This Week in Cricket #202: Top Order hits 500, Black Caps Test squad announced & GT on the charge

In this episode of the show, Binksy and Stu celebrate the Top Order's 500th episode before discussing the week that was in IPL 2026 and evaluate the Black Caps' Test squad for the upcoming tour to Ireland and England, plus a bit of England Cricket chat as well. We start the show by raising the bat to 500 episode for The Top Order Podcast. It's been a fun journey filled with plenty of highlights, so the boys share a few before moving on to the cricket once again. As the conversation turns to IPL 2026, we discuss a week which saw the majority of the higher-ranked sides stumble, while the Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings took advantage and moved up the ladder. For GT, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are easy to praise, but it's Rashid Khan who we put in the spotlight for his impressive contributions and craft. Binksy then asks whether Stu believes in the Sunrisers yet, whereas Stu's trying to figure out why the Punjab Kings are dropping so many catches - and also basking in the glory of Finn Allen's hundred for KKR. In the second half of the show, the guys discuss the newly announced 19-player Black Caps Test squad to tour the UK and Ireland. What did they get right in the draft last week? And are there any surprises? There's praise for the seam bowling attack despite the absence of Jacob Duffy, with Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke, Kyle Jamieson, Nathan Smith and co. all in line to feature. On the England side of things, a new selector has (sort of) been announced, and Binksy outlines potential changes from The Ashes that could open the door for a return for Ollie Robinson and a fresh face in the batting line up. We'll be back in your feed again soon with more cricket news, including the charge to the IPL finals and the Black Caps' tour to England. 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 1:30 500 episodes for the Top Order 6:20 IPL 2026: GT's charge into the Top 4 11:25 Is it time to believe in SRH? 15:00 Why can't the Punjab Kings catch? 20:15 Finn Allen stars for KKR, but is it too late? 24:30 CSK holding on 28:35 Black Caps Test squad announced 39:25 Changes for England? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices