England put their World Cup preparation - and its last-minute concerns - aside on Sunday as the entire squad turned out for the Ruth Strauss Foundation Family Mile in central London.

Wearing bright red t-shirts emblazoned with the foundation's logo, the England players were photographed at the event behind a banner which read "Run With Ruth" as part of the 2019 Vitality Westminster Mile. Participants could run, jog or walk from The Mall to Buckingham Palace and several players - including skipper Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow - wore race numbers, taking part in the event alongside former England captain Andrew Strauss.

England head of team communications Danny Reuben posted the photos on Twitter, saying: "Fantastic turnout for the at the #WestminsterMile - all the squad in attendance." Several players, including Morgan, Stokes and Chris Woakes, publicised the event on their own Twitter accounts and called for donations.

Fantastic turnout for the at the #WestminsterMile - all the squad in attendance. pic.twitter.com/jydVnxtNE3

— Danny Reuben () May 26, 2019

Ruth Strauss, Andrew's wife, died in December aged 46 after battling a rare form of lung cancer. The foundation aims to raise awareness and funds for research into the disease and support services for sufferers and their families. Strauss said: "Ruth loved families spending time together and it will be wonderful to see so many families come together on Sunday May 26 to celebrate her life."

The team's participation came a day after their 12-run loss to Australia in a World Cup warm-up match in Southampton, during which fast bowlers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer and spin-bowling allrounder Liam Wood were injured. Wood's problem was of most concern as he awaited the results of scans on his left foot. Morgan missed the match with a finger fracture and Root was a late inclusion as a substitute while mourning the death of a grandparent.

Gayle 'an inspiration' as Taylor looks towards 2023

Ross Taylor comes into the World Cup at his absolute peak as an ODI batsman. Since the start of 2017, he averages 70.96 in the format, and only Virat Kohli has done better among batsmen with a minimum of 1000 runs in this period.

For how long can Taylor keep going, though? The New Zealand batsman is 35 now, and he admits 2019 could be his last World Cup, but he isn't ruling out another one four years down the line. He counts Chris Gayle, who's as old now as Taylor will be in 2023, as an inspiration.

"My approach to the World Cup is not necessarily a mindset of going out there just to enjoy it," Taylor told ICC. "You always put a lot of pressure on yourself in big tournaments - pressure comes with it whether you think about it or not, so it's about managing those moments.

"I'm 35 but you never really know what's to come. Chris Gayle is probably an inspiration - he's 39 in this World Cup and I'm 39 at the next, so it's not a simple matter. You never know, this will probably be my last World Cup but if these hamstrings and calves hold together then maybe I can be back in a few years."

Taylor had a relatively quiet time at the 2015 World Cup, scoring 221 runs at an average of 31.57, even as his team made the final for the first time. New Zealand played all but one of their matches - the final - at home four years ago; now Taylor feels it will be a more difficult task to get that far or better that performance.

"I think you have to pace yourself in a tournament like this, it's a long time and the way our schedule is, there are a lot of games at the start and a bit of a break in the middle," Taylor said. "The way you rest and train between games is going to be very important.

"When it comes to a warm-up you just treat it as that and then get out of the game what you want to get out of it. For us, we haven't played as a team for two or three months, so it was about going out there and testing our skills out against the best.

"It's going to be a lot tougher, making the final four years ago we played a lot of games at home and we knew our conditions very well. If you get off to a good start and get onto a roll, you can get into those semi-finals and suddenly you're only two wins away from winning it."

The other side of Mashrafe

In the five months as a member of parliament from his native Narail, Mashrafe Mortaza has already created a stir with his straightforward approach. His surprise visit to a local hospital led him to discover that the doctors weren't present, and the message from Mashrafe was clear: wrongdoing won't be tolerated. Mashrafe also directed Narail's local administrator to buy paddy directly from the farmers after many of them in other parts of the county protested not getting a fair price for their produce. This attitude has struck a chord with the local people.

Soon after, he led Bangladesh to the Ireland tri-series win. Mashrafe, however, has said that politics has to take a backseat now that he is leading Bangladesh into the World Cup.

"I am just concentrating on cricket," Mashrafe told ESPNcricinfo. "My involvement in politics isn't at that level yet. I don't have to give it a lot of time, apart from particular issues. I am still very comfortable to recognize myself as a cricketer. Politics is not full-time at the moment."

Mashrafe said that he is hopeful that the combination of the experienced cricketers and the younger lot can bring Bangladesh success in England, starting with their opening game against South Africa at the Oval on June 2.

"The younger players, some of whom have played in the previous World Cup, are giving us confidence. If all of them continue in their good form, we can expect to have a good match [against South Africa]. The likes of Shakib, Tamim, Mahmudullah, Mushfiq and Mustafiz have delivered under pressure," he said.

'If we start getting on a roll, no one will relish facing us' - Kemar Roach

West Indies might not be on many people's list of favourites for the World Cup 2019, but their fast bowler Kemar Roach is least bothered about that. In fact, he feels the side performs better when the focus is not on them.

"We love being underdogs, going under the radar and surprising people, that is our game plan," Roach told the ICC. "We like not having to deal with the hype. The format is ideal, whoever wins this World Cup won't have got lucky - they'll have had to play everyone. If we start getting on a roll, no one will relish facing us."

Prior to the 2019 edition, England have hosted the World Cup four times, and on three of those occasions, West Indies made it to the finals. They won the first two editions, in 1975 and 1979, and were the runner-ups in the next in 1983. While the current West Indies team may not be of the same pedigree, Roach said they were up for the challenge to make history of their own.

"It's a great feeling to follow those guys that won here all those years ago," Roach said. "We know the history we have in this tournament when England host it and that's inspiring to us all. What those guys did means we still get amazing support in this country, we know the fans here love the West Indies and we want to put on that show they expect.

"However, we also know we have to make our own history, that's our challenge and the guys are ready for it."

'Versatility makes me an asset' - Brathwaite

You 'remember the name', of course you do. And the four consecutive sixes that won West Indies the T20 World Cup. Now Carlos Brathwaite is set to play his first ODI World Cup, and the allrounder warmed up by hitting 60 in a game against Australia. Brathwaite is confident his versatility will help West Indies make a deep run in the tournament.

"When chosen, my skill-set suits bowling very tight in the middle, offering some support at the death and then with the bat picking up the slack," Brathwaite said on Saturday. "If I need to come in the last three or four overs to give us a boost to the total then fine… or the odd game where I can come in and play a longer knock, so I think it's about working on all facets of my game so my versatility makes me an asset that can be chosen at any point during the tournament.

"It's another challenge and whatever situation presents itself is for me to use that versatility again and to adapt to it. We may need another knock like against Australia or we may need a knock where they only have three overs and I'm supporting one of the batters that is in, so it's another good challenge for the team and puts us one step closer to the ultimate goal which is winning the tournament."

May 25

Pretty crazy to see 350 being chased down - Boult

Trent Boult has played only one World Cup, but he left a deep impression. Boult took 22 wickets in 2015, the joint highest alongside Mitchell Starc, as New Zealand marched to their first ever final.

However, Boult knows that in 2019, bowlers are likely to have a tougher time than they did in 2015, given the prodigious scoring seen in England in recent times. "With the ball we want to be as aggressive as we can. We know that taking wickets can stump that run rate," Boult said ahead of new Zealand's first warm-up match, against India. "Without giving away our gameplan, I think it's obvious that all teams are trying to take early wickets and put the pressure on the batting team. To see these 300-350, 400 even being touched, and then being chased down is pretty crazy in my opinion."

New Zealand's pace attack has Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, James Neesham and Tim Southee besides Boult, and he acknowledged that with very little help from the conditions, finding new ways to take wickets would be a challenge.

"Not just for me, but the attack we possess, we're all kind of new-ball bowlers," Boult said. "We're swing bowlers. If the conditions suit, then obviously we've got the skills to put the opposition to the test there, but the balls haven't really been swinging so we're not really coming here and expecting it to be around like it did four years ago. The test of the bowling group is that there's other ways to find wickets and I think that's going to be the challenge over the next couple of weeks - to try and find wickets when the pitches are flat. It's not swinging and they're kind of batsmen-friendly conditions, but we're looking forward to the challenge."

May 24

The 'still relevant' Dinesh Karthik

'Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him.'

That's not quite what Dinesh Karthik said, but he pointed if people were still talking about him - either for or against - he had managed to stay 'relevant'.

Despite being overlooked for India's final ODI series - against Australia at home - before the World Cup, Karthik pipped Rishabh Pant to the back-up wicketkeeper spot for the global tournament. It divided opinion, but Karthik felt he was satisfied as long as he remained in the conversation.

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"I wouldn't still be playing if it weren't for the blessings of my friends and family," Karthik told PTI before leaving for England. "Good or bad, if people still talk about you it means that you have managed to stay relevant. It is extremely satisfying that I have managed to stay relevant all these years and still trying hard to be part of the team."

Karthik, however, also admitted that he was surprised at his exclusion from India's ODI squad for the Australia series, but felt that his successes over a long period contributed to his selection.

"I was a bit shocked (on missing out), but I had faith that you know if it is meant to be, it is meant to be," Karthik said. "In the end, I was picked for my performances over the last two years.

"I have batted in various positions (over the last 24 months) and I have had decent success in those positions. But the key is not for me to look back at the last two years, the greatest tournament is going to happen and I now have the opportunity to play there."

'Asghar Afghan is still my captain'

Asghar Afghan's removal as Afghanistan's ODI captain less than two months before the World Cup had garnered criticism from some of the team's senior players, but his replacement Gulbadin Naib quelled any murmurs of disharmony within the team, saying he still considered Asghar as his captain.

"Asghar Afghan is still my captain," Naib told ICC. "We played our last few games against Ireland and Scotland, and he helped me a lot. He guided me. He's not just another player for me, he's still my captain right now.

"I want support from him. Not just him, but [Mohammad] Nabi, Rashid [Khan] and all the guys who have a lot of experience. All of us have one goal: we want to play for Afghanistan and play as a team, whoever the captain is."

Afghanistan have warm-up games scheduled against Pakistan and England before they open their campaign on June 1 against Australia.