In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy and Stu look back at the first Test between England and the West Indies, as well as the recent announcement of the Black Caps' contracts for the upcoming year.
The first Test of the English summer was supposed to be a fairytale finish for Jimmy Anderson at Lord's, but over the course of the short time the match was in motion it was debutant Gus Atkinson who stole the limelight with his 12-wicket haul. We talk about the encouraging performances from both Atkinson and Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes' bowling workload, batting woes for the West Indies and of course pay tribute to Jimmy, Jimmy, who has been a mainstay in our cricket-fan lives for two decades.
To round out the show, we discuss the Black Caps' contract list for the next 12 months, which saw youngsters such as Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears and Will O'Rourke added, but plenty of familiar faces remain.
We'll be back again with another episode after the conclusion of the second England v West Indies Test - until then, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.
You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.
And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.
Thanks for listening.
0:00 Intro - First Test between England and the West Indies
1:45 Big win for England, and the English selectors
8:45 Gus Atkinson's dream debut
14:30 Batting woes for the West Indies
20:50 Ben Stokes the bowler again
22:40 Jamie Smith's impressive start
26:30 Jimmy Anderson's final Test
34:10 Black Caps' contracts
