In Case You Missed It: Warm-ups, washouts, and the world according to Shahid Afridi

It's the penultimate "are we there yet" week before the World Cup kicks off and it hasn't been uneventful, thanks in part to Shahid Afridi's autobiography. England have swept warm-up matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka are waiting for the rain to stop to play Scotland, Bangladesh have taken on Ireland and West Indies, and won, Australia are champing at the bit, and India are recovering from the IPL. We're heading into melee week before the battle royale begins, and here's where everyone's at right now.

Chris Woakes' five-for shines at end of England's spotless World Cup warm-up
England showed again why they are World Cup favourites as they sealed a 4-0 win over Pakistan in their last warm-up ODIs before the tournament.

Mosaddek's blazing fifty seals historic win for Bangladesh
Bangladesh chased 210 in a rain-shortened game to win their first-ever ODI tournament final in the tri-series against Ireland and West Indies.

Jason Holder targets Afghanistan at the World Cup
The West Indies captain, meanwhile, is firing up a new rivalry, and looking for payback for Afghanistan's win over them in the World Cup Qualifiers. The team also announced their reserves for the Cup, including Kieron Pollard, and Dwayne Bravo, who hasn't played an ODI for West Indies since 2014.

Mohammad Amir down with suspected chickenpox
The Pakistan paceman's cup of woe runneth over as an alleged bout of chickenpox has further dimmed his already tenuous hopes of making it into the final squad, the announcement of which is expected by May 23.

Elephants in the room abound as ECB seeks to vanquish its Hundred doubters
The ECB stumbled from gaffe to gaffe in the soft-launch of its new competition, and at precisely the moment that it had hoped to start convincing people of the real and rigorous merit behind it, the board instead reiterated an impression of aloof incompetence, says Andrew Miller.

It's always sunny in Lala land
Osman Samiuddin reviews… er, makes notes on… goes on a madcap, often fact-free, ride through the mind of Pakistan's most enigmatic allrounder, Shahid Afridi, through his ghosted autobiography Game Changer.

Why aren't T20 teams scoring bigger more often?
If more sides approached T20 less like traditional cricket forms and embraced all-out hitting without worrying about wickets, they would end up consistently pushing the envelope, says Jarrod Kimber.

GS Lakshmi becomes first woman to be ICC match referee
The former Railways player is first woman to be part of the ICC's panel of international match referees and is eligible to officiate in international matches with immediate effect. Annesha Ghosh spoke to Lakshmi about her playing career, her journey as a referee, and her dream to officiate in the Women's World Cup final.

The case for a bigger, better Women's T20 Challenge next year
With close to 30,000 people attending the four showcase games in Jaipur, Annesha Ghosh wonders what a few sensible tweaks can do for the women's game in India

Watch: 25 Questions with Graeme Swann
Who's the worst singer in the England team? Who really needs to wash his shorts? And are Indian batsman good players of spin? Former England offspinner Graeme Swann has the answers and he's not afraid to share.

The best and worst buys of IPL 2019
It's IPL review time and Hemant Brar takes stock of the return on investment players have delivered this season. Who was the best value-for-money buy? And who burned a hole in their franchise's pockets fruitlessly? And how much do you remember of IPL 2019?

The Irishman who became captain of England
Melinda Farrell profiles England's unlikely captain, who took the side from an embarrassment in ODIs to world No. 1.