In Case You Missed It: The World Cup gets a schedule, West Indies get a reality check

It's here, finally, and no, it's not the Ashes, it's the World Cup schedule, with only 100 days to go for the event. The second Ashes Test got off to an arresting start, literally, England went hard as promised and Australia lost the services of Nathan Lyon in his 100th consecutive Test. At the World Cup Qualifier, West Indies have lost to Netherlands and Zimbabwe and are struggling to book a berth in the tournament proper. And Australia Women pulled ahead of England in the lone Ashes Test but there's still the ODI and T20I series to go. Here's a round-up of the week's action.

Ashleigh Gardner eight-for, 12 in the match, as Australia claim Ashes advantage
Australia also got a headstart in the Women's Ashes as their final-day victory in the fastest-scoring women's Test of all time put them 4-0 ahead of England, thanks in no small part to Alyssa Healy, who kept wicket and batted with two fractured fingers, and in large part to Ashleigh Gardner, who spent sleepless nights thinking about fifth-day bowling plans only to see it all work out.

Travelling fans left in the lurch with World Cup schedule announcement delay
Just before the World Cup schedule finally dropped after an inordinate delay, Nagraj Gollapudi spoke to three of the world's biggest cricket tour operators to find out how they're coping with this unprecedented delay.

Pujara dropped; Jaiswal and Gaikwad in India's Test squad for West Indies
India's squad for the West Indies tour had more than a few surprises, including the exclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara and the promotion of Ajinkya Rahane to vice-captain. Shashank Kishore says Jaiswal has made a case for the No. 3 position despite being a far cry from the likes of Rahul Dravid and Pujara, while Sidharth Monga looks at what more domestic stalwart Sarfaraz Khan can do to get selected for India.

At the World Cup Qualifier
West Indies took two body blows last week, losing matches to Zimbabwe and Netherlands, the latter in a thrilling Super Over in the highest-scoring tied ODI. It puts the two-time ODI World Cup champions in a tight spot as they battle five other teams to book one of the two slots on offer at the World Cup.

ECB issues 'unreserved apology' as ICEC report reveals deep-rooted discrimination within English cricket
The 317-page document that laid bare the many failings of the sport also included 44 recommendations to improve equity. Andrew Miller hopes that this landmark document holds a mirror up to cricket's flaws and helps to instigate meaningful change.

How cricket in Scotland has stumbled from a racism scandal to the brink of meltdown
Just across the border, Cricket Scotland has had its own race reckoning, but since the publication of a report on racism in the game in the country, their cricket board has gone from one crisis and flashpoint to another. Osman Samiuddin follows the many twists in the tale.

How many players have batted on every day of a Test?
And how many women have been out for 99 in one? Steven Lynch dredges up answers to all your trivia questions in this week's Ask Steven.

Tahlia McGrath: 'I can't get my head around liquid as a meal. Soup is not a meal'
The Australia allrounder spoke about her love of chocolate and chicken schnitty, and being an unofficial ambassador for Vegemite earlier this year during the WPL.