Test Match Special

2026 is the National Year of Reading and to mark the event the TMS team debate which is the best cricket book of all time?

From the iconic “Beyond a Boundary” by CLR James to Harry Thompson’s “Penguins Stopped play”. From Duncan Hamilton’s biography of Harold Larwood to the groundbreaking autobiography of Marcus Trescothick “Coming Back to me”.

Daniel Norcross is joined by award winning writer Simon Wilde, journalist and vociferous reader Jim Wallace and author and broadcaster Annie Chave who is also a judge for the Cricket Writers' Club Book of the Year. We also hear from Andy Zaltzman, Michael Vaughan, Jonathan Agnew, Jeremy Coney, and Simon Mann on their favourite cricket books

The 2026 National Year of Reading is the biggest campaign in a generation designed to help more people to discover or rediscover the joy of reading with the theme to “Go all in” on passions and interests.

Henry Moeran is at The Oval during The Hundred opener between MI London and SunRisers Leeds chatting to the Test Match Special team their thoughts on Bazball whilst not on TV.
Hear from Michael Vaughan, Phil Tufnell, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Carlos Brathwaite, Katey Martin, Steven Finn, and even Tymal Mills whilst he's having his makeup done before going on air!

Henry Moeran is joined by former England spinner Phil Tufnell, London Spirit bowler Tymal Mills and Durham coach Ryan Campbell as England continue the hunt for a new head coach and captain, a month before the next Test Series against Pakistan. Whilst the search goes on for the new Test head coach after Brendon McCullum’s sacking last Sunday, McCullum has remained as England’s white-ball coach and has led England to a 2-1 ODI series win against India since his sacking. The panel discuss what England need from their test head coach and who the leading contenders are.
The 2026 edition of The Hundred is set to get underway with significant changes from previous years. The panel are joined by Vikram Banerjee, managing director of The Hundred to go through the new changes and what it means for the tournament. Chair of Glamorgan Mark Rhydderch-Roberts and co-owner of Welsh Fire Sanjay Govil also join the podcast to discuss the business element of the tournament.
TIME CODES:
00:00 Intro
01:00 England’s hunt for a head coach
10:00 Should it be a short-term appointment?
13:45 The search for a captain
20:40 Runners and riders for the coach position
29:20 Ben Stokes and Durham
32:45 A new era for The Hundred and managing director Vikram Banerjee
42:00 Is The Hundred different?
45:46 Mark Rhydderch-Roberts and co-owner of Welsh Fire Sanjay Govil
49:00 The business behind a team
53:34 Tymal and Tuffers ahead of the tournament

Simon Mann is joined by Sir Alastair Cook, the BBC chief commentator Jonathan Agnew and former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta to look back at England's ODI series win over India. We hear from captains Harry Brook and Shubman Gill as well as Ben Duckett who made the highest men's ODI individual score at the Home of Cricket in striking 141 off 135 balls as England won by 27 runs.
And during the interval at Lord's, Jonathan spoke with both Sir Clive Lloyd and Brian Lara as the pair paid tribute to the great Sir Garfield Sobers who passed away at the age of 89.

Alison Mitchell is joined at Lord’s by World Cup winning Rugby player Sarah Bern. The tighthead prop was part of the Red Roses team that triumphed at Twickenham last summer.