Innings Declared is a podcast series about the life and times of school-teacher, sportsman and social entrepreneur, Nick Gandon.
Nick was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in January of 2024, and given ‘weeks or months’ to live. It had always been his ambition to write a memoir, but with time more precious, his family and friends persuaded him to capture his story through this podcast.
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In this final episode of the podcast series, recorded in early October, Amy invites Nick to look back over his life and share his reflections: what have been the highs, the lows and the most important lessons? And they also take time to explore some lighter topics: from Nick’s biggest hits in the kitchen to his favourite tune to belt out at karaoke. Ultimately, Amy asks Nick - when all is said and done, how would he like to be remembered?
In this episode, we break the number one rule of polite conversation: never talk religion or politics. Nick’s daughter Amy talks to him about how he’s coped with the news of his diagnosis, and the role of his belief system and ‘flaky’ relationship with faith in confronting this and many other challenges in life. They also rehearse many a previous conversation over the dinner table, exploring Nick’s political views. He makes the case for being an independent, and the importance of finding the centre ground in an age of polarisation. Finally, they touch on some of the major debates within education and the third sector - two of the policy issues closest to Nick’s passions and professional experience - from VAT on private schools to the ‘Big Society’ and national service.
In this episode, Nick talks to his friend and fellow cricket obsessive Mark Seymour about the sport that has dominated both his personal and professional life for over sixty years. They begin by exploring the roots of Nick’s fanaticism for cricket and the cricketing heroes - past and present - that have inspired him over the years. The episode also touches on his own cricketing career, from schoolboy beginnings to being picked for minor counties sides (Herts and Lincolnshire) and captaining future England players at Durham University. Mark also quizzes Nick on his role in establishing Chance to Shine - an initiative to reenergise grassroots cricket in state schools - and his reputation as a ‘rebel’ on the MCC committee. Finally, they get into some of the major debates in cricket today - from franchising to Bazball - and Nick’s hopes for the future of the game he loves so dearly. If you enjoyed this and would like to make a small donation to The Legacy Fund now set up in Dad’s name and also in the name of his great friend Simon Prodger, please text LEGACY to 70460 to donate £10. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message. You’ll be opting into hearing more from us unless you text LEGACYNOINFO instead. The Gandon Prodger Legacy Fund is supporting the work of the East Africa Character Development Trust (delivering cricket and Character Education in Nairobi, Kenya), The Alsama Project (delivering cricket and education to Syrian refugees in The Lebanon), the Saracens Foundation and the Club Cricket Charity.
In this episode, Nick’s great friend and former colleague David Pyle speaks to him about one of the great passions of his life: education. They explore his experiences working in independent boarding schools, Uppingham and Haileybury, and what he makes of the world of private education in the 21st century. They then discuss Nick’s mid-life career change to work in the charitable and not-for-profit sector, and what he himself has learnt from leaving schools to work on expanding access to cricket to state school pupils, rehabilitating prisoners and getting homeless people back on their feet. Finally, they discuss Nick’s prescription for a 21st century education - based around character - and the importance of being a ‘maverick’.
In this episode, Nick’s daughter Amy talks to Nick about his childhood and young adulthood, spanning his earliest years in East Africa through to his school and university days. Together they explore the roots of some of Nick’s most characteristic traits: his love of sport - and especially cricket - his healthy appetite for mischief and fun, as well as some of his more anti-establishment tendencies. If you enjoyed this and would like to make a small donation to The Legacy Fund now set up in Dad’s name and also in the name of his great friend Simon Prodger, please text LEGACY to 70460 to donate £10. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message. You’ll be opting into hearing more from us unless you text LEGACYNOINFO instead. The Gandon Prodger Legacy Fund is supporting the work of the East Africa Character Development Trust (delivering cricket and Character Education in Nairobi, Kenya), The Alsama Project (delivering cricket and education to Syrian refugees in The Lebanon), the Saracens Foundation and the Club Cricket Charity.