The Offspin

Alex Braae and Simon Day come out of retirement to record the podcast equivalent of a testimonial match for the year that was. The World Test Championship, the men's T20 World Cup, Ajaz Patel's historic 10-for, Simon's Clear tattoo… what a time to be a New Zealand cricket tragic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two weeks after Kane Williamson raised the World Test Championship mace, The Offspin reconvenes to reflect on the toll consecutive all-nighters took, how it feels to be cricket world champs and listen to the voice memos sent in over the last fortnight capturing our collective cricket emotions.This episode of The Offspin is brought to you by our friends at The Beer Spot

NZL 140/2 & 249; IND 217 & 170 (NZL win by 8 wickets) | What a game of test cricket. Today's episode of The Offspin was recorded in the moments after New Zealand's greatest cricketing triumph, with Simon and Alex joined by Blackcaps super-fan Justin Latif to process the emotion of watching Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor bring home the World Test Championship mace. Brought to you by our friends at The Beer Spot

IND 64/2 & 217; NZL 249 | After another day of rain, both members of The Offspin stayed up all night watching a riveting day of test cricket and are now struggling. Alex is holding it down in the studio, while Simon is in the hallway of a Wellington cafe, so sorry about the sound quality on this one. After this episode was recorded Simon hopped in a taxi and the driver was Ewen Chatfield – if that's not a good omen for Day 6, nothing is. This podcast is brought to you by The Beer Spot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NZL 101/2; IND 217 | Between them, The Offspin managed to watch almost every ball of what was an excellent day of test cricket for the Blackcaps. Alex has discovered the secret to staying up all night (it's all about hydration), while Simon is attempting to take credit for all the wickets that fell while he slept through the first two sessions. Can the New Zealand middle order now build on a dominant display of pace bowling and resolute opening partnership? Or will the dreaded Southampton rain return and ruin everything? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

IND 146/3 | On a leisurely Sunday morning episode of The Offspin, Alex Braae is joined by producer Jonathan Pearce to break down an enthralling first proper day of test cricket. The pair discuss dreary old Southampton, the Indian batsmen putting the Black Caps bowlers under serious pressure, the texture of the radio commentary and playing carpark cricket in the USA. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's the day before the night of the World Test Championship final, but depending on which weather forecast you read the chance of any play in Southampton tonight is either bad or very bad. Alex and Simon muse over the squads, Simon makes some remarks about the abilities of certain members of the Indian XI that are definitely going to come back to haunt him and Alex shares some tips he got from a sleep expert. Stay tuned to The Offspin for new episodes every day of the World Test Championship, made possible by our friends at The Beer Spot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After an historic series victory over England, The Offspin is joined by real life professional cricket broadcaster (and diehard Blackcaps fan) Sonia Gray to discuss balancing professionalism with fandom. Who stayed up the latest for test two? What XI are we picking for the World Test Championship final? And what has Simon Doull been up to this week? The Offspin is brought to you with the support of our friends at The Beer Spot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With the first Blackcaps v England test in the books, Simon and Alex review how their bodies and minds held up to the demands of overnight cricket watching. Will they have the stamina to see out the next two tests? And who should play in those games – could some distinguished careers be about to be cut short?The Offspin is brought to you with the support of our friends at The Beer Spot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You might not recognise the name of this episode's guest, but you'll certainly know some of the people he's worked with. Kit Perera is an Auckland cricket legend, and in his capacity as a coach at Suburbs New Lynn has helped players like Jimmy Neesham, Jeet Raval, Ajaz Patel and Martin Guptill fine-tune their techniques and mental approach to the game. Alex and Simon pick his brain about cricket etiquette, coaching in low-decile schools and how lessons learned from cricket can be applied to life, before committing to a punishing podcast schedule for the fast-approaching World Test Championship final.The Offspin is brought to you with the support of our friends at The Beer Spot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Simon and Alex are joined by Michael Appleton, diplomat and The Spinoff's chief cricket statistician, to learn about his previous posting to India, the place cricket holds at the heart of Indian culture and how many diplomatic doors it opened. They discuss the IPL taking place amid the rampant Covid-19 outbreak in India, and in especially exciting news, the team announce The Beer Spot as their brand new sponsor. Find your nearest Beer Spot at thebeerspot.co.nz See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Spinoff’s resident cricket nerds Simon Day and Alex Braae are joined by Andrea Nelson, CEO of the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup, to talk about landing the hosting rights for New Zealand, the challenging decision to postpone the tournament by a year and why we should be getting extremely excited about next summer.Simon and Alex also spend some time looking ahead to the World Test Championship final, which they’re still planning to podcast daily, and Alex faces up to a tweet about Martin Guptill from a few weeks ago that didn't age very well.Sign up to Rec Room – a weekly newsletter from The Spinoff full of recommendations of things to watch, read, listen to and eat. Subscribe now: thespinoffrecroom.substack.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With the Blackcaps headed for the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s in June, Simon Day and Alex Braae have successfully appealed to bring The Offspin out of retirement. Today they look ahead to the big game, before refocusing on all the cricket that’s right in front of us with White Fern and Canterbury Magicians captain Frankie Mackay. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join various hosts of The Spinoff podcasts Gone by Lunchtime, On The Rag, The Real Pod, Paper Cuts, The Offspin, and Dietary Requirements as we look back at the car crash that was 2019.In this special end of year podcast hosted by Leonie Hayden, we dissect the country's response to national disasters, the highs and lows of MAFS, international literary scandals, the madness and tragedy of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Mad Chapman's Pulitzer Prize-winning chip ranking and more, plus we add our entries to the official The Spinoff 2019 Honours and Dishonours board.Pour yourself a Baileys and settle in.Check out more of our podcasts here including the pop up pod The Spinoff Book Out Loud (The Spinoff Book is available in stores now). If you want to continue to support the work we do, behind the mic or on the site, check out The Spinoff Members, where you can support independent media for as a little as a dollar a week! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Offspin Podcast is back by semi-popular demand for a bonus episode, with Black Caps Cricket World Cup hero Jimmy Neesham. For those still suffering from the lead-weight despair of seeing the Black Caps losing the World Cup final in the closest possible way, talking about it helps. After a cathartic month playing T20 in Canada, allrounder Jimmy Neesham sat down with Simon and Alex from The Offspin podcast, to talk all things cricket and life.Over an hour in the studio, he talked about coming to terms with how the final had gone, his newfound enthusiasm for a long-lasting career in the game, getting paid by itinerant T20 leagues, and what it was like to have a real job for a while. Neesham also revealed what it was like to come home to the flat he shares with Silver Fern Bailey Mes, who did manage to bring a trophy home from England. All that and more on The Offspin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Offspin podcast tries to make sense of the greatest cricket game of all time, at the same time as not seeing the Black Caps win it.Perhaps our guest Sam Flynn Scott has the right approach to this one – immediately upon arrival at the studio he decided to focus on how the Black Caps didn't actually lose the Cricket World Cup final. After all, it was tied on the field not just once but twice.But really, after a game like that, what else is there to do but hopelessly grasp at straws – when after six gruelling weeks of cricket fandom, it came down to the absolute last possible ball, and the result went the other way?Along with ample chances to unload on the things that went wrong or were just plain unlucky, there's also a chance to look at the positives. We pick some of them out and lavish praise on the players who played their hearts out when it mattered. And for the fans, there's a very simple question: could we ever ask to have been taken on a more total emotional journey than what the Black Caps have given us over the tournament? And was it all worth it? Probably. Wow. What an amazing game. Sport at it’s finest. The best game we've ever seen. It was so tense. So much skill. So much pressure. It was a beautiful vision of the most beautiful game. We feel like we’ve just left a five-day festival. Thank you for being there with us. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the latest episode of The Offspin, the team are joined by actor, Lotto host, and hugely passionate cricket fan Sonia Gray as we dare to believe of a Black Caps World Cup victory.It's still hard to fathom, but we're in the final again. And it's against the English (down with Australia!). Ahead of the last game of the World Cup we've convened a panel to assess the Black Caps chances, assess the state of the fans who've been on a 5-week bender, and start to prepare for Sunday's final. Back in 2016, Sonia Gray wrote an incredible piece for The Spinoff about the importance of simply enjoying the moment when the Black Caps had success. After all, we've all had to deal with so much failure from the team, it can be hard to know how to absorb a win over the richest team in the world to make the World Cup final. We also discuss the thrill of seeing Australia plummet back down to earth against England, talk about the lows that come with the joys of Black Caps fandom, and Alex shares a theory as to why Brexit will help the Black Caps win the final. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In today's episode of The Offspin podcast, Simon Day and Alex Braae go absolutely berserk over the semi-final win that put the Black Caps into the Cricket World Cup final. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest episode of The Offspin, cricketer, commentator, activist and aspiring local board rep Peter McGlashan joins the show to mix sport and politics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode of The Offspin, legendary all-rounder Dion Nash joins the show after a Black Caps performance that felt like a throwback to New Zealand cricket's dark days of teal.Once upon a time, the stereotype of New Zealand cricket was of freezing in the big games, fragile batting and despair – while still finding a way to make the World Cup semifinals. Well, last night the Black Caps rolled back the years in a 119 run loss to the English, to (probably) limp into the final four on the back of three losses.How bad was it? Simon Day the die-hard couldn't keep going after Kane Williamson got run out and took himself to be – that's how bad it was.Former Black Cap Dion Nash has seen his fair share of ups and downs in cricket: from the heights of the Lord's honours board, to losing playoffs in the 1996 and 1999 World Cups. We discuss the Bad Boys team culture of the 90s, and ask if it was responsible for the team hardly ever winning? Do players care about what the commentators have to say about them? And what might be going on in the team at the moment which is causing such a collapse in form?Dion also reflects on the infamous incident in which he, Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hart owned up to blazing up on tour of South Africa, including the shocking revelation that they wandered away from the rest of the group and took the joint with them. How has it changed his views on drugs in sport, and society at large? How do you get rid of beard dandruff? And will he let Simon take out shares in his children? All that and so much more on The Offspin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For the latest episode of The Offspin podcast, we're joined by writer, musician and cricket tragic Samuel Flynn Scott, to process the utterly insipid Black Caps loss against Australia. Well, that was rubbish. The Black Caps have utterly failed to show any spine against Australia, leaving their Cricket World Cup campaign dangling slightly precariously as we approach the semi-finals. Fortunately, we're saved from the absolute despair that threatened to overwhelm us by the insights and asides of Samuel Flynn Scott, noted cricket tragic and wordsmith. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're joined by writer and broadcaster Ali Ikram, and his dad Hamid Ikram, to discuss their role in Pakistan's success at the 1992 Cricket World Cup and their potential in 2019.The parallels are becoming harder and harder to ignore. A round-robin World Cup, with Pakistan needing a win against New Zealand to survive. Their order of results lines up, there's an ul-Haq in the team, and young left-arm quick bowlers are tearing into batsmen. The Disney musical Alladin was released in 1992, and the remake is being released this year. Shit is spooky.So to get a grasp on whether the 2019 Cricket World Cup is actually playing out exactly the same as the 1992 World Cup, we decided to speak to a couple of people who had a first-hand role in Pakistan's famous victory. Hamid Ikram, cardiologist, passionate Pakistani cricket fan and legend of the Christchurch community, was the liaison officer for the Pakistan team when they came to New Zealand through the 80s and 90s. He had a history in the game too, including playing alongside Hanif Mohammed as a schoolboy, who went on to become a legendary test cricketer and Pakistan's first test triple centurion. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this bonus episode of The Offspin podcast, Simon Day takes a walk around Eden Park with one of the most unlikely legends of New Zealand sporting history. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this bonus episode of The Offspin podcast, Labour's Kieran McAnulty and National's Chris Bishop join the show to talk about the Parliamentary World Cup, and attempt to prove they're cricket fanatic credentials. To coincide with the business end of the Cricket World Cup, MPs from all over the world will be flying to England to play some games of their own – and maybe catch a playoff match or two.It sounds like the ultimate junket, but the NZ Parliamentary cricket team co-captains Kieran McAnulty and Chris Bishop insist they'll be paying their own way. The pair are part of the New Zealand squad travelling to take part in an eight-team Parliamentary World Cup, next month in England. The former schoolboy 1st XI reps are set to compete against the likes of Pakistan's President Imran Khan, and recently retired Indian MP, Sachin Tendulkar, if rumours are true.Somehow, McAnulty and Bishop will have to wrangle a cross-party team, which will include the likes of Kiritapu Allan and Greg O'Connor from Labour, Ian McKelvie from National and Mark Patterson from NZ First.But are they really true cricket nuffies? Can they prove it by sharing some of their more brutal moments on the cricket field? And what would a Black Caps win mean for the wider political landscape of New Zealand? All that and more on this bonus episode of The Offspin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode nine of The Offspin, we're joined by Black Caps test spinner Mark Craig to explore the crueller side of cricket in the wake of the Black Caps victory over the West Indies in both thrilling and devastating circumstances.There are few things in life more cruel than being blessed with spin bowling talent, but having to use it in New Zealand.Such is the fate of Mark Craig, a veteran of the domestic game who has played 15 tests for the Black Caps. He could have played more, and might still do so, were it not for injuries and local conditions robbing him of chances. However, he will always be the first and only person to hit their very first ball in test cricket for six.But is that anything on the cruelty suffered by the West Indies in their Cricket World Cup loss to the Black Caps? Carlos Braithwaite had scored a century, and needed just one more big hit to keep his team's chances alive at the World Cup. Had he hit it just one metre further, Trent Boult wouldn't have been able to pull off the match-winning catch. But such is cricket.Also in this episode, The Offspin gets into the aura of Universe Boss Chris Gayle and what it's like to bowl to such a fearsome batsman, Alex shares a conspiracy theory about the commentary of Brendon McCullum, and Mark Craig shares his thoughts on the missing pieces in the Black Caps puzzle. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode eight of The Offspin, we break down the best game of the tournament so far and talk about the shattered dreams of South African cricket with writer and journalist James Borrowdale. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode seven of The Offspin, with the weather continuing to be very bad in England, and not a lot of cricket being played, we took the opportunity to reminisce on our personal journeys in the sport. And spend some quality time hating Australian cricketers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With much of the Cricket World Cup rained off this week, White Ferns superstar Suzie Bates joins The Offspin to discuss the growth of the women's game, pay equity, and provide her expert tips for the Black Caps on English playing conditions. And there's a chance to win a special White Ferns prize pack – listen to the podcast to find out how to enter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the fifth episode of The Offspin, we're joined by Basir Safi and Ismail Wardak, two Kiwi-Afghan cricket lovers who talk about learning the game in refugee camps, the incredible story of Afghanistan's ascent and the high expectations the world now holds for them. Another day, another win at the Cricket World Cup for the Black Caps. So why doesn't this one feel quite so good? Is it because maybe, deep down we all want to see Afghanistan succeed? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a special edition of The Offspin, Mohammad Isam, ESPN Cricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent, spoke to the podcast about his experience of the Christchurch terror attack, and the effect had on him and the team. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the third episode of The Offspin, globetrotting freelance cricketer and muscleman Mitchell McClenaghan joins the podcast to discuss winning the IPL, the changing patterns of cricketing analytics and a nervy Black Caps win over Bangladesh. The Offspin is made possible by Coffee Supreme, keeping Simon (who's been up since 1230am and now has a full day at work) and Alex alive while cricket is played on the other side of the world. It's produced by Tina Tiller and theme music by Sam Flynn-Scott. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the second episode of The Offspin esteemed uniform ranker Calum Henderson joins the podcast to discuss the Black Caps comprehensive victory over Sri Lanka, uniform fashion trends and Simon Doull's glorious goatee and earrings in 1999. The Offspin is made possible by Coffee Supreme, keeping Simon and Alex alive while cricket is played on the other side of the world. It's produced by Tina Tiller and theme music by Sam Flynn-Scott. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the first episode of The Offspin, The Spinoff's new Cricket World Cup podcast, hosts Alex Braae and Simon Day are joined by Jogi Bhatt to examine the Blackcaps chances of glory. They also investigate the psychological differences between Indian and New Zealand fans, relive Simon's darkest day, and question David Warner's credibility as a children's book author. The Offspin is made possible by Coffee Supreme, keeping Simon and Alex alive while cricket is played on the other side of the world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.