The Sunday Service

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, Mr Church talks about autumn and, just because the season has ended, it doesn't call for doom and gloom!

Mr Gompertz reads a story from The Good Book, where the young man visits his club the week after the end of the season and sees how it's already in hibernation for the winter.

WG Rumblepants talks about the sadness about the end of the season, but that cricket hasn't simply finished, but merely migrated.

And finally, curtesy our good friends at Newberry Cricket...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, Mr Church talks about his feelings before the start of the final day of cricketing action for this summer in the northern hemisphere.

Mr Gompertz reads a story from The Good Book, where Young Michael Holding suggest to Young Mark Wood that he ought to move his run-up back.

WG Rumblepants talks about the legacy of the great John Wisden, not just through the annual cricket almanack in his name, but also his skills as a cricketer.

And finally, curtesy our good friends...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, Mr Church reveals the draft sketches for the new Parish bird bath, as well as regaling tales of animals at the cricket.

Mr Gompertz reads a very short, but very fitting passage from the Good Book about our beatiful game, and leads a rousing rendition of this week's hymn, 'Be Thou My Vixen'.

WG Rumblepants talks about the lies one tells oneself during September, such as 'I won't play again next season...'

And finally, curtesy our good friends at Newberry Cricket, we've...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, Mr Church gives us the match report on the latest fixture in the Parish XI calendar.

Mr Gompertz reads a passage from The Good Book about the importance of tailenders or, as they're called in The Good Book, 'end-of-the-tail'.

WG Rumblepants talks about the importance of club cricket, and how it's much more about the club than it is about the cricket.

And finally, curtesy our good friends at Newberry Cricket, we've got a brand new prize to give away; this week, a...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, Mr Church devises his plan for the new bird birth, although the water feature leaves the image of Sir Geoffrey rather exposed...

Mr Gompertz reads a passage from the good book about the fine line between having love for Mother Cricket, as well as having love for one's life partner.

WG Rumblepants talks about the chaos in the Pakistan camp.

And finally, curtesy our good friends at Newberry Cricket, we've got a brand new prize to give away; this week, a pair of...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest updates from Parish XI, who just played their fundraiser game against The Hairdressers of Upper and Lower Bottom. It was a terrific day all round, although not a very successful batting performance. Actually, come to think of it, the bowling performance wasn't great either.

Unfortunately, Mr Gompertz's messaging about the curfew last week clearly didn't get through, as two unnamed members of the Parish were seen in the clubs of the night after the fundraiser. So, this week, he's trying again, and that...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest updates as the Parish XI prepare for their fundraiser game against The Hairdressers of Upper and Lower Bottom.

Mr Church has his updates from the Parish, WG Rumblepants speaks on the feeling of late-season cricket, and Mr Gompertz reads from The Good Book on 'The Curfew'.

The congregation sing 'They've Lifted The Curfew' and, we must say, they were in excellent voice.

And finally, curtosy our good friends at Newberry Cricket, we give away the 360 cricket shoes! Listen to...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest updates as the Parish XI prepare for their fundraiser game against The Hairdressers of Upper and Lower Bottom.

Mr Church and Mr Gompertz are also very excited as they perform their first 'bat-tism', as Rex has chosen to get his new piece of willow 'bat-tised' before he uses it in the fundraiser match.

The congregation sing 'I Vow To Thee My Willow' and Mr Gompertz reads from The Good Book about how one must care for their bat.

WG...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest tales from the Parish XI as they played a thriller against the Fellows of Farting Fallows, which went down to the final ball.

WG Rumblepants gives his 'Cricket in 3' on the festival feel of the One-Day Cup, and Mr Gompertz reads from 'The Good Book' on the young man who discovered the One-Day Cup due to the absence of Test Match cricket.

And finally, our good friends at Newberry Cricket have another terrific competition, this week giving away their brand...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest tales from the Parish XI as they prepare for their game next weekend against the Fellows of Farting Fallows.

WG Rumblepants gives his 'Cricket in 3' on cheating in cricket, and Mr Gompertz reads from 'The Good Book' on the spirit of the game.

And finally, our good friends at Newberry Cricket have another terrific competition, this week giving away their brand new 360 cricket shoes.

Check out all of their top equipment here

To enter, just answer...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest tales from the Womens' Institute as they took a trip to see The Odyssey, and the Parish XI prepare for their fundraiser game against the Hairdressers of Upper and Lower Bottom.

WG Rumblepants rumblepants dedicates his 'Cricket in 3' to the late Sir Garfield Sobers, and Mr Gompertz reads from 'The Good Book' on the topic of the importance of all-rounders.

And finally, our good friends at Newberry Cricket have another terrific competition, this week giving away their brand new 360 cricket...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we hear the latest tales from the Parish XI as the match is called off for a 'incident of the non-striker's end'.

We also hear the continuation of our newest feature of the Service, 'Cricket in Three with WG', thanks to WG Rumblepants.

We hear the first Reading from Mr Gompertz, as he consults two passages from The Good Book in his Lesson on 'Seeing Off The New Ball In Life'.

And, finally, the congregation are in good form this week, so listen...

Welcome back to The Sunday Service!

This week, we meet our newest member of the parish, Mr Gompertz, and we hear about his first few days as he settles into his new surroundings.

Elsewhere, Mr Church has his bush trimmed into the shape of Sir Geoffrey, although this causes some unforeseen issues...

We also hear our newest feature of the Service, 'Cricket in Three with WG', thanks to WG Rumblepants.

And we also hear Churchy speak to Chris Coleman, Director of
Cricket Participation at the Surrey Foundation. They work with...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers – we hope you've all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark brings some sad news to the Parish.

In a hard-hitting Sermon, Mark reveals that Hector is leaving the Parish after 36 fantastic services at the pulpit. "It has been a joy and a pleasure to serve at The Parish, and I will miss our weekly catchups" Hector announced to the village hall this week.

But fear not, The Sunday Service will continue, as Churchy is well-met at the crease by a new ad...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers – we hope you've all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by the CEO and mastermind behind our fantastic sponsors, Newbery Cricket.

Having left school at 16, David White began work as a groundskeeper before moving into a variety of coaching roles, including serving as a County Age Group coach at Surrey.

He then moved into operations, joining Newbery initially as Chief Operating Officer after leaving West Ham, where he was Head of Operations.

Now the CEO of...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers – we hope you've all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, we continue Mark's conversation with one of the most beloved voices in cricket, who has also recently been inducted into the NZC Hall of Fame.

In 52 Test matches, he scored 2,668 runs, including three centuries and 16 half-centuries, while also taking 27 wickets.

He also claims the unique accolade of captaining New Zealand to three historic, successive Test series victories in 1985 and 1986: against Australia in Australia, against Australia in New Zealand, and against England in En...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark is joined by one of the most loved voices in cricket, who has also recently been inducted into the NZC Hall of Fame.

In 52 Test matches, he scored 2668 Test runs with three centuries and 16 half-centuries, while taking 27 Test wickets along the way. 

He also claims the prolific accolade of captaining New Zealand to three historic, and successive, Test series victories in 1985 and 1986: against Australia in Australia, against Australia in New...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Hector is joined by one of the biggest content creators in the world of cricket.

With over 150,000 followers on all platforms, and over 100 million views on his content, his rise up the social media echelons has been exponential.

Working under the title ‘What’s He On About?’, he produces podcasts and insight-driven content: from World Cup predictions to village cricket sketches and interviews.

He’s worked with the giants of...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by someone who can tell you everything you need to know about the game.

Having begun her career in the civil service, straight out of university, she ended up making a career switch to sports journalism after becoming a third voice with the BBC. 

Now a cricket reporter at the Times and Sunday Times, she is one of the most trusted voices in the game.

If we cast our minds back to the 24th of October, 2025, some of our most devoted listeners will remember a certain Church sermon that graced the airwaves.

The sermon itself came as the clocks were preparing to tick back - the cricket season was done and dusted, and it was time to hunker down for the winter.

Referring to 'the good book', Mark Church began a weekly sermon from the cricketing pulpit that has since been an ever present on the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers.

As a special episode, the Parish...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by someone who has made some brilliant things happen at the Kia Oval in recent years.

He began his cricketing journey with Opta Sports - working across scoring, analytics, and data collection - before heading to Australia for a few years, where he worked in a number of roles from Tasmania to Melbourne, aka 'the greatest city in the world'.

On his return to England in...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Hector is joined by a champion of West Indies cricket.

Having spent 22 years in the education industry - he is about to bow out as a Vice Principal at Sedgehill Academy. 

Now, he is turning his attention wholeheartedly to the media world in which he has had much success so far. Alongside commentary duties for the BBC and TalkSPORT, he also covers EFL matches for PA Media.

Most not...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by one of the great Sports Photographers.

Having started off at Varley Picture Agency before spending 10 years at the Press Association, he moved to Getty Images in 2011 - where he has been a staff photographer ever since.

He has recently released his new book, entitled: ‘Picture of England: 20 years photographing the England Men’s Cricket Team Home and Away’ which has since flown off the shelf. <...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark is alone in the parish.

His guest this week was born in California, but grew up in Western Australia, before making his professional debut back in 2014. Twelve years later, he has had to call time on his playing career due to an ankle injury - which he had first damaged in 2024.

He finishes his career with over 2,000 first-class runs and 60 first-class wickets, with a further 800+ runs and 57 wickets in wh...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by a trailblazer in the sports turf industry.

Hailing from Christchurch, New Zealand, she made the jump over to England in 2022, where she began work for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. 

In 2023, she led the first fully-female groundsteam in the UK, and prepared the wicket at Edgbaston for the first T20 of the women’s Ashes series. 

Among a whole host of awards that she ha...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by the Editor of the widely adored 'Bible of cricket'.

Having studied Modern Languages at Cambridge, graduating with a first, he started work experience with Wisden Cricket Monthly, before covering County cricket for The Daily Telegraph and freelancing for the Gaurdian and Sunday Times.

He joined the Daily Mail in 2009, and was appointed Editor of Wisden Almanack three years later.

Now, he has ju...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week's guest captained Warwickshire to six trophies in two years during the 1990’s, earning him the reputation as one of the games greatest domestic captains. He also played three Tests for England and 29 One Day Internationals - including the World Cup Final in 1992.

After retiring, he became a familiar face and voice on international cricket coverage - including England Test Matches. But on the Eve of the 2005 Ashes series he left Channel 4, after admi...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by an elite fast-bowling coach and consultant.

This man has coached a wide array of teams - from working with a number of counties, to Head Coaching the Bangladesh A side, to being the bowling coach in the final of an under-19 World Cup - he is one of the most respected bowling coaches out there.

Having played professionally for Gloucestershire before entering the coaching wo...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by one of the great cricket journalists, with a special love for the domestic game.

He has worked for The Cricketer since shortly before the 2019 World Cup - when he joined from CNN Sport - winning the Christopher Martin Jenkins Young journalist of the Year award in 2020.

Now leading The Cricketer’s coverage of the women’s game, and writing regular features on county cricket, he can...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by a legend of the 'turf management' game. 

Having begun his grounds career back in 1996, this man has worked his way up the ladder, and is now a Test match-level Head Groundsman - marshalling his charges at Chester-le-Street since 2015. A 'Professional Groundsman of the Year' award back in 2017 - an award covering groundswork across all sports - is a good indicator of his prestige within the industry.

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by one of the greats of the 'X' world. 

With 25.3 thousand followers on the platform formerly known as 'Twitter', this man hosts one of the great cricket accounts. His iPad Art, 'Today's beautiful cricket ground' segment, and County Championship countdown clock turns his platform into a cricketing community. 

WG RumblePants joins the show to chat all about his love for cricket, the origins and practicalities of h...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by the former Durham batter, turned coach, Ash Thorpe.

Having been born in Australia, playing cricket for the Western Australia Under-19s, Ash made his first-class debut for Durham against Sri Lanka back in 2002.

Now Head of Cricket at Parkview Academy of Sport, Ash also runs his own academy - as well as being a regular face on commentary for the Durham livestream. Joining this we...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector come together at the Kia Oval for a special podcast.

Church and Vickers are joined by the Chief Executive of the Desert Vipers, Phil Oliver - fresh from his side's first ILT20 title in January.

Having co-founded CricViz - spending seven years there as Managing Director before making the switch to the Vipers - it's hard to find anyone better placed to talk about leadership in cricket.

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector reunite at the Holy Ground. It's the first time the pair have recorded at the Kia Oval in 6 episodes, so you just know it's going to be special.

Church and Vickers are joined by the Chief Executive of Essex Cricket Club, Dan Feist, who has spent over 14 years at the club.

As everybody knows, domestic cricket in this country is facing an interesting future. With the investment in...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark sits down with Bryony Smith to discuss her career, last summer, and her aims for the season to come.

Bryony lifted the Vitality T20 Blast trophy last year - as the first professional captain of the Surrey women’s team.

She made her Surrey debut in 2014 and made 60* in her second game against Yorkshire. She quickly became one of the first names on the team sheet and has played 11 time...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, England's Young Lions were, regrettably, 'Sooryavanshi-ed'.

But, with Churchy spinning his web on Test Match Special and Hector trying to spin one of his own from the ground, we thought it prudent to touch on the Under-19 World Cup as a whole.

To help with this, we hear a snippet from Hector's interview with a young Thomas Rew - captain extraordinaire and future star - at training, less than 24-hours be...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Hector is joined by an ICC Hall-of-Famer. He captained Zimbabwe and is widely regarded as their greatest player of all time - and with 12 Test match hundreds, 27 Test 50s, and a record breaking unbeaten double-hundred against India, it's hard to argue otherwise.

Within his first two years as England's Head Coach, he had won two Ashes (home and away), took the Test side to number one in the world, and won England's fi...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark is joined by one of the greats of our game. He's captained Surrey to four County Championship titles over the last seven years, and has the small matter of 14,122 First Class runs to his name.

He doesn't tend to sit down for long interviews, but Churchy's managed to collar him into one today - his day, in fact - Burns night.

Rory Burns joins the pod discuss his journey in...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark is joined by former Sussex batsman Mark Newell who has been a professional umpire since 2017.

Mark talks to Mark about his cricketing journey from playing to being the man in the middle for first class cricket in this country.

Mark also gives some great advice to anybody who is considering taking up umpiring and being involved in the game.

Also on the episode, Church and Vickers continue th...

Welcome back to the Sunday Service with Church and Vickers - we hope you’ve all had a peaceful cricketing week.

This week, Mark and Hector are joined by the CEO of the MCC Foundation, Angus Berry. Having set up his own non-profit organisation to help sports clubs engage with their communities, Angus has always wanted to make the game more accessible and harness its unifying powers.

Now, as CEO of the MCCF, he talks through the Foundation’s incredible plans to facilitate accessibility with great social impact, with a focus on the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup...