This Week in Cricket #186: Ross Taylor returns, Jamie Overton bids farewell & South Africa keep on rolling

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Raj and Stu discuss the white-ball series between South Africa & England, NZ A's tour to South Africa and Ross Taylor's return to the international arena.

We start the show by talking about South Africa continuing to impress across all formats, this time in a white-ball series against England. Aiden Markram at the top of the order has been well supported by a powerful and dynamic middle order of Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs and Dewalt Brevis as the Proteas surged to a 2-0 series lead. Throw in impressive displays from Keshav Maharaj and the rest of the bowling attack and South Africa looks a side that shapes as a strong contender for the upcoming World Cups. Turning our attention to England, we wonder whether Jamie Overton's decision to step back from Test cricket is a sign of things to come, and also assess where the holes are in this current ODI squad.

The praise for the Proteas continues in the next segment as we talk about NZ's A tour to South Africa, as it has been a good week to be a Hermann brother. The home side took the 50-over series 2-1 thanks to runs galore from Rubin and Jordan, with Dale Phillips's 147 the shining light for New Zealand's batting display.

To round out the show, we discuss Ross Taylor's decision to come out of international retirement to play for Samoa in the upcoming East Asia-Pacific qualifiers for the ICC T20 World Cup along with Sean Solia and the rest of the squad. Aside from it being a heartwarming story, it also raised a few questions for us about the international eligibility rules. Would it be good for the game to reduce the stand-down period? Or would that simply lead to manipulation?

We'll be back in your feed again next week to discuss more stories from the world of cricket, including the Asia Cup as well as more of the South Africa series. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) 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. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world. And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:00 England v South Africa - Proteas keep rolling on

4:10 England in a white-ball rebuild phase?

6:55 South Africa's depth looking good

11:00 Where are the gaps in England's squad?

14:30 Jamie Overton's decision to step away from red-ball cricket

20:20 NZ A v SA A - Good week to be a Hermann brother!

34:05 Ross Taylor returns to play for Samoa - should cricket's eligibility rules change?

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