This Week In Cricket # 38 - IPL Scenarios and Plunket/Sheffield Shield Opening Rounds

The Top Order Cricket Podcast

A huuuuuuuuge episode of the Top Order Cricket Podcast this week with plenty to talk about as the action ramps up all around the world.

We begin by hitting as many topics as we can in This Week in Cricket.

The board of Cricket South Africa steps down en masse just weeks before their summer international schedule kicks off - what does this mean for the game in the rainbow nation?

A lot has been happening in the bubbles this week, we recap the latest from the players and tease our upcoming interview with Dr. Jamie Barker on mental health and life in the bubble. Stay tuned for that one.

We talk about why the current Pakistan/Zimbabwe ODI series has implications for the 2023 World Cup, and debate whether cricket should be an Olympic sport.

After the swish we launch into the shields, both Plunket (NZ) and Sheffield (Aus) as several fringe cricketers are putting their hands up for national selection early in the season. Is Kyle Jamieson a lock in the first NZ test side of the summer? When will Devon Conway get his chance? Should Will Pucovski open the battting for Australia? We get a little excited about the breakouts, but how many spots are actually up for debate in the Black Caps and Australian sides at the moment?

Finally, in act three, it's climax of the round-robin matches in the IPL. Recorded Sunday night we run through (almost) all the permutations, and put our predictions on the line for how we think the playoffs will shape up. Will we be wrong? Almost certainly - in fact, some of us already will be by the time this podcast goes to air, but it's an enjoyable chat nonetheless. One thing we do know - Mumbai will take some beating this year.