It's our first episode back in 2022 and there's been plenty of action over the holiday season.

We start the show by discussing the Black Caps v Bangladesh series, which started with a win for the Tigers but finished with a fitting Test farewell for Ross Taylor and milestones for Trent Boult, Devon Conway and Tom Latham. There's praise for Litton Das as well as discussion about NZ players under pressure over the rest of the home summer and some eye-catching performances in the Super Smash and the BBL.

After confirming that Devon Conway is indeed the best batter the world has ever seen, we move to Australia to chat about the greatest bowler of all time, Scott Boland, hundreds for Jonny Bairstow and Usman Khawaja, the evergreen Jimmy Anderson, whether England is actually as terrible as everyone is suggesting and plenty more that's happened in The Ashes since we last recorded.

In our final episode of 2021, we look back at our personal highlights and lowlights from a year that included the Black Caps' World Test Championship victory and a first men's T20 World Cup title for Australia.

We also share our Cricketmas wishlist for 2022, but the most important part of the show and this write up is to say thank you to all of our listeners. We absolutely love getting together to record these episodes and the fact people are listening gives us a great excuse to keep doing it week after week. Thanks so much for your support - even after two years, it's still a thrill when we see downloads happening from all over the world. See you in 2022 and please do contact us on any of our channels if you have any comments or requests.

We'll be back in 2022 to discuss all the cricket over the holiday season, but if you can't wait that long then dip back into our guest episodes, including our latest with rising star Rachin Ravindra. There are also conversations with history-maker Ajaz Patel, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Graham Thorpe, Katey Martin, George Dobell, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And check out our Hall of Fame series, in which we countdown the 100 greatest Men's Test cricketers of all time.

This week's episode starts with us trying to makes sense of this Ashes series, which now looks all but over with three Tests still to go. We talk Joe Root's after-match comments, Ollie Robinson bowling spin, England's woes, Australia's joy for Michael Neser, Steve Smith's kitbag and whether there's any chance this series remains interesting as we head to the MCG.

As we move back to New Zealand, we discuss the Covid disruptions for the Bangladesh squad, how the Black Caps will line up without Kane Williamson for this series and the rescheduled tour to Pakistan.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. We'd love to hear from you on any of our platforms. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel.

We'll be back before the end of the year to look back at our favourite moments of 2021, but if you haven't already, dip back into our guest episodes, including our latest with rising star Rachin Ravindra. There are also conversations with history-maker Ajaz Patel, Colin 'Funky' Miller, Graham Thorpe, Katey Martin, George Dobell, Shane Bond and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And check out our Hall of Fame series, in which we countdown the 100 greatest Men's Test cricketers of all time.

The Ashes takes centre stage this week as we discuss Australia's win in the first Test at the Gabba.

Should England have bowled first? Did they pick the right team? Are we really that surprised their batters struggled? Will Travis Head's 150 prove to be a career-defining innings? Plus we had Patrick Cummins' captaincy debut, Nathan Lyon's 400th wicket, a rough time for Jack Leach, fines galore and injury concerns for both sides.

During the second half of the show we all try to claim partial credit for our pre-match predictions, then get excited about the upcoming India v South Africa Test series before shout outs to Marty Kain, Colin Munro and Mitchell Hay.

Keep an eye out for our next episode - an interview with Black Cap Rachin Ravindra. His positive attitude really made an impression on us and we're sure you'll enjoy the chat.

It's an excitement overload this week as we're together to record in the same room for the first time since August!

We start the show by celebrating Ajaz Patel's incredible achievement - becoming the third player in history to take 10 wickets in an innings - before we break down a heavy loss for the Black Caps and look ahead to the rest of the summer for NZ and India. Will Ross Taylor hold his spot? Was Virat Kohli out? Was Ajinkya Rahane really injured? Is there a way to level the playing field for all teams on away tours? And much more!

After a much-anticipated swish, Binksy picks himself off the floor and we discuss England selections for The Ashes, plus grounds, tradition and our bold predictions for the series.

For more general Ashes content, check out our previous episode - a preview of the series with Melinda Farrell.

A little series called The Ashes is on the horizon, there's drama everywhere and Melinda Farrell joins the show to chat through the storylines before the action gets underway.

• How will Tim Paine's resignation impact Australia?

• Can Ollie Robinson be a difference-maker for England?

• Patrick Cummins - Test captain

• Will Stuart Broad get the better of David Warner once again?

• Who is the real Marnus Labuschagne?

• What impact will the return of Ben Stokes have on the rest of the England lineup?

• And who will lift the urn?

As we mentioned on the show, Melinda Farrell is an all-round cricket personality who produces brilliant content across a number of different platforms. You can find her written work here, view her YouTube channel here (including The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous with Bharat Sundaresan) or find her on Twitter.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter and Facebook, & @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show. We'd love to hear from you on any of our platforms. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website, and a few of our episodes are available on YouTube - we're chipping away at populating this channel.

This week's show is dominated by our reaction to the Black Caps' gritty draw against India in the first Test at Kanpur.

The Kiwis among us are celebrating a job well done, but do the neutrals think the #1 ranked Test side should be happy with a draw? As the conversation continues, we break down the key performances and talking points from a fascinating match, including:

• The final few nervy moments

• Was this a missed opportunity for NZ?

• Umpiring and the DRS clock

• Ravichandran Ashwin's follow-through

• Contrasting spin attacks

• Brilliant debuts from Shreyas Iyer and Rachin Ravindra

• Selection headaches for both sides

And plenty more before quickly touching on the Covid situation in South Africa, some highlights from the New Zealand domestic scene and a new role for Baldy as the group's head of talent identification.

What a rollercoaster few months it has been for the Australian men's team! Justin Langer reportedly lost the dressing room, their World Cup build up was awful, David Warner couldn't get a game at the IPL and then they go and win the T20 World Cup but only a week or so later Tim Paine resigns from the Test captaincy because of a sexting scandal. Never a dull moment.

We give our thoughts on the way Cricket Australia has handled the situation and look ahead to what might happen on the field with a new captain and potentially a new wicketkeeper for The Ashes.

The Black Caps start their World Test Championship title defence in India tomorrow afternoon (check out our full preview on an earlier episode), but first we look back at the three T20s that did pose some interesting questions:

• Has Martin Guptill done enough over the past 6-12 months to get himself another IPL contract?

• Should Kyle Jamieson become a Test specialist at international level?

• And should Black Caps' fans be insulted that the likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant elected to play three meaningless T20s but are resting in the Test series?

There are also shout outs to Sophie Devine and her Perth Scorchers in the WBBL, AB de Villiers on his incredible career and some confusing dialogue in Bangladesh involving Mushfiqur Rahim.