get is enough to keep them going as opposed to giving them a little bit and the short if the short term keeps them happy but potentially in the long term that gets less and less and they just wilter away well this is the mive job for the ECB this is why they’ve got to get this right this is there’s no going there no second Digs at this this is their only chance and so they’ve got to get that that that side of it right and that means getting the most money they can and splitting it equitably I mean if you look at some of the counties they this this this sort of windfall is something they would never have had in their history before and it should it should ensure their future going forward I’m like you I think 18 counties is a strength of the English game that we have these uh satellites around the country where you can uh tap into your community and bring as many cricketers through as possible that is the strength of English cricket and that’s why the we have got to get the most money in and and handle this sale process properly and do it the right because they won’t get another chance C has there been any talk at all that you’ve heard um about um Con well the terms and conditions of of a purchase and investment in the competition um is the is the USP the fact that it is a 16.4 over competition or has there been talk about I mean what if what if the IPL owners come along like they did in South Africa and their bids were three times higher than any other bids and there were other bids from from other other potential owners um if they came along and said yeah um but it needs to be a T20 tournament I mean it sounds like a very small thing but it it wouldn’t be a deal breaker would it well not necessarily but it wouldn’t be a T20 tourn straight away I just well the first question you’re got to ask okay if you make it T20 tour what do you call it you can’t call it the 100 can you because it’s not what’s the point of that that doesn’t got rename the comp yeah you got to rename the competition straight away um and if I was the counties I’ll be fighting against that as well because if you have a 2020 tournament that’s got eight teams that’s got all this money coming in and you can forget the blast because that’s not lasting much longer that was the whole reason we’ve got a 100 is because they wanted to make it different to the blast that was done to protect the counties really I mean and the broadcasters wanted it and that was very important they want a short two and a quarter two two hour whatever competition to be played because it’s much better onion now that’s probably more relevant I would say to the BBC than it is to Sky and whether the BBC stay involved is a whole new other discussion to have but um so yeah look they could come in and demand those things and if the IPL teams come in and offer the most money then sure they will be in Prime position but they’re telling they’re telling us or they’re briefing us that they don’t necessarily want uh this to become a satellite of the of the IPL they don’t want the BCCI having huge control over English Cricket in that in that respect um they want to probably have a maximum of maybe two maybe three IPL teams involved uh so unlike you know other competition that have fully gone with with the with the Indian or mostly with the Indian teams they’re saying also that look we’re not going to go for the highest bidder remind them of this later on down the line but they’re not going to go for the highest bidder it’s also they’ve got to prove to us you know that they want to invest in in the women’s game that they want to invest in Grassroots there’s a lot of good publicity around that as well if a franchise owner comes in and says oh I’m going to give 30 million to York club Cricket to bring to the Next Generation they’re going to be called whatever you know U they’re going to put their names of that Academy there are there is a good publicity around that sort of thing and and they’re protecting their future as well by producing players so we’ll see I mean yes they they say we’re not going to go to highest bid we’ll wait and see but I I think generally they there will be they will be pulled up at some point by the dcms by the government to answer all these sort of questions as well Nick you just done a change of of subject there just somebody coming to mind you talk about the BCCI and how uh powerful they are um we’ve got a few cricketers in the IPL at this moment in time who are being haul back to play in this Pakistan series me manners have been of the opinion in the next two weeks well we’ll we’ll see when it happens but it looks like it is how significant could this be if Rob key turns around to all these players and says no you have to come back you are under contract I’m not bothered what the BCCI say would that be the first time somebody’s really stood up to the BCCI because I can’t imagine KKR be too happy that Phil salt coming back can’t imagine rajastan being over the moon that Jos Butler’s coming back ahead of what is you know vital playoff games to go eliminated to get to the The Knockout and then the final I think it’s only happening because of the World Cup so if this was a Pakistan series and it wasn’t a T20 World Cup the following couple of weeks later just they would not be coming back I think that’s that that’s why and I think probably if you look at somebody like Jos Butler um in particular he would take he he know they had a poor 50 over World Cup um so they cannot go into a tournament really without coming back and playing Pakistan first I think they know that this is very very important for them all um and that they had to come back this time U whether it sets a trend for the future I’m not so sure I think I think most boards just don’t schedule any Cricket now during the IPL or as little as possible to to to prevent that from happening and finally Nick again on a different subject I can’t let you go without plugging your excellent book with Lawrence spoth um on the the birth of basball so how how’s that going are you working on the uh the Edition two yet and your thoughts on Jimmy Anderson’s last test looming in two months time uh yes with the paperback actually uh went to press on Friday I think last week with an updated chapter from the India tour which um uh I think was entitled uh something CL reality check maybe that mentioned I don’t know so uh yeah so we’ve we’ we’ve gone to so it’s progressing nicely um Jimmy was uh yeah look I I think the the fact he came back in India after such a difficult summer last year when he to be honest looked like the time was up and he bowled really well in India at times and and TI in the first testy playing in vizag was real sh sign of that of Jimmy’s immense sort of mental strength and determination to to keep going um and and was credit to him really um but uh it’s the right decision it’s a time for Jimmy to move on it’s a time for England to move on Rob key did an interview yesterday in which he said we’ got to find some teach some people to Bowers to learn to bowl with a new ball and and and that’s going to be vital obviously going into the next ashy series and as we know those ashy series come out very very quickly and I know people say that English greet is always obsessed with the ashes but it’s true and and that’s how these guys will be judged they will be judged on how they perform in Australia in 18 months time it is the right decision they need to bring other people through is getting jof I think it’s not just jof I think it’s getting many many other fast Bowers got ask the other day halty about what our production line is obviously on talk sport you do talk about footballers but and it’s all football on this on this station but we’ve got some very very good substitutes who can last 15 minutes we just struggle with the ones that can go a full 90 yeah and is that is that a problem with the the system is that a problem with um just the nature of fast as you know you know how difficult it is to keep to to stay fit I they don’t play as much Cricket now as it would have done obviously when you were playing and and so yeah we Jos Tong’s injured isn’t he hasn’t played since last summer and and players do come along they come along very quick first onto the scene and then we don’t see them for a year so yeah that’s that’s the other key thing is getting them fit but but key is Rob key is very keen to get Pace he’s uh into English cricket and and working hard on on producing fast Bowlers because that is that is the key for England success going forward particularly in the short term because the batting yes we know it’s up and down we know that they they have meltdowns every now and then but when you think where they were with the batting a couple of years ago to where they are now all those guys in that top six have played big Innings at one point or another against decent sides um that is progress and we see plenty of young batsman with lots of talent ready to come through but it’s it’s it’s now it is now time to to to address to address the bowling you’re listening to following on here on talk sport 2 with me Neil manop along with former England fast baller Steve harson um and if you missed any of the show or you wish to catch up you can always download the podcast from The Following on feed available via the free talks Board app or wherever else you get your podcasts let’s have a quick look at the county Championship then hary um you can pick the stories that have caught your attention um the games many of them have have have um went the distance actually or went pretty close uh into day four and just a reminder at this stage that if anybody wants more detailed coverage um and interviews and analysis on the county Championship uh don’t forget the following on County crica podcast which comes out which you’re on hary um which comes out on Thursday and there’s a more uh detailed analysis of of what’s happening in the county Championship but obvious story sry continue their hunt um for three titles in a row with a comprehensive nine Wicket win um over warshire at the oval Jamie Smith’s 155 that’s probably most people’s lead story kimar roach showing once again what a brilliant uh player he’s been for Sor with six for 46 um and Jaden seals who by the way we spoke to last week for those of you who missed it um and that interview is also on the uh talk sport um Cricket website U so um you YouTube channel I beg you pardon so do have a look at that he speaks absolutely brilliant he was at it again hary with another five Wicket hall for Sussex and yeah um maybe you can start with with those stories and then I’m going to ask you about Lancashire and your old mate Dale binstein his new team is making a horror start yeah they are um but no the the obviously the headline is is sorry and and jimy Smith you know we’ve talked about potential number sevens is Johnny besto coming back with the glubs is it going to be Phil salt after having a rasz of of um of the IPL for KKR Oly Robinson at Durham who is pardon the pun this sort of safe a par of hands when it comes to you know from a a weight keeping point of view and from a batter who is very aggressive technically correct uh Ben folks who will say why you talking about all these players when I am man in possession um who played in that game and then Jamie Smith today’s this week has just reminded everybody don’t forget me and I think some of the highlights and some of the you know the shots that Jamie Smith played this boy is supremely talented we’ve seen that in white bull cricket and he plays really well in Red Bull Cricket the beauty about I what I like about this man is bat number four bad at number four he challenges himself he goes in top of the order high up when the ball’s moving about a bit if if if the openers don’t get off to a good start that for me tells me that this boy can play and play properly so he has he said look yeah there’s a statement it’s a big score 55 um he is a good player I don’t know about the glove work because we you know been folks has kept in this game but I do know that jamy Smith’s been keeping this season along with Joe Clark up in knots um and watching also some of the highlights of that War have played really well you know the battered you know they got three 340 and obviously got ball out for for just under 210 but I think they need to work on their off stomp because there one or two that Kar got absolute bees and I mean to be fair to him to be fair to the Batters I mean these things are coming back from a an awful long way but the skill level of kar roach especially one round the Wicket left hander I can’t remember who it was but it came back onto up stomp it Boomerang beautifully and the batter’s looking and thinking I’ve got this covered I’ve got this covered and then he hears a death rattle you know that along with jayen seals Jason holder he’s done well for for for for werer all of a sudden you chck alari Joseph in the mix or Shar Joseph in the mix and the West Indies have got an attack that can come to England and give England a little bit of a fright so you know the West Indies are coming with Bowlers who have bowled in English conditions kimal roach you know jayen seals two them Bowl really well this week um and you know we’ve talked about you other players who are who have uh who have done well um but the standout for me this week was was definitely Jamie Smith um just to mention by the way that um Jayden seals took wickets for Sussex but Glam Morgan beat them and um so so terrific win for Glamorgan and glera won for the first time since the end of the 2022 season September 2022 uh the 256 run win over North an so um let just uh that’s a long long windless streak um wasn’t quite as long as the one that leester enjoyed a couple of years ago but um yeah good good stories um and and I hope it it’s a reflection of good depth definitely and I think Cameron boft is look he’s got he’s whenever anybody mentions the name Cameron boft you know where the story is going or the the headlines are going unfortunately for Cameron that will be you know what happened in uh in sou Africa for for Australia will will will will stay with him for for all the wrong reasons but it’s got this guy’s a proper player you know he’s talked about opening the bat for Australia for a lot of lot of years and whenever he he sort of hits a Purple Patch like he did at Durham like he did at Somerset um hopefully that from ml’s point of view a memb point of view that 130 first championship win for a awful long time might be the Catalyst to start something which you know Marken as coach will hope that um will propel them higher up and keep going higher up because when you look at that side that’s a good side in there in gler you know bankr at the top you know Bry yeah he he off his lines when he got an England cap but he’s still a top quality player price another one at the top of the order who is who is well thought about um they’ve got Pierce I mean you look at the they’re Pierce Bowlers delanga is a good bowler um sing another another quick bowler they’ve got some Pierce in their side so um yeah you watch for Gloucester might be their first win for an awful long time but it wouldn’t surprise me if they go back to back um in the next few weeks because you know it normally happens when you don’t get one for a while you know two come in a short sped of time and having bankr in a bit of form will certainly help yeah 18 games um Gloucester went without a win um and finally in this section then we have to um mention well I want to mention hasib Hamid who’s captaining nodding nodding him Shire at the moment um setting up their Victory with an unbeaten 247 carrying his Bat uh I I’ve always had a soft spot for him um and you know the way that he’s come back from from adversity and a and a serious um L loss of form I mean you know that that extended like Beyond a year um the way he’s rebuilt his game is is absolutely commendable um ningamer beating Lancashire um by uh nine wickets it was um at trentbridge um so so what what is what what is going wrong for um Dale binstein and Lancashire any idea at all I’m not sure I really I can’t put my finger on it I look at the language side and fair play before we get on that fair play to knots you know they’ve started the season not too badly they’ve got players in a bit of form they’ve CED against they’ve come against some good sides who have played just better than them you know they’ put scores on the board you know Clark’s had back toback hundreds and still didn’t win so in the early parts of the season and then Hamid again you you 100% concur what you just said about the lad coming back to form um against his old side in in Lancashire Stone this week talked about it earlier getting you know lower order runs he got 90 but he got three wickets and he bowled overs which is great to see because I think olly Stone has has got toach as a bowler just unfortunately like many others can’t keep himself fit but laner you literally just can’t put your finger on it um the one thing I will say about this side and it’ll sound like I’m defending and Dale benstein as as a as a coach he’s just coming into the into the group he’s got two threeyear contract I look at that laner side it’s a young side it is a really really young side they’ve got three or four Wick Keepers in the team because they’re all you know competent batters and I think if you stick with it I think you’ll see the tie turn the problem you’ve got is with young players if you put them all in together at once and they constantly getting beat then you’ve got an issue so think that’ll be the happy balance from Dale benstein point of view and the laner hierarchy’s point of view is you’ve got Wills who’s been around a little bit and Keaton jenin you look at the rest of the Le the players that go with it you know bannan has played you know quite a bit of cricket but he’s still relatively young so was biston so is Bruce so is Bell so is Hurst Harley’s again you know you look at what he did for England but he’s still you know relatively inexperienced first class cricketer um saki mahmud’s just come back from a a long long off so yeah are they short of a little bit of experience hopefully in the in the big league um they can you can learn quickly they got a good score this week they just weren’t able to you know finish the game off 330 in the first Innings it’s not a bad score in the in a in a first class match in England but unfortunately I think some of these young Lads thrown in all together might be what’s not holding them back but not having the experience just to you know pull it all together in that middle order might be what’s you letting letting Lish it down so let’s let’s wait and see but it’s been a horrendous start for Dale benstein at at Lancashire it has been and all I would say to conclude this section is that I’m sure the players are very relieved to be playing some first class Cricket in Spring conditions to be a real treat when they get to play in the actual summer um you’re listening to following on here on talk sport 2 with me Neil manthorp alongside two two time County championship winner Steve harson next up we’ll round up the week’s other stories as Ireland shocked Pakistan and the problems go from bad to worse for Lancashire U now um Nathan Johns joins us once again um the cricket writer at the Irish Times a great deal to talk about once again Nathan you know how much hary and I like the Irish boys and and Irish Cricket so a victory on the field I have to say um a a very impressive one and um I thought they might have made a better of fist of it in the second T20 against Pakistan as well having posted 193 for seven but they got well and truly beaten there so as we speak that series squared at 1-1 um but it’s been overshadowed Nathan Again by Events off the field um and I was reading a story the other day about Ireland Irish players refusing new contracts from cricket Ireland and and and potentially going to the T20 World Cup as uncontracted players what El’s going on now yeah as always it’s it’s it’s never dull uh in Irish Cricket circles uh for a small sport on this island it uh it has its share of of off field a significant share of off field problems um yeah look I think to say that the the the victory on Friday was overshadowed might be might be a little bit harsh because a lot of the players taten them afterwards you can kind of sense this was kind of extra sweet because of the contract stuff and it it kind of it did give Irish Cricket a good news story that was badly needed it was in the headlines for the right reasons for for a weekend or so um but the long story short on the contracts is uh come November December when it became clear that Ireland was getting a significant hike in ICC funding um the players union the Irish cricketers Association who negotiates their contracts on behalf of the players went to Cricket Ireland and said can we have more money please because I think there’s been a general sense that through Co the players put up with a lot they were traveling in bubbles for for a couple of years and and playing in some what were pretty dark times and tough mental health times for players and they never kind of there was a little bit of outcry but nothing ever serious they never asked for any pay Rises and and as a result of those matches and Co support grants the sport survived financially in Ireland and now they’re kind of saying right now you’ve got more money we’ve been carrying the can for so long it’s it’s time to to reward us so to speak and I think Cricket Ireland was sympathetic to those to those desires but then which we spoke about on the last time I was on all the various different Financial events that have occurred from about March onwards the tun you know they’ve got basically nearly two million less than they thought they were going to get um the I think there there are still pay Rises on the cards but just not as much as as players want and it kind of all came to a head nearly two weeks ago now and yeah we we broke the story the day before um the first T20 that the men’s the male players had rejected uh the offers the central contract offers that were made um and presumably it is in relation to those those pay Rises the women were at the qualifiers the world qualifiers at the time so they haven’t actually made a decision yet on their offers I understand they make theirs earlier this week um I’ve been told it’s kind of touch and go whe whether they’ll accept or not but uh yeah players are they’re not playing on uncontracted the contracts expired in in March 1 of March um they’re just still playing on last year’s salaries but they obviously want so they can still get injury cover and all all that stuff um they obviously just want those contracts to go up the big concern is there’s a World Cup in a few weeks time when they’re going to get time to to negotiate and there’s every chance to go to a World Cup playing on out ofate contracts just before comes in here um Nathan I just want to say when I said I read a story it was of course your story thank you so the just to get this straight they’re playing on last year’s contracts they’re still negotiating for this year um and they’re likely to go to the World Cup without any sort of resolution or solution to that it it depends on how sorry how heal is that for a team environment well they’ve actually been remarkably healthy I mean h they finally had to speak about publicly about it the players because the story came out and obviously everybody started asking about it in the buildup to the the the Pakistan series and then on Friday afterwards we spoke to the players and you know they’ve obious there’s a party line that they all say the same thing we’re sticking together uh we back the the union we we stand in solidarity with them they have our best interests at heart so they’re remarkably unified and to be Fair they have deviated slightly from that party line Paul Sterling kind of said he’s remarkably proud of his players for how they they haven’t let this type of stuff boil over and there might he says there might be a little bit of frustration inside the camp but if you take him out his word he says you know they’re still being professionals and they’re still going out there and uh and and they want to win games of cricket I mean Andrew B Bernie after he scored a match winning 70 on on Friday kind of came out and said yeah look we’re we’re together on the pitch we’re together off the pitch and we cross that white line all we care about is Cricket um in a way I actually think Cricket Ireland are fortunate that the nature of the players is I don’t think they’re ever going to get to a stage where they’re ever going to refuse to play because they just love playing too much so that drastic step which might prompt some moving or Grease the wheels a little bit probably isn’t going to happen just because the players ultimately care most about playing for Ireland and and money is secondary but like to be clear here these guys don’t get paid well in terms of the broad spectrum of international cricket like you know I think as far as I understand there’s only one player in the squad who’s on more than six figures everyone else is from anything to 30 to 60,000 Euro a year roughly give or take so it’s not like they’re you know these guys should their market value elsewhere is a lot higher than they’re getting so I think they’re just looking for that to be uh to be reciprocated but no look it’s it’s definitely frustrating and I know the players find it incredibly frustrating but as ever you know there’s always bad news stories in Irish Cricket there’s always fixtures being canceled which of course is there earning opportunities and match fees that are going down the drain for players they’ve had to put up with stuff like this for years it hasn’t come to a contract NE dispute for years but they have a lot of practice at ignoring stuff that’s going on off the pitch and just going out and trying to win games of cricket finally Nathan um are the players really all all you know sticking together the The Haves and the Have Not I mean are they are they one for all and all for one because you when um players from Australia and and South Africa um and to an extent New Zealand um fall foul of their administrators you know they they can always say well we’ll just go freelance then we’ll just go and play franchise Cricket all around the world and apart from Josh L who got a very large amount of money by Irish Cricket standards anyway from the IPL and and there are two or three others um who could who could uh play franchise Cricket for for lesser sums of money but it’s in everyone’s interest isn’t it I mean the administrators and the players to to stick together and to and to work things out and you know and not to to have fallouts absolutely um for the most part I think all the players are certainly very United I mean look you mentioned little he he is somebody who I think a lot of some pessimistic voices would look at and go yeah he’s he’s the biggest candidate to to go freelance but I think that discounts the value he places on playing for Ireland yes he’s not playing for Ireland at the minute um he’s still with goodat even though he’s he’s sitting on the bench at the minute he’s only played he’s only played one game in the IPL this season uh he won’t be available again for IR until the World Cup but uh he’s look he’s going to have a lot of franchise opportunities over the next two years but as far as I understand it he’s still desperate to play for Ireland and will will play for Ireland as much as as much as he can um I I don’t think there’s any inclination that he won’t take up an Ireland contract at the minute um but obviously you know so he’s the that that one concern but apart from that yeah everyone is is United and even he I as I assume is united in that case um obviously when they’re talking public they’re only going to talk about being united but even from you know just what you hear from behind the scenes Etc I think generally the players are fully focused on you know getting getting what they want and and I don’t know exactly what the dispute is whether it’s around salaries or match fees or bonuses or what have you um but in terms of on the administration side it’s look it’s it it is a really it’s not a good look I think for the administration I I don’t think this is greedy players um I don’t think this is players going trying to take every penny they can from a union which obviously is is canceling fixtures and is and is struggling for finances um I don’t think it’s as far as I understand that that’s that’s not what’s going on here I don’t know why there is the gap um between what’s going on but uh you’re right it is in everybody’s interests which is why it’s certainly in in cricket Ireland’s interest for this to to to be fixed up quickly whether they have time because if the players are consistent they won’t talk while they’re playing matches and they pretty much got matches from now until the World Cup I think there’s a few days there’s a gap of about five or six days maybe where they where they’re not traveling or or playing um so is that enough to get these contracts over the line I don’t know and Nathan just finally just a quick one for me it it is important that you mention what you just mentioned there it’s not about greedy players because we’re talking we’re not talking about huge amounts of money we’ve seen this so many times with the West Indies and the West the Pakistan and going into major tournaments and stuff like that this is not greedy players in Irish prate you know holding big administrators to to Ransom these are these are players who have have done over and Beyond to do their best for Ireland Cricket yeah exactly and and and to be fair I I haven’t actually seen any any commentary uh along those lines to be fair to the players um I there’s nobody within the organization on the administration side who was who was saying that as far as I can tell or at least they haven’t said that to me um so yeah no I I completely agree with that and it’s also worth remembering I mean there are at least three or four players I mean uh one particular example in the last year or just over a year they I can off the top of my head I can think of two players who played test Cricket for Ireland on contracts that don’t actually give them salaries they’re casual contracts that just give them match fees per DMS and injury cover um Matthew humph is the young left arm spinner was one and PJ Moore opened the batting at Lords and he was last year and he was on a contract like this so this isn’t greedy players like there are guys who literally don’t get a salary um but so it’s it’s I think when that’s the context you’re absolutely right it’s very very hard to to not look at the what’s going on and and not have some some sort of Sympathy for the players the excellent Nathan John’s Cricket writer at the Irish Times now then let’s move on to any other business hary I’ve got a long list of stories here but uh we’ve got very little time so um I’ll you can um pick and choose a couple I just want to mention the England women 11 for four in the first uh game against Pakistan and uh won it easily in the end um T20 the first of three uh so congratulations to them I’m not sure whether you watched the game um Rahul DVID was told by BCCI secretary J Shaw that he could reapply for the job if he wanted to after the T20 World Cup I rather suspect that he won’t given that he had to be talked into uh a contract extension of six months in the first place and West Indies have confirmed 3 OD and 3 t20s against England at the end of the year in Antiga Barbados and St Lucia and I spent last 20 years talking about context international cricket needs context it needs test championships and ODI championships well the context of that is to make some money and it’s one of the few occasions where I think good on them good on englands fans you can I mean what that’s Antiga Barbados and St Lucia um you know and and money for West Indies cricket which is is desperately needed so that’s what caught my eye anything for you yeah yeah the West Indies cricket desperately needs it um you know we we spoke to the you the you know good man last week in and Jayden seals and talked about and I talked to um you know the the obviously the contingent that came over from Barbados the other day Big Joe Garner in Brad show talked about he had money in the islands and what it needs to go to keep them the bigger players who from FR franchise criet and all sorts and and England coming is massive it’s huge so to send them to you know the more favorable grounds where you are going to get a lot of Hardy makers you are going to get people to come watch grounds are going to be full the atmosphere is goingon to be fantastic um no better place than Bob santigo and St Lucia so that’ll be good hopefully we might get a chance to go out there maners but I’m not so sure talk sports budget will get to that but hey we can live in Hope um yeah I don’t think um I don’t think r d will will continue um even though J sha if they were desperate to keep him I think they might have been saying well there’s another contract rather than you know reapplication um and it was a great turnaround from the the um the England women’s team you know 11 for four they really were and Heather Knight you know LED that team very very well so that looks a very very good series I think England against against Pakistan um and yeah I think but the Highlight for me was the uh the announcement of the West Indies trip which is sandag between a tour to Pakistan and a tour to New Zealand which I know we’re going to the latter part of that trip so you know fingers crossed we have some you know some pleasant Cricket in between okay and just before we come on to the final word and this really has got to be a 30 second thing we have for the last couple of weeks speculated very strongly that Phil salt and Jos Butler may not actually play in the T20 series against Pakistan um because of the pressure applied to them by the Kata Night Riders and the Rajan Royals however uh you have heard a whisper on the Grapevine that they will in fact um be playing for England rather than in the playoff matches for their IPL franchises and I just like to speculate I’d like to make it clear that it is speculation that that reflects enormously well on them because I don’t think that there’ll be much doubt that their IPL teams have applied as much persuasive tactics otherwise known as pressure uh for them to stay so I think I think if they do play for England it would reflect enormously well on on the the character of of those two yeah character of those two character of all the players but especially them twoo because of what they’ve done to get their teams probably Into The Knockouts I think Phil salt and Jos buler especially have been shining likes when it comes to overseas players in that tournament so yes you know fair play to them as an individuals a fair play to the all the the the overseas that are coming home England or P obviously Pakistan aren’t in it but that’s the series that’s on at this moment in time all that’s talked about um and fair play to Rob key because Rob key has basically said you’ve got a contract that suedes anything to do with IPL and you are coming home and the minute he says that they’ve got no leg to stand up and I think because of that I think you know fair play to keesy if this happens you I’m honestly that I think it’s a it’s a good thing that somebody stands up to India but it’s also a good thing to the to the dressing room and says to the dressing room I’ve give you what you want in Times Gone by you know you’ve missed you know Caribbean tours you’ve missed you know Pakistan’s tour you’ve missed other tours to prioritize making money in franchise Cricket now we need you because we need our build up to be spot on to get to the Caribbean and America to try and defend our world T20 um Crown now I’m telling you I need your home and I think if he sticks to that and that does happen not only is it fair play to the players to taking it to taking that on board and saying right you know we this is going to be our team but the administrator and Rob key especially you our hats off to you if you can if you can stand up to India there’s not many do good on you all right so the final word um and I’ve got two this week um the first one you know about sha udle Shaggy playing in a match at dummer Cricket Club he’s been brave courageous and very public um in his battle with Parkinson’s um tweeted a couple of days ago that he played a match at dhama Cricket Club um scored 22 took a wicket and a catch had a great lunch and bowled and over painfree so after the tragedy of last week’s uh final word I thought um we’d um have a smile this week yeah that man is a hero in my eyes I you know remember you see it he’s on his Instagram or on Twitter there’s a picture of him in his England England shirt I’m standing right behind him head down we must had a bad de because I I say had a bad de because I had little bit of a frown on me Fe I probably b a few overs but to play alongside Shan udal who was 40 at the time when he came back into that England test team in in Pakistan and India um I love the bits what he’s going through you breaks everybody’s heart because he’s a fighter and he’s fighting Parkinson’s like he fought to to to have the longevity in his career in county cricket like what Jimmy Anderson J he was in his well into his 40s and he was still lifting trophies like to Hampshire in Middle sex he is a great great man he’s haven’t had Char do in a few months time and we trying to support that as much as he can from Parkinson so good on you Shaggy it was a great week for you and keep up the good fight because you know there’s there’s a tough man in there who’s fighting very very hard against illness and a disease which um is is not pleasant okay the final final word uh last week we also discussed um Andre Flint offs boys and their Feats for Lancashire 2 11 and I made a joke that they were doing a good job of um hogging the or or or hogging the the Limelight taking the Limelight away from Charlie harmeson I don’t know how your boy feels about um being in the in the spotlight and being the the son of of you um but he’s um he’s going to have to get used to it if he starts scoring hundreds of 44 balls or carries on scoring hundreds of 44 balls I was watching it on the stream and I got to about ber and the the signal went off so I didn’t actually see him get his 100 he’s he’s little me me brother’s lad Lennon who is he’s actually only about two years younger than him but he’s about four foot shorter than him um Charlie’s been sleeping in a girl bag for a long time but no no it was nice you know playing for you know Ashton’s Academy side which is a Sunday side which is basically an extension of Juniors with a few adults slash first second team so it was nice to see him get get a 100 on a on a on a a good ground T’s a good ground which has had the likes of Ian bishop and and Courtney Walsh is their overseas players over the years so um no m mom was proud of him um I was from afar um and it was obviously it’s good for the Cricket Club because you the more and more kids that are doing well um we we play in a good standard of cricket up in this area um and it’s getting harder and harder to get Juniors up to a level of that that standard Cricket so you know while he’s doing well I was uh very very pleased to see um you’ve been listening to following on here on talk sport 2 with me Neil manop along with former England fast baller Steve harson um and if you have missed any of the show or you wish to catch up you can download the podcast from The Following on feed as always um available via the free talk sport app we’ll be back at the same time next week when uh New Pakistan head coach or at least uh white ball Coach Gary Kirsten will be amongst our guests but for now it’s been another edition of following on On am on D via the talk sport app and on your smart speaker talk sport