Season 16, Episode 22: With Geoff marooned in Barbados because of Hurricane Beryl, we have Cam Ponsonby jumping into the co-host chair for the first time on a weekly show as attention moves to the various points of interest coming from the announcement of England’s revamped Test squad. There’s also India’s record-smashing women’s team, Rocky Flinto…

2024 T20 World Cup... the day after! At Kennington Oval in London (as opposed to Kensington Oval in Barbados) Adam Collins has Daniel Norcross with him to discuss the reactions, the huge retirements, and the future after India lifted the trophy on Saturday. Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Enter the Westfield UK compe…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 29, the final! India v South Africa It was a final worthy of the occasion, one that swung one way and then another, back and forth through the full 40 overs. Virat Kohli took centre stage, Keshav Maharaj had his moment, Shivam Dube came good, Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen showed their best, and Jasprit Bumrah kept bei…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 27, final preview: India v South Africa The big one is here... India v South Africa. It's the right combination too, with these teams the only two in the competition not to lose a game. But there's so much more to it than that. For the Proteas, this is the first time their men have made a World Cup Final. As for Rohit Sharma…

Season 16, Episode 21: What the hell? The record (the real record) for most expensive over in first-class cricket has stood for decades, and then it gets both equalled and broken within three days? Mamma mia. The T20 World Cup is coming to its end, as Adam's wedding anniversary comes around. Also this week, farewell to Frank Duckworth, Kane William…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 27, second semi-final: India v England It wasn't the biggest margin, but it was an outclassing in all departments. India ran the game in Guyana, seeing off every challenge with enough versatility to brush off England. Rohit Sharma led the way again, while Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah continued to be unhittable. Another f…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 26: South Africa v Afghanistan No sense being vague here - it was an absolute thrashing. South Africa's quicks took apart Afghanistan's top order and that was the game. But it was played on a dreadful pitch in Trinidad that made even a tiny chase into a dangerous prospect - in medical as well as in sporting terms. Bharat Sun…

It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, the aftermath of September 11 in Pakistan cricket, a revolution at Lancashire, the little-known link between Launceston and Antigua, and the day that Don Bradman showed he was the forefather of AB de Villiers. Your Nerd Pledge numbers this week: 2.14 - D…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 24.2: Afghanistan v Bangladesh Another knockout in the group stage, with three teams having a chance based on the result, and Afghanistan did everything they could to not win it, until the point where they started doing things to win it. In the meantime, Bangladesh seemed equally confused about whether winning was actually a…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 24.1: India v Australia What a performance from India’s captain. With Australia needing to win to realistically keep their hopes alive, he never let them settle with a bombastic display of power play hitting. From there, everything needed to go right for Mitch Marsh’s team and it didn’t. Geoff watched live it in the flesh at…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 23.2: South Africa v West Indies It was effectively a knockout, so the spectre of a South African choke was always on. They bowled well, restricted the scoring, then saw the rain come down and change the equation. Andre Russell wasn't letting the game go, nor was Alzarri Joseph, but could Marco Jansen flip the script? Suppor…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 23.1: England v USA Despite it being not even eight days ago, it feels an eternity since England were on the brink of being bounced out of this tournament early. Well, they're now the second team qualified for the semi-finals and hitting the best form as we enter the games that matter most. Which isn't to say there wasn't pl…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 22.2: Australia v Afghanistan After their all-timer in Mumbai at last year's one-day World Cup, and the boycotting of bilateral series, this encounter was always going to have some extra interest. And on a difficult track in St Vincent, Afghanistan showed up to the party ready to dance. Gurbaz and Ibrahim started it, Gulbadi…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 22.1: India v Bangladesh After a polished performance against Bangladesh, this increasingly feels like the question – can anyone match India when they are close to their best? What’s certain is they have every base covered and are hitting their high notes at just the right time. Adam and Geoff are back together to review the…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 21.2: West Indies v USA We have seen signs over the last week that the Windies are emerging as one of the biggest contenders for this World Cup, a suggestion that will grow yet further after becoming the first team to beat up the USA. In a first for Final Word Daillies, it's Daniel Norcross as the solo host (blame Ben Jones'…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 21.1: England v South Africa It was back to Group 2, for the unbeaten South Africans taking on the newly awakened English. Quinton de Kock was a coaled-up train, but the rest of his heavy hitters found it hard to ride along. Jofra Archer was bad, then great, then better. Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone had the game in their…

2024 T20 World Cup, Day 20.2, Super 8s, Australia v Bangladesh Bangladesh scraped into the second stage of this tournament after a poor group stage, and had an opportunity to show that they could lift to the next level in Antigua. They didn't do it. Australia, meanwhile, produced one of the most quintessential Australia performances you can imagine…