What's He On About? Cricket Podcast · Charlie Harden

Eng vs WI and Who Are The Best Left Hand Cricketers Of All Time?

·29 min·1 clip

Joe Root scored 166 not out after earlier doubts about his form.

Episode 30 opens with a broad England review built around the ODI series against the West Indies. The show moves through the series game by game and keeps asking what England did well and what West Indies did well or badly. One early thread is England's big batting effort, which sets up the larger theme of balance across the side. Jamie Smith's return to runs is held up as a positive sign, even with his 64 off 28 and a strike rate of 228. The discussion then shifts into the shape of England's top order and middle order. Will Jacks batting at number seven becomes a key example of how the XI can stay flexible without getting too long. That point matters because the host is clearly worried about what happens if the tail arrives too early. The show then contrasts that with the kind of explosive approach Phil Salt brings. Salt is framed as a better fit for T20 cricket than for the slower rhythm of one-day batting. Joe Root is treated as a masterclass presence in the middle. Adil Rashid gets the sort of veteran praise that comes from watching him keep producing while other people are already talking about the end. The balance of the side is one of the main takeaways from the ODI series review. There is a real sense that the host thinks England have found something useful in the shape of the XI. The conversation does not stay fixed on one match for long. It keeps moving because the show is built that way, by association and instinct. The England Lions versus India segment comes next and is described as taking place on a very good batting surface. That gives the episode another analytical angle without losing the casual delivery. Then the show heads into its more playful closing idea. The host starts building an all-time left-handed XI. Batters and bowlers are both included, and fielding left-handers are explicitly dismissed as not the point. Several names are weighed and rejected along the way. The final choices narrow down to Mitchell Stark and Chaminda Vaas as the left-arm bowling finish. Stark is singled out as a future all-time great with a massive wicket tally already behind him. Vaas rounds out the side as the other left-arm option. The ending keeps the show's loose, conversational feel intact while still landing on a concrete answer. It is a cricket chat built on scorelines, selections, and fan arguments, not neat presentation. That is exactly what gives it its pace.

As heard by us

A brisk, opinionated cricket ramble that turns squad balance and a left-handed XI into proper debate.

England's ODI series against West Indies, the predicted T20 XI, and an all-time left-handed XI give this one its shape. The best stretch is the balance talk: Will Jacks at number seven, Jamie Smith back in the runs, Root and Rashid still carrying a lot of the load, and a strong…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a brisk England vs West Indies ODI review that ends on a left-handed all-time XI?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from What's He On About? Cricket Podcast