I enjoy a good chinwag. I enjoy it even more when it’s with four guys I idolised as a kid. It has always been an ambition of mine to chew the cricketing fat with Athers and Co – perhaps over a couple of beers in the pub – so when Sky invited me to meet them a couple of weeks ago, it was an opportunity too good to miss. There was just one problem: the meeting wasn’t going to be...
Back in November 1998, a young Englishman fresh out of uni left these shores to travel around Australia. Obviously it was a complete coincidence that the Ashes was on. On the third day of the first test in Brisbane, he saw another young(ish) Englishman flay McGrath, Fleming, Kasprowicz and MacGill to all corners of the Gabba. The first young man was me. The second young man, the one who actually...
We arrived at the Grace Gate at Lord’s. The ground was a hive of activity. Graham Gooch strolled by, shoulders rolling and head bowed in that familiar fashion, and then the penny dropped: it was corporate and media day ahead of the Royal London Cup final between Warwickshire and Surrey. Lord’s was awash with cricketing royalty … and us. Our hosts, two lovely girls from Threepipe, an agency...
At one point I didn’t think I’d live to tell this tale. The venue was the Lord’s Academy. The bowler was Devon ‘you guys are history’ Malcolm, and the batsman was, erm, little old me. And to think that I actually volunteered. The occasion was a promotional event for Play With A Legend, a company that’s teamed up with the PCA to give ordinary cricket fans the chance to play with their...
Last week I had the opportunity to ask the legendary Matthew Hoggard some questions. Some were serious and others were, well, not quite so serious. I think you’ll enjoy his answers. Hoggy is currently plying his trade as an after dinner speaker. He’s one of the leading cricket speakers on the circuit. I certainly beats running uphill, into the wind, on a cold day at Headingley. Hi...
You’ve seen him on Cricinfo’s Polite Enquiries. You’re about to see him in Death of a Gentleman. Now you can hear Jarrod Kimber’s passionate and pertinent views on the future of cricket here on The Full Toss. The only drawback: you’ll have to suffer my vapid tones at the same time. Sorry about that. I’ve published this audio file in a separate thread because we...
Last week I had the pleasure of talking to Ashes favourite Simon Jones. I picked his brains about that famous series in 2005, his new book The Test and England’s chances against Australia this summer. We also asked him for his thoughts on Kevin Pietersen, who has remained a good friend of Simon’s since that iconic Ashes series ten years ago. He had some interesting things to say, not...
Here’s our interview with BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew – the backstory for which is here. It was a really interesting conversation, and we’re very grateful to Aggers for finding the time to speak to us and share his thoughts. He discusses the recent criticism of the cricket media over their approach to KP-gate, and the apparent breakdown in relations between some...
When Shell wanted an ambassador to help promote their new FuelSave range, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was the natural choice. There’s always been a connection between cricket, automobiles and people nicknamed Fred: The Flintstones’ car looks exactly like a cricket pitch roller. Fortunately, today’s automobiles are rather more comfortable than the ‘Flintmobile’. Petrol technology...