Season 7, Ep 8: After handing down Steve Smith's ban, Cricket Australia took the unusual step of linking the player with Maurice Duffy, an Irish academic who describes his job as a 'mindset coach'. The pair worked together throughout that year and through Smith's remarkable Ashes series that followed. We caught up with Maurice to talk about how the relationship.

Also, our comprehensive Women's Big Bash wrap, a look at bans for James Pattinson and Em Smith, and a brief flirtation with Nerd Pledge.

Send us your Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword

Listen to all our episodes at finalwordcricket.com

The Final Word is produced by Bad Producer Productions

Title track by Urthboy: www.elefanttraks.com

Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices