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

England's 3 BIG Selection Questions In Test Cricket For 2025

·33 min·2 clips

George Hill has 32 wickets at 14.6, with three fifers and a strike rate of one wicket every 35 balls.

Episode 29 opens with a round-up of the county championship season so far and a quick look at what has and has not surprised the host. It then shifts into England's Test cricket picture for 2025. The discussion moves through England's match against Zimbabwe, where England posted 565 for six with hundreds from Pope, Duckett, and Crawley. Harry Brook's 58 also gets a mention as an innings that probably deserved more credit, especially with his Test average still flying. Zimbabwe's reply is not ignored, with Brian Bennett's 139 from 143 balls singled out as a serious knock. The host keeps coming back to the point that England still had to do the job, even against weaker opposition, because the pressure on players like Pope, Crawley, and Bashir was real. There is also a broader point that Zimbabwe showed fight and were not just there to fill the schedule. The bowling efforts of Tong, Atkinson, and Sam Cook are brought into the match review too. From there, the episode widens into the main selection questions for England's Test side. The host talks through the pressure points in the squad and starts building toward an England XI to face India. The show then turns to the ODI set-up, with West Indies coming up in a three-match series. The argument becomes about balance, lower-order batting, and which players should be trusted in the 11. Rashid is framed as a wicket-taker England can lean on. Saqib Mahmood is backed strongly on the basis that he has been too good recently to leave out. The episode finishes with live TikTok questions and a reminder to follow the show and leave a five-star review. The result is a brisk, conversational cricket monologue that jumps between county form, international selection, and fresh match memory.

As heard by us

County charts, England selection questions, and stat-led cricket chat.

This episode moves quickly through county cricket, England's meeting with Zimbabwe, and the selection questions hanging over India and the ODI side for West Indies.

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Why you'd press play

You want a rapid-fire England selection debrief stitched through with county form.

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