Sunday Service with Church and Vickers

Episode 32 - Times Cricket Journalist, Elizabeth Ammon

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. Elizabeth Ammon joined us earlier in the week to discuss her fascinating career, the changing world of journalism, the England Men’s Test side, and - of course - the imminent Women’s T20 World Cup. Also on the episode, Church and Vickers continue their hard-hitting, segment; "What cricket sound is this?" - and Church delivers a sermon with a full report from the Parish’s bank holiday game against “The Cheating Vicars”. A huge thank you to Elizabeth Ammon for coming on this week's show and taking us through the world of cricket. We look forward to catching up and reading her works as the summer progresses. Another big thank you goes to our friends at Newbery Cricket, who are offering up their award-winning SPS bat for this month's competition giveaway. You can read all about it via the following link: https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026 [https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026] You can also check out the premium equipment that Newbery has to offer here [https://newbery.co.uk/] If you have liked this episode of Sunday Service, please make sure to rate and review us, and share us on social media platforms. Make sure to get in touch, we want to hear your cricketing thoughts and guest suggestions: Email us at: sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com [sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com] ‘X’ - sundayservice22

Sunday Service Sermon Special

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 is treated to the first three sermons to ever reach the pulpit.  We hope you enjoy. As ever, a big thank you goes to our friends at Newbery Cricket, who are offering up their award-winning SPS bat for this month's competition giveaway. You can read all about it via the following link: https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026 [https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026] You can also check out the premium equipment that Newbery has to offer here [https://newbery.co.uk/] If you have liked this special episode of Sunday Service, please make sure to rate and review us, and share us on social media platforms. Make sure to get in touch, we want to hear your cricketing thoughts and guest suggestions: Email us at: sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com [sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com] ‘X’ - sundayservice22

Episode 31 - Company Secretary at Surrey CCC, Callum Doyle

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 2017, he joined Surrey County Cricket Club, and has been there ever since. As a trustee of the ACE programme, and the secretary of the Charlotte Edwards Foundation - he has always found the time to help give back to the beautiful game. Callum Doyle, the Company Secretary of Surrey County Cricket Club, joins the show this week to chat all about his fascinating career and what advice he would give to anyone wanting to go down a similar path. Also on the episode, Church and Vickers continue their new, hard-hitting, segment; "What cricket sound is this?" - and Church delivers a sermon which looks ahead to the Parish’s bank holiday game against “the cheating vicars”. A huge thank you to Callum Doyle for coming on this week's show and taking us through his amazing career. We look forward to catching up with him throughout the season. Another big thank you goes to our friends at Newbery Cricket, who are offering up their award-winning SPS bat for this month's competition giveaway. You can read all about it via the following link: https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026 [https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026] You can also check out the premium equipment that Newbery has to offer here [https://newbery.co.uk/] If you have liked this episode of Sunday Service, please make sure to rate and review us, and share us on social media platforms. Make sure to get in touch, we want to hear your cricketing thoughts and guest suggestions: Email us at: sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com [sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com] ‘X’ - sundayservice22

Episode 30 - The Caribbean Cricket Podcast, Machel St Patrick Hewitt

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 notably, he is founder and co-host of the highly acclaimed podcast, The Caribbean Cricket Podcast [https://www.caribbeancricketpodcast.com/], where he brings West Indies cricket to the forefront of the Caribbean diaspora and beyond. The podcast has recently passed 17k YouTube subscribers, and averages over 500k views per month. Machel St Patrick Hewitt joins Hector this week to talk all about his career thus far, discuss his plans for The Caribbean Cricket Podcast, and talk about his step away from the education sector. Also on the episode, Church and Vickers continue their new, hard-hitting, segment; "What cricket sound is this?" - and Church delivers a sermon which exclusively reveals the result of the Parishing XI’s first home game yesterday against Farting Willows. A huge thank you to Machel for coming on this week's show. We look forward to following his media ventures as they go from strength to strength. Another big thank you goes to our friends at Newbery Cricket, who are offering up their award-winning SPS bat for this month's competition giveaway. You can read all about it via the following link: https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026 [https://www.wisden.com/cricket-features/the-bat-test-2026] You can also check out the premium equipment that Newbery has to offer here [https://newbery.co.uk/] If you have liked this episode of Sunday Service, please make sure to rate and review us, and share us on social media platforms. Make sure to get in touch, we want to hear your cricketing thoughts and guest suggestions: Email us at: sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com [sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com] ‘X’ - sundayservice22

Episode 29 - Sports Photography and 'A Picture of England', Gareth Copley-Jones

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.  The book, with words by the Press Association’s Rory Dollard, spans over 180 test matches and 38 overseas tours, capturing the high’s and lows of England Men’s cricket over the past  20-years. Collating some of the most iconic moments in English cricket, the tome features recollections from over 20 of England’s greats - including Sir Jimmy Anderson, Ben Stokes, Freddie Flintoff, and Eoin Morgan - with Joe Root also writing the foreword. Gareth Copley-Jones joins the show this week to talk all about his new book, his one-of-a-kind career in sports photography, and some of his best moments over the past 20 years. Also on the episode, Church and Vickers continue their new, hard-hitting, segment; "What cricket sound is this?" - and Churchy delivers a sermon discussing why the Vicar of Sibley should be opening the batting for England. A huge thank you to Gareth for making the time to come on this week's show amidst such a busy season. We love the book and are sure that you will too! You can buy the book via the attached link...  [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Picture-England-Twenty-Photographing-Cricket/dp/1836802722] Another big thank you goes to our friends at Newbery Cricket, who are offering up their award-winning SPS bat for this month's competition giveaway.  You can check out the premium equipment that Newbery has to offer here [https://newbery.co.uk/] If you have liked this episode of Sunday Service, please make sure to rate and review us, and share us on social media platforms. Make sure to get in touch, we want to hear your cricketing thoughts and guest suggestions: Email us at: sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com [sundayservice.pod@yahoo.com] ‘X’ - sundayservice22