West Indies are looking to rebuild on their T20I strengths after a disastrous T20 World Cup campaign, and they have made inroads so far, taking a lead in the series against England at home. South Africa look well on the way to their own rebuilding - they have tacked on a 3-0 ODI series win to their Test series triumph from earlier in the month against India. And even as he prepares to lead Multan Sultans in the PSL again, Mohammad Rizwan took a breather to look back at a remarkable 2021. All this and more in our round-up of the top stories of the week.
Rovman Powell's 51-ball century powers West Indies back into series lead
Tom Banton, Phil Salt battled for England but had no lasting answer to Powell's brutal six-laden onslaught and only the third T20I century by a West Indies player. Powell's "breakthrough international performance" came after a time where he struggled against wristspin but his hundred showed he overcame that, says Matt Roller. West Indies have now taken a 2-1 lead over England in the T20I series.
South Africa overcome Deepak Chahar scare to make it 3-0 clean sweep
After sealing the series for South Africa in the second ODI, Quinton de Kock stepped up in last game with a classy 124 to make it three in three. India have a number of problems to sort out, says Hemant Brar, from new-ball ineffectiveness and the absence of a genuine allrounder to a shaky middle order and a paucity of wicket-takers, where even India's spinners were outbowled by their South African counterparts. Firdose Moonda says for South Africa the twin series triumphs suggest they are in the midst of a turnaround, led by de Kock and Andile Phehlukwayo.
'Once it hit, it hit so hard' - keeping the BBL going through Covid
As the BBL heads into its injury-and-Covid-hit final, Tristan Lavalette looks at how the resurgent pandemic derailed a tournament that began promisingly smoothly.
Mohammad Rizwan: 'I want to do what nobody else is doing. If somebody's done it then that's just ordinary'
From nearly giving up on his T20 career to being named the ICC's T20I Cricketer of the Year, Rizwan looks back at his remarkable 2021.
'Nothing can describe that feeling when you've won a Test match with your team'
Katherine Brunt, Isa Guha, Arran Brindle, Lisa Keightley and Shelley Nitschke look back at the hard-fought Women's Ashes of 2005.
Pakistan Super League preview
The PSL kicked off this week with a whole host of Covid precautions and contingencies in place. How are the teams looking this year? Umar Farooq and Danyal Rasool have the primer on Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi, the new-look Quetta Gladiators and Babar Azam-led Karachi Kings, and last season's champions Multan Sultans and favourites Islamabad United.
Also packing their bag for the tournament is a raft of England players - Matt Roller has six to watch. The tournament is also a reminder of ECB's flimsy pullout from the Pakistan tour last year - even while the board drags its feet, England players have come to dominate the PSL overseas pool.
Have England ever had an Ashes series without a century?
And how many men have scored 2000 runs and taken 200 wickets in one-day internationals? All your cricket questions answered by Steven Lynch in this week's Ask Steven.
Wayne Phillips on the mental-health struggles that curtailed his career: 'I was vomiting during games'
The keeper-batter spoke to Shannon Gill about how he came into international cricket at a time when Australia were at a low ebb, and it took a toll on his mental health.
Highly structured coaching dehumanises cricket. Here's what we should be doing instead
Greg Chappell says coaches need to create environments where players can learn problem-solving and decision-making on their own in match contexts.