In Case You Missed It: The World Cup song and dance

The World Cup is only a fortnight away, and that can only mean one thing - it's time for a new song. The IPL has wound up - how closely did you follow the league stage? - and a new (old) champion crowned. Meanwhile, cricket is racking up a body count higher than Game of Thrones, and almost every team is rehabbing injured players or hastily swapping them out in time for the World Cup. Here's all the action that went down last week.

ICC satisfied England did not tamper with ball against Pakistan
After an unverified piece of footage from the second Pakistan v England ODI surfaced, purportedly showing England bowler Liam Plunkett running his fingers over the roughed-up ball, the governing body said it was aware of the video on social media and was "comfortable that there was no attempt to change the condition of the ball".

Jos Buttler on top of the world as Pakistan make England work for win
Buttler scored the second-fastest England ODI ton as Pakistan fell just 12 runs short of a giant target to give the hosts a 1-0 series lead in their last ODI series before the World Cup.

Listen: Kohli the captain 'relies on intuition', is 'exceptionally open to ideas' - Daniel Vettori
On the latest episode of ESPNcricinfo's Talking T20 podcast, Vettori talks about Kohli as a leader, the role of data analytics in cricket, and more.

From No Hope to England's great hope - when Jofra Archer went on tour to Cornwall
Jofra Archer is now England's rising star - and has made an irrefutable case for the World Cup already - but a few years ago he was sleeping on the floor at his friend's. George Dobell chronicles his rise.

IPL report card: How the English contingent fared
The IPL welcomed a batch of English players again this year. With none reaching the knockout stages, Alan Gardner rates their returns.

Aussies overseas: Ferguson fires in a lean week for Australians
Alex Malcolm takes stock of how the Australians performed in the IPL and county cricket as the World Cup and Australia A tours edge closer. Andrew McGlashan meanwhile has his eye on the bowlers.

A high-quality advertisement for women's cricket in India
A thrilling final brought the curtains down on the Women's T20 Challenge, which served as a stage for India's youngsters and big international names alike. Annesha Ghosh shares some thoughts.

AB de Villiers pulls back from BBL interest
The batsman's decision to stay away will be a significant blow to Cricket Australia's search for marquee names in the tournament.

Ian Chappell: Players to watch at the World Cup? Put Kohli, Buttler and Stokes at the top of the list Teams' fortunes will depend on their talismanic players and what sort of influence they have.

Which ground has hosted the most World Cup matches?
And which team has been involved in more than one World Cup tie? Take our stats man Gaurav Sundararaman's tough World Cup quiz.

The story of De Saram and Satha: batting geniuses who went to jail
Two of Sri Lanka's greatest batsmen had memorable lives, but they have been nearly forgotten today. Nicholas Brookes follows their story.

World Cup injury round-up

Jhye Richardson out of World Cup, Kane called up
The Australia pace bowler has not recovered from a dislocated shoulder in time for the tournament with Kane Richardson - who'd given up on his World Cup chances - taking his place.

India to keep Kedar Jadhav's World Cup spot safe
The shoulder injury is not as serious as earlier expected, and the middle-order batsman is likely to be fully fit in time for the team's departure.

Injured Anrich Nortje out of World Cup, Chris Morris called up
The South Africa fast bowler has a fractured right thumb and will need six to eight weeks to make a full recovery.