Test Match Special

Mark Chapman is joined by three men who all played for England, former captain Sir Alastair Cook, former batter Mark Ramprakash and former fast bowler Steven Finn. Not many England coaches survive a thrashing by Australia. But Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes will continue to lead the side starting with that 1st Test against New Zealand on Thursday at Lord’s.
There’ll be at least one man making his debut at Lord’s on Thursday - Durham batter Emilio Gay is expected to open after a piling on the runs during the opening block of the County Championship. Ollie Robinson is also back in the squad for the first time since being dropped after the tour of India in 2024.
England’s Test summer begins where rain and grey skies are forecast. The panel get a look into the opposition and are joined by New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry.
On Tuesday, it’s England women’s last match before the T20 World Cup which starts next week. They face India at Taunton with the series level at one all. All rounder Dani Gibson joins Test Match Special.
TIME CODES
00:00 Intro
00:50 Brendon McCullum
03:50 McCullum given a second chance
08:30 Mark celebrating Arsenal’s Premier League title
09:30 How England should approach the New Zealand test
17:00 Emilio Gay
22:00 The challenges of making your England debut as an opener
26:10 Making debuts
28:12 The recall of Ollie Robinson
29:53 New Zealand bowler Matt Henry joins the pod
37:30 Are New Zealand underestimated?
40:30 England Women’s final game before the World Cup
40:50 Dani Gibson joins the pod
48:50 The 15-year-old MVP in the Indian Premier League

Content creator and cricket fan Henry.vr joins Traitors finalist Faraaz Noor and Amber Sandhu in the Strategic Timeout studio to look back on this year’s IPL tournament as they pick their magic moments as well as the players who have delighted and surprised them.

Mark Chapman is alongside former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, former England fast bowler Steven Finn and the BBC’s cricket correspondent Stephan Shemilt as they talk to Josh Tongue about his England career and discuss England's new National Selector.
We also hear from England Women's Head Coach Charlotte Edwards in build up to the T20 World Cup and talk to Durham Coach Dani Hazell who won the competition in 2017.
Timecodes:
1:30 Reflecting on the Ashes: Does Josh Tongue want to lead England attack?
08:00 England's self inflicted defeats
15:50 Process behind finding new National Selector
30:00 Does the new Selector need to be English?
34:50 Support for Zak Crawley:
37:45 Women's T20 World Cup
38:30 Charlotte Edwards speaking to Henry Moeran:
41:00 Durham Coach Dani Hazell:
45:00 Does success of other England Women's National teams add to T20 Pressure?:

Kevin Howells presents the best of the conversations around this week's County Championship results.
He talks to England's record run-scorer Joe Root following Yorkshire's huge win over Surrey, and Liam Dawson looks back at his red-ball career. Kevin also speaks to Nottinghamshire's Director of Cricket Mick Newell, Yorkshire Head Coach Anthony McGrath, and Mail on Sunday's Richard Gibson.

Australia all-rounder Chris Green joins Traitors finalist Faraaz Noor and Amber Sandhu to discuss the biggest stories in the IPL as well as discussing his career in franchise cricket and playing under Eoin Morgan and Brendon McCullum.