This Week in Cricket #158: Stokes injury impact, underrated Maharaj & the Black Caps' contract dilemma

In this episode of the show, Stu and Baldy discuss the Black Caps test squad to face Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, plus the contractual situation facing NZC now that Devon Conway and Finn Allen have stepped away from the security of a central contract. We also look back at the quality bowling on show in South Africa’s series win against the West Indies, as well as the impact of Ben Stokes’s injury on the upcoming England v Sri Lanka series. We begin with a conversation about the potential dilemma facing New Zealand Cricket with the continued rise of franchise tournaments and their clash with the NZ home summer. Devon Conway has moved to a casual contract, Finn Allen has opted to play for the Perth Scorchers – but is it actually a dilemma? We then move to the West Indies where South Africa secured a valuable series win to keep their World Test Championship chances alive. There’s praise for Jayden Seales and Keshav Maharaj in particular, and we wonder whether the Proteas will regret not sending a full strength team to New Zealand in 2023. To round out the show, we look ahead to the upcoming England v Sri Lanka series, which will see Ollie Pope captain the home side following a hamstring injury that will keep him out of the rest of the summer. Who will replace Stokes in the starting XI? Will England’s style change at all? And can Sri Lanka pose any problems or will this be another straight sets win? We'll be back again in about a week with our regular This Week in Cricket programming. 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 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 1:55 Devon Conway and Finn Allen step away from NZC central contracts 4:00 How concerned should New Zealand be? 12:45 South Africa edge West Indies 1-0 in Test series 20:20 Jayden Seales and the impressive seamers on show 22:35 Keshav Maharaj's importance 24:25 A word on Kagiso Rabada 27:10 Can South Africa make the WTC final? 28:40 England v Sri Lanka - will it be plain sailing for the home side? 32:25 The impact of Ben Stokes' injury and selection decisions 40:50 Ollie Pope the captain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices