If you were hoping for a breather from the packed cricket schedule this year, this isn't the week for you. England have landed in sunny Bridgetown to take on West Indies in the first of three Tests; India have barely finished their triumphant Australia tour before they are in New Zealand to play a limited-overs series; and South Africa and Pakistan are still battling it out in one dayers. Also, Australia still have to go head to head with Sri Lanka next week, and let's not even talk of the IPL and the World Cup, which are growing ever bigger in the rearview mirror. You're going to need our catch-up notes.

Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez ace chase to put Pakistan 1-0 up

Pakistan survived a wobble to win the first ODI against South Africa after losing the Test series 0-3, but questions remain. Danyal Rasool analyses Pakistan's performance and asks if Pakistan should use Mohammad Amir as an overseas-only bowler.

South Africa thrive on pace, spicy pitches and increased depth

Liam Brickhill, meanwhile, has five takeaways from the other side - South Africa's whitewashing of Pakistan - and cheers Duane Olivier, whom he calls SA's enforcer. Mark Nicholas is just happy to see that Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn still have some gas in their tanks.

Chappell: Will Kohli end up the Bradman of ODI batting?

India clinched their ODI series win in Australia through a tight chase, with MS Dhoni scoring his third half-century in as many innings. Ian Chappell loves Dhoni's icy-cool finishes - though not everyone does - even when the match looks like it may be getting away from him, but it's Kohli who he thinks could be the next cricket great.

Five of the best Barbados Tests

With England warming up to take on West Indies at home, Andrew Miller looks back at some of Bridgetown's finest moments, from Alec Stewart's famous double to a Brian Lara classic against Australia.

West Indies' interim coach Richard Pybus shrugs off criticism of comeback

The former director of cricket was appointed interim coach in contentious circumstances but he said West Indies are "focused, positive and motivated" and that there were no issues in the camp.

'Let Hardik, Rahul play till court order' - CK Khanna to CoA

Acting BCCI president doesn't want the careers of both players in limbo following their suspension for controversial comments on a talk show.

Manu Sawhney named new ICC CEO

The former ESPN-Star Sports managing director will formally take charge of his role after the 2019 World Cup.

ECB to 'redouble efforts' to educate players after court cases cause sponsor concern

Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the ECB, admits that cricket's reputation has been damaged by recent high-profile cases.

The mind of Mike Brearley

The former England captain, psychoanalyst, and lately prolific author, talks to Paul Edwards about Stokes, race, captaincy and more.

Types of T20 teams

In parts three and four of our six-part series on styles and strategies used by T20 teams around the world, Tim Wigmore examines the batting team: how Royal Challengers Bangalore and Nottinghamshire show the perils and the pros of T20 sides built around batsmen and the spin team: spinners are underused in T20 - unjustifiably so, as the success of Afghanistan, Chennai and Guyana has shown.

The ESPNcricinfo Awards: Test nominees

We're kicking off the ESPNcricinfo 2018 awards by celebrating the best in the game. In a tough year for Test batting, these are our nominees who stood out. And here are the bowlers who challenged batsmen's supremacy in the format.