Cummins & Hazlewood Out + Best Fielder of all time? | Cricket Today Show

·31 min·2 clips

Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are ruled out of the Champions Trophy, leaving fans shocked and hosts debating replacements.

This episode of the Cricket Today Show, hosted by Liam "Stats Guy" McCallion with regulars Leo and Marcus Barzano, focuses on recent Australian cricket news and lighthearted debates. The hosts begin by discussing the injuries ruling fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood out of the upcoming Champions Trophy. They speculate that Spencer Johnson and "the Rooster," likely referring to Jake Fraser-McGurk, might be call-ups, joking about Fraser-McGurk delaying a hair transplant to play. The conversation shifts to Cooper Connolly's Test debut, noting it continues a trend of four straight Tests featuring an Australian debutant. The hosts analyze Connolly's role, suggesting he was selected more for his batting than his unproven spin bowling, with Travis Head actually bowling more overs. They then cover Marcus Stoinis's retirement from ODI cricket, acknowledging his role as a solid squad player despite a modest batting average of 26. The show moves to talking points from the ongoing Sri Lanka vs. Australia Test, where Steve Smith passed Ricky Ponting for the most Test catches by an Australian, with 197. A debate emerges on the "best fielder of all time," with Jonty Rhodes, Ricky Ponting, and current players like Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell all receiving mentions. The hosts cite Smith's impressive catch rate of nearly 0.9 per innings and note the all-time Test catch record is held by Rahul Dravid with 210. They also humorously dissect a moment where Usman Khawaja appeared to tell Matthew Kuhnemann to avoid taking a late wicket so he wouldn't have to bat. The final segment addresses fan comments, including one predicting Marnus Labuschagne won't score a century and another comparing Labuschagne's defensive batting to a child in stained clothes being called handsome by a grandma. The episode concludes with an extended, off-topic pitch to a listener named Andrew about which AFL team to support, with each host advocating for their own club. The tone is consistently informal, humorous, and digressive, filled with inside jokes and playful banter between the three hosts. Cricket fans who enjoy casual, news-driven chatter with a strong Aussie flavor will appreciate this episode. Listeners seeking a tightly structured, analytical cricket podcast may find the frequent tangents and inside jokes less engaging.

As heard by us

A relaxed day-one Test wrap with playful banter and a cheeky Kuhneman-Uzi yarn.

This episode offers a loose, good-humoured cricket wrap of day one between Australia and Sri Lanka, with the match discussion moving alongside easy studio banter.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a loose Australia-Sri Lanka cricket chat that stays in the lane of day-one talking points and a bit of studio banter.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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