Test Match Special - CWC Day 21: Clinical Kane and Woakes on bowling at the death

Episode Date: June 19, 2019

Jeremy Coney and Natalie Germanos join Simon Mann to look back on Kane Williamson’s superb century that helped New Zealand past South Africa in the tournament’s closest finish so far. We hear from Williamson himself, as well as a very disappointed Faf du Plessis. Plus, in a podcast exclusive, Chris Woakes explains just what goes through his mind when he bowls the final over of an innings, especially when defending a total. We also hear from former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who has a warning for the future of the game in South Africa.

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Cricket World Cup. This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Williamson lifts it for six. He lifts it for six into the Hollistan. It's 100 for Kane Williamson and it's just about victory for New Zealand. And what a brilliant innings that has been from New Zealand's captain. He's had to sweat hard today. It's been a monumental innings of patience, determination and skill as well. Hello and welcome to Edgeburton. I'm Simon Mann. We've had the tournament's closest finish here as New Zealand squeezed past South Africa in the final over, thanks to a captain's hundred from Kane Williamson. A brilliant innings coming up. We'll look back on this fantastic finish. We'll also get a fascinating insight from Chris Wokes and what it's like bowling at the death in a match and the thinking that goes into it. And we'll get a stark warning for the future of South African cricket. But we begin here in Birmingham. The MS Podcasts, available every day during the Cricket World Cup. A victory for New Zealand by four wickets with three balls to spare

and a magnificent, a truly magnificent innings from Kane Williamson, New Zealand's captain. Jeremy Coney is alongside me, so to Natalie Jamanos. Let's hear from you first, Natalie. South Africa has been a hugely disappointing World Cup for them. they push New Zealand all the way today but it feels as though that might just about be it yeah unfortunately for South Africa it probably is I'd be interested obviously we don't know

how South Africa might have played today if the World Cup up until this point had gone a little bit differently for them would they have played with a little bit more freedom possibly with the bat maybe they would have and they would have had maybe 260 on the board it might have been a different day who knows But I think from South Africa's point of view, looking forward, they know that they've got also tough matches still to come because they've got to play Pakistan,

they've got their last game against Australia as well. That's pretty tough from their point of view. And they know that unfortunately now it looks like the semifinal spots are probably out of reach. If they're going to win their last three games that are left, that have nine points and don't see them going through to the semifinal on nine points, it's highly unlikely. It's a day of disappointments, I would reckon, for South Africa, in a lot of ways.

But a game of, or a day of absolute jubilation for New Zealand, not a, you know, a romping victory. They got those three wins in the back. They weren't really tested so much in the first three games. But goodness me, Jeremy, they were tested today. And they'll be better for it, Simon, I think. I mean, it was a full workout so that New Zealand got 50 overs in the field. I think they trusted their bowlers early on to be consistent, more consistent than their batsmen have been. And so that's probably why they chose to bowl first,

even if they didn't look down and they looked up and saw the lower clouds at the time of the toss. That cleared away quite quickly. There wasn't much action from the pitch other than the fact that it was slow and that it gripped a little bit and the slow bowlers would have got perhaps a bit more. So I think both sides missed a wee trick, actually, and just playing one spinner, to be honest. If you look at de Grondom, the way that he bowled, the slower kind of medium fast bowling,

he was miserly and also Santner, even though he bowled nine overs, but he bowled off seven, I think, quite quickly, and it was his partnership with de Grondom in that South African innings that put the brakes on just after the first ten overs. really affected that innings and left them with a lot of work to do to get up with a target.

So, yeah, and I mean, Guptil, he'll be, you know, a bit disappointed with the way he trod on his wicket. So there was a little bit of bad luck along the way, but Williamson is the man who stands out as being the rock upon which the New Zealand result was founded. And South Africa, they had their chances to dismiss him. Yeah, absolutely. The catch behind being the major one, which Imran Tahrir thought there was definitely. an edge on it. Quentin Cock didn't hear an edge or see any kind of deflection into his gloves.

And actually, looking at the ultra edge, it shows that there was a little deflection, went off the face of the bat and just into the gloves. And it was a good take in the end by Quentin Tocock, actually behind the stumps. But Imran Tahir thinking there was an edge, South Africa decided not to go upstairs. Was it worth actually trying, even if Faftuplec thought, well, I don't think there's anything on it, but it might have actually been worth it at that stage. because I think Williamson was on 70-od, I think, at the time. So it might have actually been worth it from South Africa's point of view just to even try.

And if they happened to lose the review, I don't think you would have blamed them for going upstairs at that stage, actually. So it actually might have been worth it. Williamson was on 76 and the score was 173 for 5. And it felt a big moment at the time. It feels an even bigger moment at the conclusion of the match. There was a run-out opportunity as well where the ball wasn't taking. cleaning the stumps. The throw wasn't great either and Williamson was absolutely nowhere.

There was another moment as well where Miller tried to take a catch a midweek. That would have been a fantastic catch. So it was a sort of nearly day for South Africa but they don't count. No, they don't count and South Africa will know that. You know, I suppose

Graham Smith actually in the last game put it quite well in that he said to have luck, you need to make your own luck and you generally do that by playing well And has South Africa done that through the tournament? No, they haven't. They had a much better day to day than they've had through the tournament. That could have been even better, though, I suppose,

if their batters were a little bit more free and got them to a stage where they could have had maybe $2.60, 270 on the board, possibly $2.80 even. And then obviously, from a fielding perspective, they could have taken it up a notch as well. So did they make their own luck? Probably not, but it certainly was a much better performance than we've seen from them through the tournament.

But unfortunately, the poor performances and their first three games has resulted in them being in this position. What about New Zealanders' potential World Cup winners, Jeremy? It looks as if, I mean, they're very well placed for a semi-final spot now. They haven't guaranteed yet. Probably one more win, might well be enough. I think one more win would probably get them over the line. They've got Pakistan coming up shortly.

They've got the West Indies as well at Old Trafford. So that's coming up, I think, Saturday, and then next week it'll be here. back here again against Pakistan and then the last two matches of course are the big ones with Australia Lords and then up at Durham for the English one to finalise their tournament so in that sort of period of the game so I yeah I think that New Zealand will again look at certain things and they'll say that they can be better but at least they got a lot of pressure today the first time there's been real pressure upon them and how they've responded. Williamson obviously has come through that pretty well. I thought

de Grondom, the way he came out and batted today, was pretty good. Nisham had a bit of an innings today as well. So there were some positive things there. They'll worry about Taylor. They'll worry a bit about Latham, I think, in that sort of four-five position. Taylor's got himself out the same way twice. He's got to work on something there. And so, yeah, I think, you know, do they change Monroe at opener. I don't know. Those are issues they need to work out. What do you think about New Zealand, Natalie, as potential

World Cup winners? I think they're going to, if you look at the teams that obviously have been the favourites going into the tournament in India, England and Australia obviously have been one of the favourites as well. They may be also struggling a little bit in terms of having a front line

spinner that will do some damage towards the back end of the tournament and also from a batting perspective they rely heavily on the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner. If you look at those teams, they have a pretty complete team and they certainly have a really strong batting line of both of them, good bowling lineups as well. Do they compare with them?

Yeah, they probably do. I think New Zealand have got a team that works well together, which is really good on the day. They work very well together. They've got good intensity in the field. They do well for each other as well. I think in the tense situations, Kane Williamson leads them really well. So it's a good opportunity, possibly, for New Zealand to do something very, very special.

Bowling, strong and batting? Yes, at the moment. Batting will get better, I think. They'll be better for this knock, particularly, as I say, Nisham de Gronton and Santor. So that 7-8-9, where you need those runs towards at their inner tight match. And, you know, New Zealand, I personally don't see them as winning the World Cup. I think that those other sides that Natalie's mentioned, I think they just have a lot. a little bit too much at the moment

for New Zealand, but who knows if they go through these next couple of games and they'll, if they continue to improve under pressure, anything can happen once you're in a knockout match, can't it, really? We haven't talked much about late, about Williamson's innings.

Just sort of assess it and assess its level of quality. It was a mental quality I thought I saw from Kane Williamson today because he didn't look comfortable. He couldn't play the shots that he normally plays. He found the field a lot today and that frustrated him in addition to the fact that there was lack of pace and it's very frustrating when you get a ball you know you can score from

and suddenly it comes off an inside edge because it hasn't arrived and it trickles out to mid-on so he had to battle himself those demons inside yourself and say just hang in here hang in here I can do this and he trusted that instinct I think and to get a you know that little boundary as you pointed out the one to third man the last ball of the second over to go was a critical one instead of chasing 12 runs they needed eight the amazing thing about that stroke was that it was a slower ball too but also in some batsman a lot of batsmen your instinct in that situation is to try to beast the ball isn't it trying to you know to have that confidence he cushioned and calmness just to play a little deft open face stroke I mean it's remarkable batting really

He did. And then even, and also the last, the six helped, obviously. I mean, that was the first one I felt he'd really middled for a long time. So Pecklequay just missed his little mark a bit, and Williamson had been in long enough to take toll of it. So I just think a fantastic inning from the mind point of view. He's taught his team a lot there, I think. And Pelequay, having to bowl the final over, it probably costs South Africa.

Well, today, yes. He's done it before, and he's done it really well before. He's actually bowled really well at the day. and he generally is a player that doesn't allow the nerves to get to him in that final over. He just had a bad day at the office today, Petla Choir. He's had a very good World Cup so far. He's been brilliant with the ball in particular. He hasn't done a lot of the bat.

He hasn't had too many opportunities necessarily. But with the ball, he's had a really, really good World Cup and probably been one of South Africa's better players through this World Cup, the him along with Russi Fan of Dissan. But Petalachai has done it before where he's had opportunities to bowl the world. the final over had very little to defend, but has done it really well. He just unfortunately had a bad day at the office, and maybe in a way didn't have enough to defend in that final over. Natalie and Jeremy, thank you.

Andy Zaltzman has watched the match alongside me. What have you got for us, Andy? Well, it was clearly a game that transcended statistics. It was just an exciting game, but there were some quite interesting little nuggets to come out of it. New Zealand have now won 10 in a row in group stage matches in World Cups. and Colin de Granholm, superb all-round performance,

his 60, was the second highest score in World Cups by someone batting at seven or below in a successful chase. And only Derek Murray, who made 61 in a chase in 1975, has scored more from seven downwards in a winning World Cup chase.

On this ground as well, Derek Murray, back in 1975. And he didn't even get the player of the match award, Colin de Grano, despite a brilliant all-round performance. I've bowled 10 overs for one wicket for 33. Kane Williamson, who did win the Man of the Match Award. It was the sixth unbeaten century by a captain in a World Cup chase, a successful chase.

And New Zealand, it's the 18th last overfinish there's been in World Cup history. New Zealand have won three of them, including one on this ground in 1983, featuring Jeremy Coney, who we just heard from. And I just asked him about it, said, what do you remember about it? and he said, oh, not a lot really. And then he said, they thought about it,

but it says, oh no, I think I was about 60 not out at the end as they won by two wickets with one ball to spare. Well, it was a very long day. The match finished

at gone 10 to 8, it's supposed to be a 10.30 start, but we had a delay because of the overnight rain. And on Williamson's innings, there's an incredible finish. You finished with 4-6-4, a delicate glide off the outside

is a glorious sort of slog-swept 6 and then another late cut. He'd hit only two boundaries in his previous 91. one deliveries. He had five in his first 44, then two from 91 got to the end and finished it like a surgeon. Let's hear from him. He's with Brian Waddell. Kane Williamson, I wonder whether sometimes one century means more than many others. You've had a few, but that has to be pretty special, isn't it?

Yeah, obviously a lot of tough graft out there. It was sort of the nature of the surface, and we know the quality side that we were up against. So we were trying to weather some tough periods, and I was very fortunate to be a part of partnerships where other guys came in and really put their foot down. Like DeGron Homes innings was just superb. So it was just great to be able to build those partnerships, be the other end, and try and take the game deep. But, yeah, great to get across the line for us.

It was about 10 or 12 days between games. So then you come out on a surface like that where the guys adapted beautifully in the first half and the second half. You picked up 100 with that six into the stand. But you looked before that for a while as though you were just struggling to get your rhythm going. Yeah, there was not a huge amount of rivet. them out there and when I did I sort of hit a fielder so um but then it's just trying to deal with that

and know that the game's actually not getting too far away from you because of the the total so sort of putting your own sort of things aside and and just looking at the the scorecard and how you want to try and um sort of set it up and you know like those partnerships are really important for that so um yeah I mean I didn't feel like I had the ball poorly it just when I did hit it well I hit it straight to him field him it off got a bit of work but um look it was a really good game cricket they'll be a part of and great to come out with a win. Congratulations, well done. Cheers, thank you.

Well, that's Kane Williamson with Brian Waddell. He also spoke to South Africa's captain Fafteuplecy. Faf, a great game of cricket and so excruciating to get so close and fall short. Yeah, it's obviously really disappointing for us. We fought extremely hard. We threw everything we had. But Kane was too good for us today. He showed how to score runs on a tough wicket and I think there was a difference.

You know, 20 runs that we were looking for with a bat especially. It's just one guy just hanging in there and taking that one score that goes a little bit bigger because it is easier for a guy that's in. Then, you know, guys keep coming in and trying to get a quick start. I guess you can regret a few mischances too in the field. Yeah, the run out of Kane. I think he threw the ball and it actually hit a bit of a foot hole there. So not ideal for us that.

You mentioned something about Kane nicking a ball of football. Emron but none of us even knew about that and even Cain didn't do it. So that's, yeah, that's, but I thought we were good in the field, you know, we threw ourselves, we stopped a lot of balls, there were some really decent catches taken. Yeah, so I can't fault the guy's effort today in the field. What are you going to have to do now to pick the side up? Yeah, it's been a tough, it's been a tough campaign for us, you know. It feels like we, we constantly have to go back and make sure we, you know, keep the boys,

crawl them up to fight again and come back and fight again. So it does take the wind out of yourself, but we are a proud team and a very determined team, so we'll keep fighting. Thanks very much, and all best for the remaining games. Thank you very much. Cheers. The TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup.

Now, on the TMS podcast, we've been bringing you exclusive content with the England players today after a thrilling finish here at Edgberston. We're going to get an insight into what it's like to bowl the last over of an innings, especially when you've got a total to defend. Chris Wokes has been.

explaining everything to Eleanor Aldroyd. I'm going to start you off, Chris, with a little bit of a quiz about your stats on this, because we've looked all this up. Now, you've bowled in 87 innings in total. How many times do you think you've bowled the 50th over of a match? 50th over of a match. Oh, God, out of 87? Not that many, I would have said.

Maybe 20? You know, you're only one out. 18 times in total, and seven times in the second innings. You've bowled 36 balls in total in the 50th over of a second innings. How many runs do you think you've gone for out of 36? 36 balls. More than a run-a-ball comfortably, probably. I'm not sure if I want to know the answer to this or not, but I don't know.

Probably, I don't know. 55? No, less than that, 47. That's all right. That's good. That's, you know, respectable. Quite pleasant, actually. Yeah, good. I'm pleased with that. You've bowled a total then of 106 deliveries in the 50th over.

So that's first and second innings. How many runs do you think you've gone for? So that's out of 106. 106 balls. And these are all in the 50th over. Again, 106, maybe 140? 150. Okay.

I'm going to say 150, but I try to give myself a benefit of the day. No, shouldn't it then, should I? And how many wickets do you think you've taken in that time? I can't remember taking many wickets in the last overs of games, actually. Generally try and hide the ball in the last over, so it doesn't really generate many wickets, try and give it away from the stumps. Probably, 106 deliveries, I'd say maybe four wickets. Well, it's five wickets and actually seven runouts.

So you take those? So do I get the runouts as well? I think you do, yeah, we'll give you the run-hats. So when it comes to the last over of an innings, do you always want to have the ball in your hand for that? Depends who's at the other end. I think, I mean, obviously, look, it can be a nice over-to-bowl if you're bowling at tail-enders sometimes

because you feel like you can maybe, like we've just spoke about there, pick up a couple of cheap wickets potentially. You know, you do your hard yards in a lot of your other overs, bowling at obviously the best batsmen. Sometimes it's a good opportunity to pick up. up some maybe cheap wickets. But at the same time, it's also a tough over to bowl because a lot of the time it creates momentum for you, whether it's obviously your first innings leading into the second innings

batting, you know, you can create some momentum as a batting side or as a bowling side. So, as I said there, if you're bowling at someone that's set, it can be a tricky over to bowl because, you know, if someone's 100 not out or 70 not out and they're seeing the ball very well and they're a world-class player, you literally have no margin for error. But I think you have to embrace that. The mindset's probably the big thing. If you don't want to bowl it and you're not willing to take that challenge on, then you are going to more than likely go for runs or not execute your skills as well as you'd like.

Are you kind of looking at Owen Morgan in the kind of, you know, 47th, 48th over and kind of catching his eye a little bit? Yeah, I think for the last, probably for the last 10 overs, you're constantly keeping an eye on the captain and kind of keeping an eye on the game, keeping an eye on what the batsmen are doing, who's left to come, how many wickets of the opposition down. You know, these are all the things that go through your mind probably in the last 10 as a bowler, particularly when you know you've got probably, I know a lot of the time I've still got four to bowl in the last 10. So you know you've got a big role to play and a big job to do. So, you know, you keep an eye on the captain, you keep an eye and maybe try and grab him, you know, around about the 40th over and kind of get his thoughts on what he's thinking regarding what over is you might lightly to bowl.

But also at the same time, you also need to be a little bit, I suppose, fluid in terms of being open-minded to, bowling both ends and at different batters at different stages you might come back for one overspell then have to finish three from the following end you know you can't have to be open-minded to the whole situation so if you're in the 49th over and you know you've got the final over what's going through your mind at that point um I suppose just trying to keep calm really um trying to again assess the situation that's in you know who's batting at the other end where does he like to score his runs what are his strengths what are his weaknesses and kind of keep that clear, clear method in your head on what you'd like to deliver, you know,

what skills you're like to bowl? Is it, is the surface more, you know, helpful to the slower deliveries in that, in, in this instance? Or is it the Yorkers, which are going to be best? You know, is there a big, bigger boundary the one side? All those things go through your mind, particularly in that, you know, if you're going to bowl that, that all important, last over sometimes. You know, you have to, although there's a lot going on your head, you'd still need to remain calm and think of your strengths as well a lot of the time. You think of what the batsman wants to do. you know a lot of the time think about what you need to do your strengths what you're good at

executing and try and deliver it and obviously there's a big differences in there between bowling at the end of the first innings you know if you're bowling first and then and then if you're defending as well I mean has there been a moment when particularly when you're defending it's just you know you felt wow this is look at you looked around and you looked at the crowds and the floodlights and thought this is you know I'm right at the heart of the action here Yeah, definitely, and I think that's part, I mean, sometimes it all goes in a blur as well, you know, sometimes you'll finish a game and think, wow, what happened there? Like, that all happened in a bit of a flash and, you know, sometimes you'd like to enjoy it a little bit more. There's other times when you're going around the park and you'd like to be swallowed up into a hole and taken off the field.

But I suppose that's the pressures of being a death bowler and an international bowler. You know, you have to take the roof of the smooth, so to speak. There are going to be occasions where you're the hero and there are going to be times where, you know, you're going to be times where, you know, you're going to be. be on the wrong end of it and I think if you embrace that as a player and as a bowler I think you're in a better space and a better headspace to try and deliver your skills but yeah there's our occasions I remember a time in Sydney when we I think I was defending maybe 12 or 13 off the last over and I was down at fine leg on in the 49th over and had copped abuse the whole game from from the from the fine leg boundary and the Australian supporters as you'd expect

and yeah they were just into me saying oh you're going to lose it for England you know, you're going to, don't worry, works his ball in the next over, we're going to, you know, all this sort of chat in your head. And you just, you know, you have a bit of banter with the crowd, but at that point you've got a job to do

and you try and, you know, just focus on what that skill is. Unfortunately, in that instance, I managed to defend the score, so it wasn't too bad, but... You said that so modestly. So that must have been brilliant. Did you look back down to where those guys were at finally?

I did, but by that point, they've all exited their seats and headed up into the stands and have disappeared, which, you know, sometimes it would be nice to walk over and shake their hands, and go, yeah, thanks, thanks very much. But, you know, as part of the game,

part of being international sportsmen, in any sport, I'm sure abuse is thrown from the crowd occasionally, in particular in England, Australia games. So, yeah, that was a, you know, a moral victory which you win, and you just, I suppose it's a bit of pride for yourself rather than having to go over there and rub it in their noses. Is there kind of a par total, so going into that final over? So you said that on that day it was 12, you know,

is there a minimum where you think, yeah, comfortably I'm defending that one? As long as it's above 36, you're happy. Keep your foot behind the line, and you don't roll no board or wards, you'll be okay. But no, I think realistically, obviously each game is different. There'll be times when the surface is, you know, defending six on a certain surface against a tail ender.

It might be, you know, you might be still in your favour. But I think generally speaking, I think probably double figures as a bowler going into the last over it gives you a chance because you know it's probably it's probably likely one of your balls might go to the fence

and go to a boundary or you know have a little bit of hard look there might be a nick for four so I think you have to allow yourself a boundary at some point because it might be a bad ball or it might just be a bit of bad look on your behalf so I think I always feel that if you've got double figures to work with

with it at 10-11 you know you're in with a in with a good chance but at the same time you still need to deliver your skills regardless at the start of that final over you know so say it's around about 12 that you're defending are you is is Owen coming and talking to you is he having a chat to you at that point well what does he say to you yeah well I think we have the chat before the over starts on what we feel is going to be the best mode of of operation you know whether as I've spoke about there whether it's going into the pitch is it the yorkers that we need to to try and find on this surface and we'll discuss that right that

start the over. And generally, if it, you know, if it's going well and, you know, you're bowling, you're bowling well, he might not come up to you every single ball. But, you know, he probably comes up to a minimum two or three times in that over just to double check the plan, double check whether I'm still thinking the same things. Do I need to change it? Do we need to tinker with the field slightly? And to be honest, I know I've spoke about this before with Owen, but it's one of his strengths as a captain is in those moments in particular. He's very good at coming up to you and you know, double-checking what you'd like to deliver out there in the middle, but also what he thinks might work,

but also he's very good at a bit of give and take. You know, he'll obviously have in his mind what he wants, but then he knows that you're the one that's got to deliver the skill with ball in hand. So, you know, he's happy to not put the pressure on you as a bowler to decide what you want, but give you the opportunity to deliver what you want. So, yeah, that's a great, great strength of his. Have you ever changed your mind when you're coming into bowl? when you're thinking, okay, yeah, this is going to be a Yorker,

and then you thought, no, no, I'm going to change this up this a little bit here. Yeah, there has, but there are the times generally when you get it wrong, to be brutally honest. You know, 99% of the time now, or even, I mean, I'd like to think 100% of the time, but there are probably the very rare occasions where you change your mind. But, you know, if I was trying to tell kids or children how to play the game and how to bolt the death or teach anyone to try and bolt the death, it would be to decide what you're going to bowl at the end of your mark and go and deliver it and don't change at all, you know, halfway through or in your load up as to what you're

going to bowl. I think if you're clear at the end of you, you run up what you want to go and bowl and you go and bowl it. And if it goes to the fence, you know, from a good execution, then you hold your hands up and say, well played to do the batsman, you know, and if you haven't nailed your Yorker and you've bowled a little bit short and it's in the slot, you know, you have to walk back and say, you know what, I've got that wrong. I try and bowl it again, but get it right this time.

As soon as you're starting to get a bit of a clouded mind and running in, unsure of where you're going to bowl, I think that's a bad place to be. And it's a mental game as well. So how do you keep yourself calm, final ball, four to win? I think, you know, having been in this situation quite a few times, it's more that is just honing in on that exact skill that you're trying to produce. You know, whether it be a wide yorker, you know, a lot of the time, if they need six to win or four to win

you probably are going to get away from the stumps just in case you do get it a little bit wrong but I think it's just I mean I use visualization quite a bit at the end of my run-up is kind of just visualising that ball going into the hole what we call the hole the Yorker length and almost

seeing the batsman dig it out and that's something which I've used in the past which I find has worked, you know don't be wrong it hasn't worked 100% of the time but you know I think you go back to the process that you know has worked in the past and that's something which I've certainly done is that visualisation of the skill being executed well. And do you think it helps that you're quite often the batsman who's batting

at the death? You know, so like you and Liam Blunkett did the other day at Cardiff. Yeah, I think that can be beneficial because you obviously have in particular field set in your head where you know what ball you're going to bowl and sometimes that does telegraph what you're going to bowl but I think as a bowler that batting at the death gives you a Not an advantage, but you know what the bowler's going through. You know what sort of emotions are going through his mind. You know that if you've gone for a few boundaries for the first few balls he deliver, you're under pressure to deliver your skill.

And I think as a batsman, you get on top of a bowler like that, and you've been there before, you kind of can use that to your advantage. And I think, like I said, about the field placings, you know, you can look at a field and think, right, unless he's going to bluff me, which obviously can be done, going to bowl a wide yorker here or a short ball and you try and use that to your advantage so you've you picked out a moment that it all went well so sydney you know defended 12 easily well i don't know about easily or not but you defended that 12 and that feeling at the end must be

really nice was there a moment when it didn't happen and you thought and i mean because the contrast emotions must be huge yeah definitely i think um i think probably one that that i remember quite vividly is in New Zealand in Hamilton they needed 10 off the last over bowling at Mitchell Santana and my first ball I executed my Yorker perfectly well and he dug it out and got an inside edge and it went past short fine leg for four

and then my next delivery second ball the over I bowed to bowl the same ball Yorker missed it into the slot and he hit it for six and the game is over so you know in that instance I remember thinking well you know the first ball I bowed was the exact skill I wanted to bowl and executed it very well and it still went for four the next

ball I got wrong and went for six and you know sometimes that's just going to happen and it's almost hero to zero literally is you know in a matter of a couple of balls you can lose a game of cricket but I think having experienced those you know those moments in games can you know can only benefit you moving forward you know even now I look back and think you know I didn't do a huge amount wrong. You know, I executed my first ball, the second ball was wrong, and got it completely wrong, and it went for six, and you lose the game. But, you know,

you live and you learn. I wouldn't have tried to change it in terms of the delivery I tried to bowl. I just executed it better. The TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. In a while, we'll hear from former Zimbabwe captain to attend Tybu, who's got a warning for the future of cricket in South Africa.

But Andy Zaltzman, our quest to find a listener to this podcast from every country in the world continues. This comes from Harpal Verdi, who writes following on from the shoutouts on listeners tuning into the TMS podcast, more over the world. I wanted to be sure that you've ticked Luxembourg from the list of European countries.

I've been blasting the TMS theme tune out on the bathroom speaker. The perfect way to start mornings, although my wife is not best impressed. The TMS theme tune, I had that played at, well, my wife and I had it played at our wedding disco when we got married. Perfect. How many times?

How many times? Get people on the dance floor. Oh, just on a loop for about eight hours. And did they go on the dance floor or not? Well, I mean, they did. You had to push people up. Oh, no, it's just, it just calls all civilised people to get funky. I'm afraid we've already got Luxembourg, though, Harpo.

Perhaps that means we've got half the population of Luxembourg. Mark Lopez, I've just listened to your podcast on my drive from my holiday base in the beautiful city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Brian Waddle's going there after the world. up to the stunning Kravica waterfalls in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It may have been only a day trip into the country, but I hope that still counts. Yes, it does. So we've got Bosnia-Herzegovina now.

My partner and I started the drive very early to get there ahead of the crowds, and the Dolcith tones of Sir Curtley complimented the wonderful scenery on the drive and helped in their part keep me alert during the two and a half hours, although the same tones helped my partner, who is not a cricket fan, have a little snooze. I'm not sure I'm going to tell Courtney that, which is probably for the best, as she doesn't like the mountain roads.

John Pears says in an effort to place a further flag on the listeners map, I'm currently catching up on the podcast while in transit in Luanda, Angola. Fantastic. Well done, John. Jane Robinson, earlier I heard you berate a fan for listening to cricket on his honeymoon in some far-flung land. Nothing wrong with that when we left our wedding reception on the 1st of September 1973. Now, I remember this day very clearly.

The 1st of September, 1973, to go on honeymoon, our very first priority was to find TV or radio coverage of the Gillette Cup final being held that day. Kind regards and thanks to what Jan Robinson misses after all these years. And the reason I remember that, it was Gloucestershire beating Sussex by 40 runs. Mike Proctor scored 94, Tony Brown 77, no one else scored more than 11. I remember listening to the conclusion of that match on the radio on the way back from Holiday in Cornwall. And remember Tony Gregg being run out by Jim Fote. To have that as your very first priority on honeymoon. Very first?

I can understand that. Alan Pamplin, not being aware of which of the 70-odd countries, you have not had a check-in from yet, I thought I would check in from here in Panama, when my wife and I are visiting her family. When I worked here in the early 2000s, I was one of but a handful of spectators at the first ever international cricket tournament

that country ever hosted, involving, amongst others, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Panama and Bermuda. Well, that's the hover cover coming on here at Edgeburn. It's nearly dark. So Alan Pamplin isn't aware of the countries we haven't had a listener from yet. Here we go. There are 66, including some test-playing nations. On you go, Andy. Oh, right. It means it. Okay.

Is you again? Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic, Congo, the Congo, not the DR Congo, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Yes, that's the north bit. Djibouti, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Swaziland, Gabon, the Republic of Gambia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissor, for Guinea fans out there, there's two to tick off, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Kiribati, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, easily my favourite Federated States in the world, Nauru, Nicaragua, Nizier, Palau, Paraguay, Moldova, St. Lucia, San Luis, San Marino, Sautomia, and Prinsia, and Prinsia, and Prinsia, Base in a Gaul, Serbia, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Suridam, the Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen and Zambia. So if you're in any of those countries, then email us.

TMS at bbc.co.uk and let us know whether you've listened to the podcast. There's still quite a few to tick off, but we've still got quite a long time left in this World Cup, still two and a half weeks left of group matches. Now, I had a chat today with former Zimbabian captain to tend to Taibu about the decline of cricket in Zimbabwe. He's just written a book, an autobiography. He talked about the alleged corruption in cricket administration in that country, but he also had a warning for their neighbours.

I reckon South Africa will go a similar way to Zimbabwe because, you know, if you look at the number of players that they're losing, not players that have then, you know, been in the national team, but players that have been on the brinks and players that have not didn't go on to play international cricket. With, you always need your human resources and South Africa is losing their human resources. Now, to give you a good example,

if you look at the county system here, they are 40, if my numbers are correct, They are 40 players from South Africa. Now, the second to that is West Indies with nine players. Now, you take those 40 players from South Africa. They are good enough to be in the South African setup. So you've taken the 40 of some of the best and you replace them with other 40 that are under these 40.

That weakens the South African competition, the South African first class system. and a weak first-class system does not produce a great national team and I reckon they will continue losing players if nothing is done either by the cricket board or by ICC.

Well that was Tertender Tiber's book Keeper of the Faith Cricket Conflict and God in Zimbabwe's age of extremes is out now. Natty Jamanos was listening to that. warning there from to tend to type about for South African cricket. How do you react to that? Well, I think what he's saying

is probably a little bit extreme in itself. I think to say that South African cricket might go the same way that Zimbabwean cricket has gone is very extreme because one, it's not just about the exodus of players, it's also about the administration itself. And I think South Africa in general have had pretty good

governance, they've made sure that the administrative sort of processes are in place. They've been very sort of democratic about, making sure that the board is, there's the dependent members, the independent members, you know, those sort of things. But to say that it's going to go the same way of Zimbabwe is quite extreme. Yes, there's been an exodus of players in terms of coming to England to play either as an overseas player, possibly, or a Colpac player, which is something that South Africa

have been concerned about, and you can understand why. But at the same time, as many, yes, there's a lot of players that have come to England. How many of them would have actually played in the South African side? There's a few that did play. How many of them would come back? I don't think there would be that many. Kyle Abbott would be one that South Africa would have really regretted. Do I not have fear?

Those are two big names. Riley Rousseau, maybe Colin Ingram. Maybe that's about it, I would think. So I think I think to say that it's going to go the same direction as Zimbabwe and cricket. I think for me that's a little bit extreme. MS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. Download and subscribe via the BBC Sounds app for a new episode every day.