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• South Africa v Netherlands preview: Proteas looking to secure World Cup berth

  South Africa will face the Netherlands in two ODIs that could define their entire year, aiming to seal their place at the World Cup.

  Following an exciting but disappointing 2-1 defeat against West Indies, the Proteas need to win both matches against the Dutch and hope Ireland lose at least one of their three clashes with Bangladesh in May.

  The top eight teams in the World Cup Super League automatically qualify for the World Cup in India, with the bottom five needing to go through further qualifiers with five associate teams.

  South Africa sit in 10th place, behind West Indies (eighth) and Sri Lanka (ninth), and ahead of Ireland in 11th, but two victories will take them up to eighth.

  Their matches against the Dutch will be the conclusion of a three-match series that was supposed to take place in late 2021, but following no result in the first contest, the second two were postponed due to concerns around a COVID-19 variant.

  Now that those matches are due to be played, South Africa find themselves needing to take them seriously and have selected a strong squad accordingly.

  Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, David Miller and Aiden Markram are among those to have been made available by Cricket South Africa despite their impending involvement in the IPL.

  "We have named our strongest possible squad for these games given the importance of these matches in the context of qualifying for the ICC men's Cricket World Cup," South Africa's white-ball coach Rob Walter said.

  "We have a job to do and I am confident that with this group of players, we can get the job done."

  The Netherlands bring the same squad that lost 2-1 in Zimbabwe, which included a dramatic one-run victory for the hosts in Harare in the second of their three encounters.

  Roelof van der Merwe could feature for the first time since the first match of this series against the nation he used to represent.

  Fast bowlers Paul van Meekeren and Fred Klaassen returned against Zimbabwe, but the Dutch will be without Brandon Glover, Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann due to county commitments.

  De Kock looking to emulate Williamson and Warner

  Quinton de Kock (5,949) is just 51 runs away from becoming the seventh player to score 6,000 for South Africa in men's ODIs.

  Should he do so in the first match against the Netherlands, he will be the joint-third fastest player (139 matches) to reach the landmark in the history of the format with New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Australia's David Warner.

  Dutch looking for another rare win

  While they sit comfortably bottom of the World Cup Super League, the Netherlands can at least take solace in getting a rare win in their series against Zimbabwe.

  Their three-wicket victory on March 21 was the only win of their last 18 men's ODIs (L17).

• Archer unlikely to play any red-ball cricket before the Ashes

  Should Jofra Archer be selected for this year's Ashes series, he will likely be playing his first red-ball cricket in over two years.

  Archer is set to represent Mumbai Indians in the IPL, which culminates on May 28, with the first Test between England and Australia taking place at Edgbaston on June 16.

  England have a Test scheduled against Ireland on June 1, but should Mumbai go far in the IPL, it is unlikely Archer would be available.

  The pace bowler, who turns 28 on Saturday, has not played a Test match for England since a 10-wicket defeat to India in Ahmedabad in February 2021, with his last first-class game for Sussex being in May 2021 against Kent.

  Elbow and back injuries kept him on the sidelines for 17 months, but he returned to white-ball cricket in January.

  Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace believes England's plan is for Archer to be ready for the Ashes after the end of the IPL.

  "I think all things being equal, he will go straight into the Ashes off the back of the IPL," Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.

  "The England plan for Jofra is he'll go and play in the IPL.

  "I think their plan is that between IPL games he'll then bowl some longer spells to get his overs up and make sure that he is match-ready.

  "That's the nature of international franchise cricket these days. I know there'll be a lot of people saying 'he should play at least two four-day games to be ready for a Test match', but the preparation and the work that the medical teams do around these players is exceptional."

  Archer dampened expectations of significant involvement against Australia in early March, telling reporters: "If I can play one [Test] this summer, I'll be happy. If I play more than one, that's just a bonus."

• IPL 2023 preview: Buttler aims to serve up a repeat as new season could be Dhoni's last act

  The Ashes is coming up this year, and so too is the Cricket World Cup.

  But the roaring success of the Indian Premier League means its 16th season is anticipated on a similar level to those totemic events on the cricket calendar.

  And why not? There is no greater franchise competition in cricket, featuring star names from across the globe playing to vast crowds and huge television audiences.

  A measure of the boom in IPL popularity came when its broadcast rights were sold in the wake of last year's tournament, with five-year deals bringing in 48,390.5 crore (£4.8billion), testament to the tournament's enormous appeal.

  Among leagues worldwide, only the NFL is said to have bigger per-game TV deals, with the spectacle of T20 cricket becoming a big winner with spectators, sponsors, broadcasters and advertisers.

  Heading into the 2023 season, which begins on Friday with an eye-catching tussle between defending champions Gujarat Titans and 2021 winners Chennai Super Kings, Stats Perform has identified potential key storylines for the new campaign.

  How can Buttler follow his MVP season?

  Jos Buttler had a staggering campaign last time out for Rajasthan Royals, hitting 863 runs in 17 innings at an average of 57.53, with four centuries to his name. That was as many centuries as everyone else in the IPL combined managed to score.

  He finished 247 runs ahead of KL Rahul, who was second on the batting list. Buttler cracked 83 fours and 45 sixes, and he has since been appointed England's white-ball captain.

  This is a huge year for Buttler, with England defending their title at the World Cup, and all eyes will be on the 32-year-old to see how he contributes for the Royals.

  Chris Gayle, in 2011 and 2012, is the only batter to have finished as top scorer in consecutive IPL seasons.

  This is a league that brings explosive moments, and Australian bowler Pat Cummins surprisingly managed the fastest fifty with the bat last year, achieving the feat from 14 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians.

  With the ball, Buttler's Rajasthan team-mate Yuzvendra Chahal took a league-leading 27 wickets, at an average of 19.51 and with a 7.75 economy rate. He was the only bowler to take a hat-trick in the 2022 IPL, doing so against KKR.

  The economy rate king was two-time former MVP Sunil Narine, who gave up an average of 5.57 runs in his 56 overs, albeit taking just a modest nine wickets.

  CSK seek immediate statement win

  Gujarat were champions in their debut season last time around, while defending champions Chennai finished a miserable ninth out of 10 teams.

  This time CSK are determined to start strongly and banish memories of 2022, and one way or another it promises to be a memorable campaign.

  It appears likely to be MS Dhoni's final IPL campaign, with the 41-year-old giant of the game and former India captain reportedly considering whether to call time on his illustrious playing career.

  Dhoni would want to go out on a high, and in the hope of building a winning team CSK have taken an expensive plunge by bringing in England Test captain Ben Stokes.

  There are suggestions Stokes could inherit Dhoni's talisman status at CSK, although there has been an early blow with the all-rounder not expected to bowl in the early stages of the tournament due to concern over his left knee.

  CSK suffered another setback to their bowling department when they lost New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson to a back injury, replacing him with South Africa paceman Sisanda Magala.

  Could pulling the Short straw work out well for Punjab Kings?

  Jonny Bairstow would have been lining up for Punjab Kings, but a freak golf course injury continues to keep the England wicketkeeper-batter out of action.

  In his place comes Australian Matthew Short, who has yet to play international cricket or feature in the IPL, but the 27-year-old is experiencing quite a moment in his career.

  Short was player of the tournament in Australia's Big Bash League, the domestic T20 competition, when he scored 458 runs for Adelaide Strikers and became just the third player in 12 seasons to hit 400 runs and take 10 wickets in a single season.

  He will fancy stepping up to IPL level and continuing his rich run of form, and joins a franchise that has seen significant change since finishing sixth last year. Punjab have a new captain and new coach, with Shikhar Dhawan and Trevor Bayliss replacing Mayank Agarwal and Anil Kumble.

  PBKS will hope Short makes a long-lasting impact, while they are trusting a huge investment in Sam Curran pays off after making the England all-rounder the most expensive player in IPL history, landing him in the draft for 18.5 Cr (£1.85million).

  Changes across the board

  A year is a long time in the IPL, and there have been a host of new appointments.

  Australian veteran and IPL master blaster David Warner has taken over as captain of Delhi Capitals due to Rishabh Pant being ruled out while he recovers from the major car accident he experienced in December.

  Brendon McCullum's move to coach England means Kolkata needed a new man in charge, and they have brought in Chandrakant Pandit, while Brian Lara has taken over from Tom Moody with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mark Boucher will pull the strings with Mumbai Indians after Mahela Jayawardene became global head of performance.