We ended our previous episode predicting the IPL would continue on - how wrong we were. Less than 24 hours after the episode was recorded, more positive cases emerged and the tournament was officially postponed.

Despite the lack of cricket on the field, there's still plenty to talk about. India has named their 20-strong squad for the upcoming tour to the UK, which includes the World Test Championship Final and 5 Tests against England.

The West Indies have announced their contract list for the upcoming season, which saw players like Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner rewarded for their impressive debuts, and we finish the show by announcing an exciting project that Baldy has been working on that will soon see the light of day. It's going to provoke plenty of debate, and a conversation that we're really excited to start.

Just before our recording started, the news broke that Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier from the Kolkata Knight Riders have tested positive for Covid-19. We speculate on the implications for the rest of the tournament and what might happen over the next few days.

It's back to cricket after that, with the Black Caps in camp, Heinrich Malan added to the coaching staff and bowlers bowling with the Dukes ball. We start to get excited about the upcoming England and World Test Championship tour: Ross Taylor's picked up an injury but Will Young's scored 100 opening the batting for Durham.

Before we move to the on-field events at the IPL, we quickly touch on cricket at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the new board to govern Cricket South Africa.

In the second part of the show, we chat through Kane Williamson replacing David Warner as captain at Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virat Kohli's RCB hitting a speed bump, the Mumbai Indians and Kieron Pollard rolling into form and whether the top 4 of CSK, Delhi, Mumbai and RCB should already be pencilled in as we pass the halfway point of the season.

We're one third of the way through the IPL, and unfortunately the cricketing headlines are being overshadowed by the tragic Covid-19 situation in India. We do our best to provide some distraction, touching on all 8 teams as we discuss what's caught our eye in the first 20 games of the tournament.

Before the IPL chat, Baldy runs us through more turmoil in South African cricket and an 8-year ban for Heath Streak, while Binksy joins spin corner to update us on the early rounds of the County Championship and the form of Dom Bess and Matt Parkinson's 'Ball of This Century'.

As the IPL chat begins, we work our way from the bottom of the table Kolkata Knight Riders through to a CSK side flying high and fresh off a win and a 37-run over from Ravindra Jadeja. We ask whether Andre Russell needs a promotion, wonder when Mumbai's finishers will find form and hit the panic button for a couple of teams, even after Lippy said it was too early to hit the panic button. There's praise for Moeen Ali and Glenn Maxwell in their new sides, we make the case for 'the craftsmen', Lippy tries to reference as many Black Caps as possible and the mulligans come out as we take another crack at predicting the playoff sides.

There's podcasts a plenty this week at the Top Order and in this episode we round up everything that caught our eye around the cricketing world.

We start the show by discussing whether Quinton de Kock's antics constitute fake fielding, before Baldy outlines just how astonishing this record-breaking Australian women's team actually are.

Kraigg Brathwaite's sunglasses are still doing a good job, Washington Sundar's has a new dog, Covid concerns hover over the start of the IPL and we talk about a tweak to the DRS that has bowlers smiling.

In this episode of the show, we span the globe to chat through the cricketing week that was.

We start in India to discuss their excellent white-ball series against England. Did India keep a few tricks up their sleeve? Are the days of the big-daddy hundred over? Will Virat Kohli's move to open become permanent? And can we expect similar run-fests in the 2021 T20 and 2023 ODI World Cups?

With all the talk of run-fests, we return to New Zealand shores to discuss how equipped this current Black Caps side is to chase down huge totals. We ask whether Devon Conway is a cybernetic organism with living tissue over metal endoskeleton, heap praise on Daryl Mitchell and ponder potential candidates for an extended T20 World Cup squad.

We finish the show with the continued success of Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner, which has the West Indies on the improve, as well as the most important question of the evening: If you're not Chris Gayle, is it ever acceptable to wear sunglasses when you're batting?