The Ridiculous Ashes - 1981
Which nation was more ridiculous at cricket in 1981, England or Australia?
With the men’s 2023 ODI World Cup concluded, a dazed cricket-loving public deprived of their regular World Cup fix may be looking for something else to fill the void that now envelops them.
Luckily, myself and Alex Bowden are here with the latest season of The Ridiculous Ashes podcast.
This time, we’re covering the 1981 Ashes, a rarely discussed series that is otherwise mostly forgotten. But not by us. So we’re going to go through it, Test by Test, to determine, as per the podcast’s mandate - which nation is more ridiculous at cricket, England or Australia.
You can listen to the first episode here:
More sensibly, you can subscribe to the podcast on your provider of choice to ensure that you get access to each episode the instant it drops (heaven knows that I can’t be relied upon to remind you here about new episodes).
I promise you that nobody will predict the most ridiculous moment of the second Test, but it’s one that the two of us were unanimous in agreement to a degree rarely before seen. To learn what it is, it really is most sensible to subscribe. (And, of course, as always, while you subscribe, please don’t forget to post your honest five star reviews of the podcast.)
After you’ve finished listening to the first episode of this season, told all your friends and posted your honest five star reviews, you may be wondering, what’s next?
The answer, of course, is to go through the previous four seasons:
The 2013 Ridiculous Ashes
The season that earned us Sports Podcast Award nominations in both the Best Cricket Podcast and Best Sports Comedy Podcast categories. A series that included Stuart Broad not walking, Ashton Agar being adorable, decisions sucking ass, Rootmaths, and much, much more. Oh, and also a guest appearance from friend of the podcast, Pat Cummins.
The 2009 Ridiculous Ashes
Time-wasting heroics, Mitchell Johnson bowling to the left and to the right, Watto’s front pad, pantomime villainy, and ‘Simon Katiche’.
The 2013/14 Ridiculous Ashes
27-year-old English medium-pacers, futile sightscreen adjustments, Ryan Harris’s knees, Mitchell Johnson’s moustache, and the sacking of Kevin Pietersen.
The 1997 Ridiculous Ashes
Mark Taylor not knowing how to bat, Michael Bevan bowling filth, pantomime cow hostility, Nasser Hussain having a go at himself, and Shane Warne’s celebratory stump dance.