Hello and welcome to the The Cricket Slouch, a podcast for fans of all persuasions.

We apologise for the long hiatus since the last episode at the conclusion of the BGT and today, we bring you our 3rd anniversary episode where in I am joined by my usual buddies Sandeep, Ajit and Shounak to talk about a range of topics.

Some of these are -

1) Consolidation of power among the Big Three in the ICC via the likely proposal of two tier test cricket calendar.

2) Saudi entering the game with their Grand Slam model.

3) More Associate teams playing multi-nation tournaments now, thus bringing more context to those encounters.

4) WPL's success heralding a better future for women's competition and payment.

5) MLC looks set to be a fixture on the calendar and thus it could usher in American style professionalism and accountability in the sport.

6) The uptake of data and analysis by most teams now, esp in T20 franchises.

7) Amazon purchasing broadcasting rights (in Australia) to Asia Cup and u-19 tournaments.

8) ICC launching a Challenger Trophy. Also ICC creating a task force to look into best supporting Afghan women's cricket. Allowance for using one ball per innings instead of two.

As usual, a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all the contributors and listeners, without whom we would never be able to continue doing what we do.