The Grade Cricketer
The Grade Cricketer is the pen name of two Australian cricket writers, Sam Perry and Ian Higgins. They were friends who played 1st and 2nd grade cricket in Australia and began a Twitter account as @gradecricketer, whilst promoting their mantra “quit cricket, get massive”. They subsequently wrote books and columns and host a podcast. [1][2][3][4]
Books
- The Grade Cricketer (2016)
- Tea and No Sympathy (2017)
Podcast
The Grade Cricketer Podcast is presented by the two creators of the persona during the Australian cricketing summer, and is a comedic, satirical take on the cricketing world. There have been eight seasons since the promo episode was released in October 2016. Music is provided by Adrian Leung, with cover design by Julia Dowe. The podcast is released in both audio and video formats.
Interviews
At least one guest is usually interviewed in each episode, and the format regularly involves one interview with a cricket journalist, and a further one later on with a current or former player. These always begin with some form of the question "What's your relationship with Grade Cricket?"; whilst the player interviews end with throw-downs, in which the presenters ask ridiculous, long-winded questions, to which the guest can often respond only with a binary yes/no answer. The most frequent guests, also known as "best friends of the show", are Adam "Collo" Collins from the journalism world, with ten appearances, and Ed "Ted" Cowan from the players with six (also the first guest, having to re-record his interview after a technical mishap - this has now occurred twice).
AskTGC
The last section of the podcast normally involves answering questions submitted to The Grade Cricketer via social media, (the Twitter hashtag being #askTGC, hence the name). These questions are often incredibly long, leading Higgins to sometimes refer to the section as their "short story competition",[5] but also sometimes little more than a statement followed by "thoughts?", and regularly concern topics such as alpha-ing, father-son relationships, social status within clubs/teams, retirement from the game, and other general advice relating to the world of amateur cricket.
Advertisements
Over the course of the podcast run, advertisements for various products, both real and imaginary tie-in ones, have been inserted, voiced by Toby Shain and, occasionally, the hosts themselves. Products include:
Fake products/services
- Chop King Cologne: a fragrance inspired by the concept of the Chop King, with the tagline of "reek of runs without hitting them"
- The Grade Cricket Rehabilitation Centre: a centre for reintegrating former grade cricket players into normal society
- Reno Rampage: a parody of a Renovation Rescue-style show, specifically aimed at renovating grade cricket clubhouses
- Bravago: a parody of travel company Trivago
- Alpha-Ade: a fictional sportsdrink, parodying Gator/Powerade
Real products/services
- OLED TV's: a parody of David Warner's advertisements for the same product during the 2016/17 Australian home summer series
- Grade cricket
- The Grade Cricketer: Tea and No Sympathy (2017)
Episode guide
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| The Grade Cricketer Podcast promo | - |
| 1. Selection Night, with Merv Hughes | Merv Hughes |
| 2. Summer Begins, Ed Cowan | Ed Cowan |
| 3. Gut Feel, with Brad Hogg | Brad Hogg |
| 4. The Collapse, with Brendon Julian | Brendon Julian |
| 5. Down The Barrel, with Rob Quiney | Rob Quiney |
| 6. The Renaissance, with Brad Haddin | Brad Haddin |
| 7. Hands, with Stuart MacGill | Stuart MacGill |
| 8. Hard Day's Night, with Gideon Haigh | Gideon Haigh |
| 9. The Christmas Double, with Chris Rogers and Ryan Carters | Chris Rogers & Ryan Carters |
| 10. SCG Day 1, with Dirk Nannes | Dirk Nannes |
| 11. SCG Day 2, with Geoff Lemon | Geoff Lemon |
| 12. SCG Day 3 | - |
| 13. SCG Day 4, with Brittany Carter | Brittany Carter |
| 14. SCG Day 5, with Andrew Jones | Andrew Jones |
| 15. What Now? with Brett Geeves, Mickey Edwards and Will Pucovski | Brett Geeves, Mickey Edwards & Will Pucovski |
| 16. Indian Horizons, with Sam, Dave and Ian | - |
| 17. Awards Night, with Richard Hinds | Richard Hinds |
| 18. Season Finale, with David Hussey and Bryce McGain | David Hussey & Bryce McGain |
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| The Grade Cricketer Summer 2017/18 promo | - |
| 19. Going 'Round again, with Ed Cowan | Adam Collins & Ed Cowan |
| 20. #ThanksCricket, with Pat Cummins | Andrew Wu & Pat Cummins |
| 21. Voluminous Runs, with Brett Geeves | Will Macpherson & Brett Geeves |
| 22. The Overseas Pro, with Dan Norcross | Adam Collins & Dan Norcross |
| The New Fragrance, by TGC | - |
| 23. Club Presidents, with James Sutherland | Izzy Westbury & James Sutherland |
| 24. Middle-Aged Levers, with The Betoota Advocate's Clancy Overell | Tom Morris & Clancy Overell |
| 25. Their Heads Met, with Chris Rogers | Will Macpherson & Chris Rogers |
| 26. Rig-o-saurus, with Mark Butcher | Mark Butcher |
| 27. Always Look Good, with Mike Atherton | Adam Collins & Mike Atherton |
| 28. Everything's Binary, with Simon Katich and Gideon Haigh | Gideon Haigh & Simon Katich |
| 29. Doesn't Matter How You Get 'Em, with Trent Woodhill | Trent Woodhill & Will Macpherson |
| 30. Labor Omnia Vincit, with Jarrod Kimber | Jarrod Kimber |
| 31. SCG Ashes Day 1, with Ed Cowan | Ed Cowan & Will Macpherson |
| 32. SCG Ashes Day 2 | Adam Collins |
| 33. Do You Remember Me? with Jackson Bird and Ryan Carters | Ryan Carters & Jackson Bird |
| 34. Don't Touch It! with Steve O'Keefe | Andrew Walton, Izzy Westbury & Steve O'Keefe |
| 35. Season Finale (Part 1), with Mitch Marsh and George Bailey | Vithushan Ehantharajah & Mitch Marsh |
| 35. Season Finale (Part 2), with Mitch Marsh and George Bailey | George Bailey |
| 36. Alpha Wars, with Merv Hughes | Adam Collins & Merv Hughes |
| 37. Going Tropicana, with Ed Cowan | Dan Brettig & Ed Cowan |
| 38. "But What's He Like As A Bloke?" | Adam Collins |
| 39. Alpha Meltdown, with Ellyse Perry | Peter Lalor, Ellyse Perry & Dr Tim Sharp |
| 40. The Beta Era, with Damien Fleming | Adam Collins & Damien Fleming |
| 41. They Were Friends, with Trent Copeland | Paul Kennedy & Trent Copeland |
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| 42. The Australian Way, with Ed Cowan and Gideon Haigh | Gideon Haigh & Ed Cowan |
| 43. Doctors Hate Him, with Jason Gillespie | Adam Collins & Jason Gillespie |
| 44. Australian Test Captains, with Steve Waugh and Tim Paine | Tim Paine & Steve Waugh |
| 45. Sixty-Odd, with Adam Gilchrist | Dan Brettig & Adam Gilchrist |
| 46. Head Honchos, with Kevin Roberts | Kevin Roberts |
| 47. Playa, with Usman Khawaja | Usman Khawaja |
| 48. Huge, If True, with Brad Hodge | Richard Hinds & Brad Hodge |
| 49. Cop That, with Alyssa Healy and Gerard Whateley | Gerard Whateley & Alyssa Healy |
| 50. Double Up, with Will Somerville | Brittany Carter & Will Somerville |
| 51. Monday Circuit, with Matt Renshaw | Geoff Lemon & Matt Renshaw |
| 52. Moving The Deck Chairs On The Titanic, with Jim Maxwell | Jim Maxwell & Peter Lalor |
| 53. Into The Wilderness, with Mel McLaughlin and Moises Henriques | Mel McLaughlin & Moises Henriques |
| 54. The Secret Knock, with Steve O'Keefe | Ben Horne & Steve O'Keefe |
| 55. I Hate it So Much, with Jason Sangha and Adam Zampa | Jason Sangha & Adam Zampa |
| 56. Popezilla, with Lloyd Pope | Lloyd Pope |
| 57. Problem Solved, with Glenn Maxwell | Ben Jones & Glenn Maxwell |
| 58. #AskTGC Special | - |
| 59. Season Finale, with Rob Quiney and Cameron White | Dan Brettig, Rob Quiney & Cameron White |
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| 60. How Good Is Australia, with Ed Cowan (World Cup Special #1) | Dan Brettig & Ed Cowan |
| 61. Land of Hope and Glory, with Will Pucovski & Izzy Westbury (World Cup Special #2) | Izzy Westbury & Will Pucovski |
| 62. Tournament Opener Reactions | Will Macpherson |
| 63. Decent Gas, with Shaun Tait | Ali Martin & Shaun Tait |
| 64. It's Alive | Vithushan Ehantharaja |
| 65. That's What A Coulter-Nile Is | Adam Collins |
| 66. Walking Like A Dude, with Niall O'Brien | Adam Collins & Niall O'Brien |
| 67. Next! | Mel Farrell |
| 68. Chris Woakes Bats 3 | - |
| 69. Kashmir, with Ryan Harris | Vithushan Ehantharajah & Ryan Harris |
| 70. Eoin Morgan Hits More Sixes Than You Ever Have | - |
| 71. Warner's 166 Problems | - |
| 72. Lasith Malinga's Rig Destroys England, with Mark Butcher | Mark Butcher |
| 73. England's Deep-Seated Psychological Vulnerability | - |
| 74. Catastrophic Permutations, with Kurtis Patterson | Kurtis Patterson |
| 75. Australia May Never Lose Again | - |
| 76. Salads Everywhere, with George Bailey | George Bailey |
| 77. England Are Here | - |
| 78. Thursday Showdown, with Chris Lynn and Dan Norcross | Chris Lynn & Dan Norcross |
| 79. Barefoot, with Ellyse Perry | Ellyse Perry |
| 80. Smashed | - |
| 81. Oh. My. God | - |
| 82. Asterisk, with Alex Carey | Alex Carey |
| 83. Shower Politics, with Cameron Bancroft | Cameron Bancroft |
| 84. Steve Smith Makes Me Feel Safe, with Marcus North | Marcus North |
| 85. "Congratulations Jofra", with Peter Siddle | Peter Siddle |
| 86. Marnus! with Trent Copeland | Trent Copeland |
| 87. All Roads Leeds To, with Marnus Labuschagne | Marnus Labuschagne |
| 88. This Is Very Raw, with Tim Bresnan | Tim Bresnan & Dean Wilson |
| 89. To Old Trafford, with Doug Bollinger & Steve Waugh | Doug Bollinger & Steve Waugh |
| 90. Too Good, with Chris Rogers | Chris Rogers |
| 91. Fin | Dean Jones |
| 92. The Boys of Summer, with Pavel Florin | Pavel Florin |
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| 93. Empire Rising?, with Dan Christian | Dan Christian |
| 94. I Want To Feel Safe This Summer, with Ed Cowan & Russel Arnold | Ed Cowan & Russel Arnold |
| 95. Finding Meaning, with Pete Handscomb | Peter Handscomb |
| 96. It Happened Again, with Adam Zampa | Adam Zampa |
| 97. The Circuit, with Brian Lara and Bob Murphy | Brian Lara & Bob Murphy |
| 98. Safe At Last, with Bernard Fanning & Robelinda2 | Bernard Fanning & Robelinda2 |
| 99. The Right Kind of Runs, with Richard Chee Quee | Richard Chee Quee |
| 100. Start Again, with John Hastings & Gideon Haigh | John Hastings & Gideon Haigh |
| 101. Big Papi, with Marcus Stoinis | Marcus Stoinis |
| 102. It's Always Been Hot, with Chris Green | Chris Green |
| 103. Silly Buggers, with Kane Richardson | Kane Richardson |
| 104. Low-key Summer, with Sean Abbott | Sean Abbott |
| 105. Easy Cricket, with Josh Phillipe | Josh Phillipe |
| 106. It's Just On, with Clive Rose and Beau Webster | Clive Rose & Beau Webster |
| 107. Relentless YoY Growth, with Michael Vaughan | Michael Vaughan |
| 108. Gas Truck Pt II, with Jackson Bird & Andrew McDonald | Adam Linforth, Jackson Bird & Andrew McDonald |
| 109. Reasonably Large Evening, with no one | - |
| 110. A Nation Expects, with Belinda Clark and Annabel Sutherland | Annabel Sutherland & Belinda Clark |
| 111. Mean Tweets, with Jimmy Neesham | Jimmy Neesham |
| 112. Short Sleeves, with Seb Gotch | Seb Gotch |
| 113. Yeah the Girls! with Alyssa Healy, Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle | Alyssa Healy, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle & Tim Paine |
| 114. The Test: Blue Carpet Special, with Smith, Carey, Khawaja, Siddle, Paine, Lyon, Langer, Finch, Cummins, Labuschagne, Zampa (in order of appearance) | Adrian Brown, Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Peter Siddle, Tim Paine, Nathan Lyon, Justin Langer, Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne & Adam Zampa |
| 115. Stay In, with Dr John Orchard and Tim Bresnan | John Orchard, Vithushan Ehantharajah & Tim Bresnan |
| 116. Season Finale, with Justin Langer and Aaron Finch | Justin Langer & Aaron Finch |
| # / title | Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| 117. A Natural Vector of Disease, with Tim Bresnan, Stephen O'Keefe and Jonathon Wilson | Steve O'Keefe, Jonathon Wilson & Tim Bresnan |
| 118. It Returns, with Monty Panesar and Jason Gillespie | Monty Panesar & Jason Gillespie |
| 119. Bio Insecurity, with Josh Hazlewood, Sam Robson and Barney Ronay | Josh Hazlewood, Sam Robson & Barney Ronay |
| 120. Bubble Boys, with Jack Leach and Mitchell Starc | Jack Leach & Mitchell Starc |
| 121. Full Whites, with Matthew Hayden and Steven Finn | Matthew Hayden & Steven Finn |
| 122. Top 4 Big Boys, with Rob Key and Brendon Julian | Rob Key & Brendan Julian |
| 123. Wet Ass Pitches, with Ricky Ponting | Ricky Ponting |
| 124. Sexual Chocolate, with Trent Boult and Ryan Sidebottom | Trent Boult & Ryan Sidebottom |
| 125. Bit Going On, with Sam Billings and Harry Conway | Sam Billings & Harry Conway |
| 126. Quarantine Cuts, with Mike Whitney and Chris Rogers | Mike Whitney & Chris Rogers |
| 127. Collapse, with Travis Head | Travis Head |
| 128. Tall Runs, with Zak Crawley and Shane Lee | Zak Crawley & Shane Lee |
| 129. Deano, with Ashton Agar and Damien Fleming | Ashton Agar & Damien Fleming |
| 130. Not Bad, with Neil Wagner and Jason Krejza | Neil Wagner & Jason Krejza |
| 131. Rings, with Adam Gilchrist | Adam Gilchrist |
TV show
In 2018, The Grade Cricketer on 7 show was launched on 7Sport's YouTube channel. The season covered the 2018/19 summer of cricket and featured 11 episodes featuring all of the trio. In 2019, The Grade Cricketer on 7 was moved to 7plus for season 2 covering the 2019/20 summer of cricket; season 2 was only presented by Ian Higgins and Sam Perry.
Live shows
The Grade Cricketer has presented live shows over multiple Australian summers and the English summers of 2019 and 2023, covering the 2019 World Cup and the 2019 and 2023 Ashes. The live shows, like the podcasts, usually feature guests.
Terminology
Many terms have been popularised through the books and podcast efforts of The Grade Cricketer. These include:
- to alpha: to exert dominance over another person, by word or action
- to beta: to be alphaed
- rig: the physical conditioning of a person's body. In the words of one of the founders, Sam Perry, “rig is more of a holistic thing. It’s basically everything you are setting up.”[citation needed]
- to champ someone: to call another person by "champion" or any derivation of the word, including, but not limited to: champ, champignon, Champs-Élysées, Champions League
- circuit: post-game revelry enjoyed with teammates at various drinking establishments
- a chop: a sexual conquest
Other terms commonly used, particularly in the AskTGC correspondence section of the podcast, include:
- levers: arms, specifically with reference to a batsman's six-hitting ability
- salad: a person's head hair
- triple C: Century-Circuit-Chop; the rare event of all the following events achieved on the same day/night in order: 1. a player scoring a century 2. enjoying a noteworthy night out, or circuit, with their teammates 3. having sexual intercourse.
- pipes: biceps
- Chop King: one proficient in chopping. Also the name of the self-endorsed cologne with the tag line “Reek of runs without actually scoring them.”
References
- ^ Brettig, Daniel (23 February 2016). "'We've tried to hold up a mirror to grade cricket and see how people react'". Cricinfo.
- ^ Morris, Tom (25 October 2017). "The Grade Cricketer: Tea and No Sympathy book review - A must-read". News.com.au.
- ^ FitzSimons, Peter (26 February 2016). "The Grade Cricketer hits a six". Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "117. A Natural Vector of Disease, with Tim Bresnan, Stephen O'Keefe and Jonathan Wilson", The Grade Cricketer, Podcast Jul 6, 2020.
- ^ FM, Player. "40. The Beta Era, With Damien Fleming The Grade Cricketer podcast". player.fm. Retrieved 22 April 2019.