Test Match Special - CWC Day 41: NZ vs India on hold, barefoot Aussies and departing Chief Execs

Episode Date: July 9, 2019

Jonathan Agnew is joined by former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney and Prakash Wakankar on a frustrating day at Old Trafford, where rain has halted the semi-final between New Zealand and India after 46 overs of the New Zealand innings. Liam Plunkett tells us that he doesn’t think England will be adopting Australia’s barefoot Edgbaston walkabout approach, the outgoing chief exec of the ICC, Dave Richardson, talks free-to-air tv, World Cup formats, and the progress he’s made as he departs his role, and we hear from a family of India fans who drove to the World Cup. From Singapore.

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It's a tie. Australia is in the final. He's bowling, that's it. The West Indies have retained the title. The captain has scored the winning run for Sri Lanka, who have won the World Cup for the first time in their history. Australia have emphatically won their fifth World Cup by seven wickets. Hello, welcome to the Test Match special podcast on a frustrating day at Old Trappard, where rain came after 46 overs of New Zealand's innings against India. They were 211 for 5 when the covers came on and stayed on, and we'll come back tomorrow to try and finish the match off and see who gets through to the final.

New Zealand will still back for their final four overs before India's response. In this podcast, we'll hear who Liam Punkett thinks are favourites in Thursday's semi-final against Australia, and we'll hear from the outgoing ICC chief executive Dave Richardson on this tournament and his time in office, plus a breakthrough in our efforts to find a listener in every country in the world. But first we have to begin here at a damp old trafford with former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney and the Indian commentator, Prakash Wakanka. The TMS podcast, available every day during the Cricket World Cup. New Zealand didn't play that well today.

I mean, they're not playing. I mean, as someone who's watched them play over, a few years now. It's been a slightly flawed campaign, I'd have to say. You've got to use your whole squad, I think. And when New Zealand had those first little games where they were going okay, they needed to introduce some components. So they had a few people to select from. They allowed that to go on for too long, I think, and kept players out of it for too long. And therefore, when it came to these, you know, the pointy end of the tournament, they just didn't have other people to select and they had too many people, I'm afraid, out of touch, out of form. So they haven't

shown their best. They nevertheless have still been able to be good enough to get through to the semis. We should say that, I think. And so we saw what we've seen right throughout the tournament from New Zealand, just reliance upon Kane Williamson. They are so under pressure that they can't take risks to really push the team total to some bigger total. And so they're always, even if they do well, it's going to be over the lower kind of quantity. And so... They look like a team that have lost their last three games, and they've lost a bit of confidence. They're struggling for confidence, I think.

Up against it. I mean, Krakash, that opening attack, I mean, Bummeron... Well, he's tough. Yeah. And they bowed beautifully. They did, didn't they? I mean, you do see the way India have bowled today. I thought, yes, whatever the wicket's helping them is there. But I thought even the spinners, I thought Jadeja was outstanding. I thought Chahal bowled very well, having gone for a few in the last couple of games.

And I think they've just restricted New Zealand, like Jeremy said. I was chatting with Satcha Dendulkar, in fact, during one of these breaks. Oh, were you? Oh, right. Well, the rest of us are working down here. You went to saw Sash in Turned over? Yes, I did actually have a chat with him. And you know, what he said, I guess, was something that you were alluding to a little earlier,

saying what would have prompted Williamson to have chosen to bowl? given that bowling is his strong point given the conditions and he did refer to that briefly in his toss interview didn't he said overheads did come in but he felt that it was a call that probably will haunt him later

because he felt that in those conditions with the way the pitch has played New Zealand had a much better chance of knocking over three or four early and putting India into the position in which New Zealand find themselves interesting thought that that bummer is tricky isn't he

Jeremy I mean without even conditions like that I mean, hard to pick up, I would think. Yep. Hard to pick up. Surprising with the movement and the rhythm that he gets from his run-up, which is an extraordinary run-up, really, isn't it? As if lost a wee bit of money and I'll look at that, look down the ground to get it into my pocket.

And then I got a shoe in my foot and there's a little tutti-tutty and a military two-step going for a few. And then suddenly about five steps and then in and 1-40. And from an angle that you think is always going to challenge your stumps. and then because he's coming in from that angle he can get it to move away. And at decent pace with the grippy nature of this and a bit more bounce, very difficult.

And so you've really, I think, sides have just, they've said, look, let's just play him out. And therefore his economy rate is quite suppressed. You've got to look for runs off the other bowlers. And he picks up a couple. If you could get one for 40 off Bumra, you'd say I'll take that. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, his dismissal of Goptil, which, well, there's a really slow start, wasn't it? I mean, 14 balls for his one. I mean, he's been in terrible form, but he's one for one. But that was a classic, beautiful dismissal, wasn't it? Bounce, pace, bang, edge of the bat, flying catch to a second slip. It was terrific. Yeah, it was, it was just a little bit wide to play at. But look, when you're out of form and you're wanting to get the bat on the ball,

you find yourself playing those strokes. Yeah, yeah. Williamson and Taylor, I mean, they did rebuild things to an extent, again, but you're right in that they did so, but cautiously, because of, yes, and cautiously, because if there wasn't a lot to come. That's right. So, anyway. And you let bowlers get away with things that they wouldn't normally, perhaps,

if you were all confident and everyone was scoring a few runs, you'd play a few more shots, put more pressure on the bowler and back on the field. He gets away with that for three or four balls and over. Yeah. Fringe has come back tomorrow. They'd be pretty happy with this position, wasn't they? Yeah, I think. I mean, let's put it this way.

They would prefer this coming back tomorrow than having a truncated 20 over game tonight. The TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. In a short while, we'll hear from the ICC's outgoing chief executive Dave Richardson. But first, England are preparing to take on Australia at EdgeBastard on Thursday. Don't forget if you're in the UK, there's full commentary on five live sports extra, Radio 4 Longwave, and via the BBC Sport website and the app, where you could also watch highlights during the match. Simon Mann is at Edgebaston for us.

Thanks very much, Jonathan. Well, it was optional nets yesterday for England as they got back together after a four-day break, but a full training session today as they prepare for Thursday. And they were all wearing shoes and socks. Australia's barefoot walkabout at Esperson under the guidance of Justin Langer, their hippie, his word, coach, inevitably drawing a lot of media comment overnight and a bit of ridicule as well, it should be said.

Well, that's for England. Is this the biggest game of these players' lives? Well, plenty of them have played in decisive Ashes test, and seven of Thursday's likely team played in the World T20 final in Kolkata against West Indies. One of them was Liam Plunkett, who's quietly had an excellent World Cup. He's played in five matches, and England have won all five. I've been speaking to him. He talks about the Edgbuston Factor, why England are so good here,

and he tells us who he thinks are favourites for Thursday's match. Also, he's not been taking a complete rest since the win in Durham. He's been bowling. I wasn't too far from home after Durham. I live up near Harrogate. my wife was over from the state so I just chilled out did light training

managed to get a ball at Harrogate Cricket Club which they managed to put a wicket on for me so that was nice to go down there and bowl a few overs and keep the cogs turning so you were still ticking over

even though you weren't part of the playing squad preparing for games yeah absolutely mate you want to feel in that rhythm and it feels helped today I've come up and I felt like I've bowled nicely in the net so I felt like I've lost any rhythm

so it's just people are different people like three or four days away completely makes them feel refreshed Some people like to have a little ball I know Woody had a ball up in Ashington so it was just nice to have a few of us What does this game feel like Does it feel like the biggest game of your life?

Not really mate, not yet It's obviously a massive game Semi-fine of the World Cup But you've got to sort of approach It like any other cricket game There's always the aura of the World Cup And you've got to learn to like that I think I've said that previous

It's quite a nice feeling that We're still in the World Cup You represent your country And you've got to try and enjoy it not sort of shy away from it and embrace that feeling and obviously it is a big game they're a good team

but so we feel like we're back to where we want to be we're expressing ourselves and we feel like we can go up another notch from where we've been in the last two games is it possible to treat it just like any other game and you played in the World T20 final I mean how long did it take you in that match

to sort of get into it to get over those pre-match nerves before you just oh this is just another cricket match obviously the people who do it quickest generally play the best cricket everyone's differently some people like them nerves. Some people, obviously, play better with that nervous energy. Some people I prefer to get settled early on. As soon as I've bowed my first ball, no matter where

it goes, 4-6, dot wicket, I feel like I'm in the game and I've settled. Try and get the nervous energy out. Early doors, I think I used to try and bowl too many others in practice and wear myself out, but as I've got older, I'm a little bit smarter and wise over that. But as soon as I get going, really, you've got to sort of embrace that atmosphere, the crowd and enjoy it. You talk about the atmosphere and the crowd. Is there an edge-best and fact, England, got a great record here. Australia have not got such a good record. What's special about playing here?

In this group of players, I know we've got our first 400 here. We're out here and we've got that massive score and for me that was the start of something special, like how many years back there we've got better and better as times went on and I feel like we have performed well here. We've won here a lot. The crowd are really good, the loud

here, and it's sort of echoes and it's a good place to play. I like how you, it feels like it is sort of a circle, sort of stadium so I feel like everyone's on you. the boys enjoy that and it's obviously a good place to play cricket what about you played 5-1-5 in this world cup you yet to be dismissed as well with the bat that I see what's going so well for you I just feel in good rhythm to be honest with you

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel it's just my middle section if I can make some dent and picks up some wickets that's my job the guys have all really nicely up front and obviously then the pressure's on the bat is after that first spell the first power play sometimes they come at you come at myself and you pick up wicked so you managed to keep that pressure on. With the batten, you go in and you try and score as quick as you're as possible. Sometimes you'll try to hit six first ball and get out.

Sometimes you manage to get 15, 20, not out. Ideally, I won't be batting in the next two. We'll get some big scores. But the guys practice hard on the batting, especially from 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. I mean, we all can bat. Sorry, take walks out of that. That is a genuine all rounder. But after that, we can all bat.

We all have most of our first class 100. So we take pride in our batting, and hopefully we can help contribute. towards the end of the game. When it comes to the ball, you just absolutely know your role. Is that the key to it? Yeah, you do. You have your A, B, and C, sort of,

all back. I know what I need to do. If that's not working, I'll relate to something else. If the wicket's not suited to me running up hitting my length, the batter's doing something different than I try and assess it. You sort of know your rules,

and you try and read the game. You play against different batters, so it might not be just running up hitting your length is, whereas this guy's strong in my ball. Fifth stump or my ball in middle and leg, you might not be so strong on this side. So it's reading the game. reading the players, not also just running up and smashing a lane.

How important is David Warner to Australia's chances? How important is it to get him out early? Yeah, it is. He's obviously a great player. He's showed that for how many years he's come back to the team and he's got a lot of runs. It takes it to the ballers. He's a good cricketer. But yeah, hopefully we can get him out early and then we won't be too bothered about him. But he is obviously a good player.

Did you see their walkabout yesterday? Have you seen pictures of their barefoot walkabout at Edgeburston? No, I heard about it, mate. It was a brief chat, but not really it is what it is. they might be doing something. Yeah, whatever. I mean, is it something you would do? Not really.

I mean, some people, it might have been something like a drill they've been doing. It might be to get used to the ground and people do it differently. People might go and meditate. That might be just together feeling the ground. There might have been having a chat when they're walking around.

I didn't see any of it, mate, so it's not something I'm that bothered about. Who are the favourites to this game, do you think? I think we might be now because obviously we're backing to where we want to be and we know when we play our good cricket we can beat anyone in the world we've had a little blip but i think that was at the right time give ourselves a kick of the back side and we're in a really a good spot obviously won them

gains not quite easily but convincingly them two games but we feel like we can be better than that we had a chat this morning morguesfield going out and express ourselves and we can be even better than we've been the last two games do you feel your battle harden because you've had those two games yeah sort of mate we know what it's like we've we've faced taste as that defeat and we've rebuilt from there we went away from playing our best cricket and now we're back to playing our best and we also know we can keep improving improving so it's obviously going to be a tough game but we feel like we may be the favourites

how important do you think the toss is I haven't seen the wicket mate but obviously of late we've obviously set well but we know we can also chase so obviously not spoke to Morgs but for me has been around this squad for how many years it's about first back second I believe we can win no matter what do you feel you've changed your policy your plan a little bit during the tournament as it's gone on

you've seen the pitches? Maybe we obviously won the toss and then wickets have been suited to bat first. It might be different here. But as I said, we believe as a squad, battle ball first, we can win games. From BBC Radio 5 live.

This is the TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. So let's welcome to the TMS podcast, the outgoing head of the ICC, Dave Richardson. Jonathan. Beautifully smartly dressed, as always. Counting down.

Counting down to the end. Trying to pretend that I'm smart and... No, no, don't worry. Organized. End of term feeling. It is a bit, yeah. Six more sleeps and it'll be finished.

You can't take sleep, so. It sounds like you're relieved. Well, I suppose it's a bit like playing. There comes a time where you still love being involved, we still enjoy playing, but then you go past a golf course and you think, maybe I'd rather just slip in here than go on to the stadium. And probably,

17 years with ICC, it's similar type of feelings. It's a lot of time, isn't it? I mean, I love the events. I love the cricket itself, but the small little issues there, you know, the Zimbabwe government telling Zimbabwe cricket used to spend, you know, small things like that, I think eventually tie you out a little bit. You saw on constant alert for things that happen. I mean, not quite like the present of whatever it may be, the states or something,

but I mean, you are on, you're on calls. all the time, I guess. Yeah, and there's always cricket going on somewhere in the world, and so it's all encompassing. But having said that, you know, I would never have swapped in Korea and something else. I've really, I've thoroughly enjoyed the time that I've been involved on the administrative side. And the time has gone so quickly, which is a bit of a shame. Well, you said 17 years, that seems incredible, isn't it?

And you've moved to Dubai in that time. You've more or less had to be based there, have you, most of the time? Well, the ICC moved from Lords in 2005, so we've been there for 14 years now. Yeah. And it's worked really well. I mean, it's perfectly positioned, you know, you're at the center, really, from going into the subcontinent down to Australia, six and a half hours back to the UK. It's only the West Indies that are sort of at the end of the world. And from a tax point of view, it's a good place to be.

Yeah. Job-wise, now you're finishing. Is it possible? I mean, how do you sit? I remember, I think, when you first started doing this, we sort of talked about this, you know, you're sitting on this sort of political, tightrope, aren't you, with, well, it's a bit like, I suppose, the ECB here,

being controlled by the counties. There's only so much that they can do. And you, possibly even more so, because the countries really do hold the power, the members of the ICC, and there's you, on the top, trying to, I don't know, navigate your way through, yeah, well, I mean, the ICC is the members,

and sometimes people forget that. but generally they've got cricket at heart so there is a way often often you have to find a compromise way of doing things but that's maybe the challenge in the job but as I said the the positives of being involved in a sport that you've loved even since a small boy really I just wanted to play cricket I only studied law because that was sort of something you had to do but I've always wanted to be involved in cricket so I've enjoyed being part of of it and the relationships that you form with your work colleagues and even in the member countries, they outweigh the challenges of a job like that. Yeah. Where would you put the priorities of the ICC, David? Is it expanding the game, promoting cricket, and I know what's what I'm going to say this, but I'm going to throw it to you anyway, or making money? Where is that balance in the commercial interest? And I'm only using an example here because I've had a lot of complaints. I've said it myself. It may seem a

trivial thing, but the use of the scoreboards for adverts, a scoreboard is essential in cricket, and yet the ones we've had most, going on most of the places, have been used as adverts. Now that to me, if we're talking about commercialism and love of cricket, that suggests to me that's gone too commercial, because even the scoreboard has now become an advert rather than showing the score. Would you agree with that? And what is the balance between the game and nurturing the game and protecting the game and developing the game

as opposed to taking a load of money well it is a balance but we've always tried and we'll maybe come back to the scoreboards in a while but we've certainly over the last 17 years we've always tried to put the cricket first because

to me if you get the cricket right the product in many people's eyes right then the revenues will follow if you've got a game of cricket which the players don't look like they enjoy being out there or they overworked or it's a boring game this overrate's too slow and the run rate is too slow and then people are not going to you won't have the fans and if you don't have the fans you don't get the revenues but it is a balance in more ways than one not only the

scoreboards the game is fans want to follow the game differently than they did 20 years ago so you've had to adapt to that and they like seeing the the You know, digital is the new word, you know, on the block, and that's how people follow it. So time and time again, we've had to try and find a balance between catering to what our commercial partners want, but also making sure that we put cricket first. In that particular instance, sometimes the scoreboards that we have here in some of our stadiums in England are not as good or well-placed as we would like them to be. So we need the big screens to show the score more often, and the instructions have gone out to try and do that. but we've got commercial contracts in place

and believe me when the sponsors are at the game they're mostly looking to see how many times have we missed them out and I think there is a way of finding that balance so that you can see the score whenever you need to see the score and yet giving them the rights that they've paid

a lot of money for because in the end and this also comes in with that debate about free to air and whether it's on you know it's on satellite the final like it or not no matter how many people are watching the game around the world unless we've got the money as well we still can't grow the game

so the development program the associate members cricket is funded exclusively from ICC and unfortunately you do need some money to pay for it of course are you pleased that unfortunately I think at the moment it's only if England get to the final but are you pleased that there does seem to be in this movement in the UK at least if England are in the final

it should be on a free-to-air platform I think it's, again, it's trying to find that balance. We can't underestimate or underappreciate the investment that Sky have made in cricket in this country. And it wouldn't have, it wouldn't be where it is today without that investment. But having said that, obviously, the bigger the reach. And it's from a global perspective, maybe it's just three to six million fans doesn't mean that much. But to the UK, I can understand why it would be important. and it would be important to those

who don't have satellite to be able to watch the final especially if England's in it. Yeah. Are you concerned about the reach of cricket? I mean, we happen to talk about television now. So, you know, the scale of the audience that we're watching when you first moved to the ICC

actually, of course, here, you know, four, five, six million at times. Not usually, but maybe three, four million on a daily basis, and that's obviously now reduced. But you say the money that the board has taken as a result of satellite TV is clearly helped in all sorts of other areas too. So again, is the balance right for you? Do you think it's right or would you want to see more cricket available?

Globally it's right. So there are territories, Australia have been one where the free-to-air channels are able to make that financial investment. In some countries, South Africa would be one. There's legislation which makes it compulsory for South African games anyway to be shown on free-to-air. the satellite television, super sport in that country, shares it with the SABC, I think it is. So it's internationally, it's not that much of an issue.

And the fact is that over the last 10 years or so, the reach, the global reach of the game, brought about probably by the T20 format, just many more fans wanting to be involved and to follow the game, it has increased significantly over time. Yeah. Do you think that test cricket is in a better place now and safer, as it were, now than when you first sat behind that desk? I think that the World Test Championship is going to be, I'm certainly hoping it's going to be great for test cricket. And that starts now with the ashes. Yes. And it provides that context that we've been talking about probably for 17 years. It's a common theme in our conversations.

And it, we would obviously have probably liked to have put it in place a lot sooner, but it's only now that the countries, England and Australia, where test cricket is probably most popular, think beyond just the ashes. That was one of the reasons if probably, if we look back and say, well, how come we haven't had the World Test Championship sooner? Well, it was because those two countries didn't really need the World Test Championship. No. And the ashes was almost good enough for them. But I think now that we have it in place, I think already you speak to a country like New Zealand and you speak to their team management.

And they're thinking ahead and they're thinking, well, their first series is against Sri Lanka. It's a world test championship. They've only got two tests. They better do well in those two tests. So they're starting to focus on test cricket. And the research that we did, I think, was really insightful in that they talked about there being over a billion cricket fans around the world. and 68% or 64% of them also have been fans of test cricket

and they might not go to the ground and it's not possible to go and watch five days of test cricket as you used to and you probably get to watch it so much on television that the need to actually go and physically be at a ground and watch a game is probably not as great as it was in the 70s or the 60s so times have changed people follow the game on the radio they follow it just on their phones so things have changed

but there's still that interesting test cricket. So yes, I would say that test cricket is in a better place than it was two or three years back when we didn't have that context. Yeah, okay. And I think that just mere fact that we've got nine teams playing in the first world test championship, already countries like Ireland and Afghanistan, they want to be part of it. And they're going to improve their cricket and hopefully become part of it in the longer in due course. What about the final? Have you finally managed to crack how that's going to be done?

We've been everywhere from timeless tests down to all sorts of things, haven't we, over the last few years. I think that we've settled on the playing conditions for the final. Actually, I know. I think there's still under discussion, but some of the discussions that have been going on at the cricket committee have been around that, and there might be a few final things to decide. But essentially, I think they're going to have a five-day test match. And with a sort of a, if there is rain, it can go into a sixth day to complete the match and hopefully get a result. Okay.

So, because that would, when there are sort of vague things that could happen, couldn't they? I mean, the final's got to be a final. Someone's got to win it, haven't they? I think so. I mean, and probably, I think the, if it is a draw, we don't want one team playing for a draw. No. And getting the trophy. Correct.

If it's a draw, then they'll share the World Test Championship. Oh, really? Oh, that's, okay. That makes sense. What were we talking about before this World Cup? I think sort of format and the 10-team format and the all play all. Are you happy with how that's gone? I mean, do you think that was the right decision now?

I think so. I think the cricket has been one of the reasons why I think it's been a good World Cup is that it's been competitive. Even the match against the last match of the tournament, which is really effectively a dead rubber South Africa, Australia, I thought, produced good cricket. It was good to watch. And the bottom line is we've only got 105 members.

Of those, only 35 or 40 played 50 over cricket domestically. The rest play shorter versions of the game. And I do believe that we need our global events to be the showpiece of that particular format. The worst thing that we can offer is a poor product, and I think that will do the game with a disservice. Having said that, the improvement that countries like Nepal, Scotland, Holland, even UAE, you know, closer to home, they've made significant improvements, and it'll be a matter of time before they will. justifiably, I think, say, well, we are good enough. We should be playing at the World Cup itself.

But I think having the 10 best teams, to me in the old days when we used to have 10 full members and all 10 full members qualified automatically for an event, that was unfair. Because if we only had 10 teams or 12 teams, only two teams could come in. Now, in theory, well, practically as well, you can qualify. Whether you're number 105 in the world, you could qualify for the next World Cup. the competition structure is there, the qualification structure is there. And I would have loved to have played at Wimbledon, but it's only for the top 100 whatever players that get to the Wimbledon main draw.

And we want to try and, well, I think the ICC have tried to keep our global events special. If you've got 40 countries playing 50 over cricket, 10 is about right. Yes. Would Afghanistan, who lost every game, does that kind of back up your... Argument, do you think? No, not really, because I thought they were reasonably competitive in most of the games. And they were the best of the qualifiers. They went to that qualifier in Zimbabwe, and them in the West Indies qualified.

So to me, it's absolutely fair. They deserve their place. And the fact that there were nine other teams that were better than them doesn't really matter. The fact that there were other teams that nearly qualified, Ireland, Zimbabwe, you know, to me, that sport, that was great. And that qualifier was a fantastic event. And hopefully at the next qualifier, there'll be the same competition for those final two places. Yeah.

But as a standard, you were saying, sort of increases generally, and you mentioned UAE and Netherlands. I mean, can you see it actually expanding one day? And actually these countries will be in. I don't think we should rule that out. And the more, you know, I think the better these countries become, the more 50-over cricket they'll want to play domestically. And it'll be a bit of a snowball effect. They'll become better at it.

And maybe the game will become better, and who knows? But T20 is definitely the way to go globally. I can't see USA these countries cricket becoming popular in any other format than the T20 version. And therefore expanding that World Cup, providing those opportunities to all our countries every two years, I think is quite important. The IPL have an interesting situation, don't they, in which the top two teams of the groups actually get two bites at going through. is that something that you could see with the top four that we've had here it's been pretty well

I mean Pakistan did have a chance of coming up but I think we've known fairly well but that would stop any sort of taking the foot off the gas if you get to qualify for the I think that could be a way I mean I think we don't want to necessarily make the tournament any longer than it is six weeks is already a long tournament

so you play two on one day though you did the other day quite happily so I'm sure that they'll look at all these possibilities but I do like I was at the 92 World Cup where there were only nine teams but the fact that you were at an event and can look back and say

well I played all those teams West Indies, India, Pakistan England, Australia you just rattled them off to me that it meant something. Not going to a tournament where you play three matches, group matches and hopefully none of the rained out and you get through. I just think

it's a fantastic format. Everyone plays everyone. You feel you've really earned your place if you get into those semifinals. Well thank you as always David, coming to see us, for spending the time to talk to us. My pleasure. Thanks for the support over the years from Test Match Special, even if you didn't really like DRS and the music is too loud. Well, I'm glad you've taken note of these very important things.

The coloured clothing. I've never got to play with coloured clothing. And I do like the numbers on the shirt. So there you go. I'm making progress. I'm 60 next year, but I'm getting there. Yeah, well, life begins at 60. Dave Richardson, thank you very much indeed. Thanks for coming in. Available every day during the Cricket World Cup. This is the TMS podcast. from BBC Radio 5 Live.

Now I've heard lots of stories of people travelling thousands of miles across the world to watch matches here at the Cricket World Cup, but this story possibly tops them all, a family who drove from Singapore. Hi, this is the Mathur family. I'm Anupam Mathur. We have just come all the way from Singapore, all to here in UK.

We've travelled all of 23,000 kilometres, that's not towards the 14,000 miles, driven across 18 countries, traveled through 53 days and yeah it's been a three-generation road trip with my parents, my wife and my kids and here I'm today with my son

Aviv Mathur. Right now this is a fantastic trip but what possessed you to do something which is so incredible takes up so much of your time and I'm sure a lot of money as well yeah I think it was way back in February where we thought of yeah

World Cup is coming let's start to book our tickets and then we thought that this should be something special Let's do something that will be special for the country that will be sort of, you know, something nice for the team because they have always entertained us and we wanted to give our team maybe one microsecond of happiness, right? And then, you know, there are three things that I'm extremely passionate about.

It's driving, it's cricket, and it's my family. And this was one way to bring it all together. And yeah, it's been fantastic. Tell me a little bit about your journey so far. Has it been smooth, bumpy? What have been some of your favorite place? as you've traveled to. Yeah.

So it's been a great journey. We have reached here on time, on schedule, which is fantastic. Now, we obviously had to face through a lot of things. We faced through hailstorms, and we got stuck in snow. We went through deserts. You know that's a typical British summer?

Like we're experiencing that with the rain. Yeah, I know. The British summer is quite cool for me, honestly. We're from Equera. So, yeah, so, you know, and we had delays at customs. There was a point in time where at one custom border, it took us nine hours.

Yeah, and that threw us off a little bit. But, you know, it all worked out fine eventually. And I think above all, what stood out for me was once we decided to do something, with a passion in it, we could just go ahead all the time. The second most important thing I thought was the support that we got from people all over the world. Yeah, tell us about that. Tell us about some of the stories and the people you met. See, we are absolute strangers everywhere, right, ever since we left Singapore.

But the love we got, the support we got, the engagement. encouragement we got. People got out of their cars, hailed us and said, come on, keep doing it because our car had the stickers and so on. And, you know, even when we are stuck at the border with customs, they were very nice. They were wishing us all the very best, although the process was taking

all the time. So it's just been an incredible journey and for me that really, really, really stands out because without knowing anyone, if you can connect and, you know, eventually we all are one and together. That's just brilliant for me. Yeah, it's been a wonderful occasion and I suppose you've got to watch India

win at the World Cup and then off the back of your stories become quite a viral hit. The ICC got in touch with you and rewarded you with tickets for today and potentially the final, right? Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, we really can't believe it. It's been overly generous. I'm very, very sincerely thankful to ICC. I'm very sincerely thankful to BBC for making it happen because, you know, had that article not come out, who knows what would have happened.

So, you know, and, you know, it's just been awesome. We're loving it here. That's remarkable. Now, you've got your young son with you as well. Let's have a quick chat with him. Hello, young man. What's your name? Aviv. And Aviv. How old are you? Seven? Today on my birthday. Ah, well, that's a lovely occasion. Lovely place to spend it.

Now, tell me a little bit about this journey. You've been to so many cool countries. What's been your favourite memory? What's been your favourite country you've been to? That is going to be Denmark. Because I went to Legoland. So, Legoland is going to be your overriding memory of this trip. me about your cricket memories though. Do you love the game? Do you play the game? Who's your favourite player? My favourite player is everybody. You like everyone. And who's your favourite team? That's an easy question to answer. That's an easy one. India. And tell me what you think of England so far. Is this your first time to England? Yes. Are you enjoying your time here?

Quite a lot. That's a good sign. That's a good thing. How have you managed to keep his attention during this trip as well? Because it must be hard to keep a child. active and not just bouncing off the car. I got myself in this. I think that's an incredible story in itself. So I have a son, Aweb, and a daughter, three-year-old daughter, Avia. Both of them were there together on the trip. Aviv, for all of it, Avia, for three weeks.

Now, for Aviv, you won't believe he was the second member to join this trip. And the day I discussed on a dinner table that, look, we could do something of this sort. The next morning, he wakes up and he gives almost a presentation to us. look, I will come for this trip, I will learn all these things, and here is what I'll pick up, and guess what, if I miss school, it's okay, I'll cover up, right? So, and since then, he has been truly passionate. You won't believe, you can ask him any day, and he would tell you where, be where. So he knows the trip entirely by heart, and he has been as much as part of it as I am.

I'm just a driver. He's everything here. Can we test you? Where did you go on the third day of your trip? Number three, Bangkok, Somerset. That's the hotel name. Wow. You've got a special child on your hands here. He's going to keep everyone on their toes. Lastly, I mean, you'll head back home.

Again, that's going to be quite a long journey as well. But how are you going to do that? Or have you found a different means of getting home? Yeah, no, I think as soon as I entered UK, I was subject to a medical test. And I came out as half crazy. Which basically means I'm only doing this halfway, and we will fly back.

The car will travel, will be shipped. And so at the moment, my friends call me half crazy. If I was to go back, I'll be certified fully crazy. Okay, so finally, what could be the crowning memory of this trip? I imagine India in a final and lifting that trophy at lords. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's what we are here for. India lifting the final meal party out hard on 14th night.

That's what we're dreaming for, absolutely. Are you excited? For what? For the rest of your trip? And for India to potentially win a World Cup? Correct. Correct, correct. I like that. Well, have a lovely time. Thank you so much for talking to us.

And yeah, best of luck for the rest of your trip. And I hope you have a safe journey home as well. Thank you so much. You've been very kind. Thank you. The TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup. Tomorrow we'll be joined on this podcast by Owen Morgan, ahead of Thursday's England against Australia semifinal. We'll also hear from the former Australia captain, Steve Waugh. Okay, Andy Zaltzman's here. We started this World Cup by trying to find a listener from every country in the world to our our podcast. There's less than a week left, but we've had a

decent run since the end of the group stage. This, yes, Agassist, has come from Neil Fox. I'm not sure if you've managed to tick off Micronesia. I think that was definitely on our list. But Neil says, I was in Christmas Island on a fly fishing adventure during the opening game on the 30th of May. That seems a long

time ago now. It certainly does. The glorious opening win over South Africa was brought alive by the TMS podcast. So Micronesia, all of them, all the islands, ticked off. Yeah, Denise Lewis, we're alerted to the fact you're on the lookout for podcast listeners in Nicaragua. I work at the British Embassy in Costa Rica with responsibility for Nicaragua, and our ambassador flies to Nicaragua each month for meetings.

He had started listening to the podcast now. Does that count? We wanted to chip in, even though we don't have a permanent presence in the country. I think so. Well, he's representing the government. He's representing the government. Tim Young, loving the podcast from Hasekai in northeast Syria. We thought that was going to be one of the tough ones to tick off

That is now on the list Well done Tim Simon Lee who ticked off Ukraine If you're still looking for a listener in Moldova I arrived here last night And I've just listened to the day 38 edition of the podcast I'm here with my wife and our friends Ostensibly to sample Moldovan wine

But if we can help tick off another country Even better There are you so Europe's completed Have you ever tried Moldovan wine? Oh I haven't I haven't no One of your famous barbecues No no it might it might possibly We compliment my brisket.

Oh, the tragic brisket. Anyway, that means we've completed Europe. Brilliant. A entire continent ticked off. Rich Merrington says, I love the pod. Thanks for keeping me in the cricket loop while away from the green fields of home. I've been listening to the pod

in the very cricket-focused part of the world for the past few months. That is the West Indies, from Barbados to St. Lucia to Grenada to Trinidad and finally Tobago. Now, however, I'm in a very remote corner at Pennsylvania in the US working at a sports camp for kids and hopefully trying to reconvert America to cricket.

The sport they could have had first ever in international match America and Canada and 1844. Well, Grenada's a new one. So with less than a week to go, we've got 19 countries of the 193 UN member states left and you refuse to read these out the other day. You can get on with it now. Well, since it's below

20, I'm prepared to sally myself with this list. Good luck with these. Burundi, Chad, Comoros, North Korea Djiboutrae, Equatorial Guinea-Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, or really struggling with the guineas. Kiribati, Libya, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nile, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Yemen. Where's Kiribati?

Kiribati, I think it's in the Pacific. I'm taking a bit of a punt there. I've never heard of it. Anyway, if you're heading to any of these places or anyone who is there, please encourage them to listen to the podcast and email us TMS at BBC.co.com.uk. Put podcasts in the title. And we're back again tomorrow for the completion of this match.

From BBC Radio 5 Live, this is the TMS podcast at the Cricket World Cup.