The Australian squad has been announced ahead of the Women's Ashes kicking off next Thursday night (Photo: cricket.com.au)
A strong squad has been announced for the Australian’s today ahead of the start of the multi-format Women’s Ashes series.
Australia will take a 15-player squad into the series against England, with four big names returning to the national squad after missing the previous international series against India in October.
Megan Schutt and vice-captain Rachael Haynes return from personal leave, with Jess Jonassen back following a lower leg injury and strong return in the WBBL.
With injuries sidelining spin duo Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux, Western Australian leg-spinner Alana King has edged out Amanda-Jade Wellington for the vacant spin position, with Jade-Wellington included in the Australia A squad.
National Selector Shawn Flegler said he was confident with the all-round squad that they had and was happy that the experienced trio of Haynes, Schutt, and Jonassen was returning.
“It’s great to have Rachael Haynes and Megan Schutt back in the side having missed the India series due to personal reasons as well as Jess who’s recovered from a lower-leg injury; the experience those three bring to the side is invaluable during a series like the Ashes,” Flegler said.
He’s also excited about having talented allrounder King in the squad.
“The loss of Georgia Wareham to injury has presented Alana King with a great opportunity to show what she can do at this level and having improved in all facets of her game over the last few seasons, she’s well placed to play an important role in the series.”
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The Australia A squad has also been announced and contains a mixture of youth and experience. Australian greats Ellyse Villani & Grace Harris are set to lead the way, with youngsters Phoebe Litchfield, Tess Flintoff, Courtney Sippel also included.
There are also players returning to the Australian colours, with Flegler excited about the mixture of youth and experience in the squad.
“It’s great to see the likes of Elyse Villani and Grace Harris return to Australian colours as well as Heather Graham, Erin Burns, and Amanda-Jade Wellington, while Katie Mack had a really strong WBBL and has been in good form for a while now,” he said.
“The younger players will also benefit from the large number of highly experienced players in the side, with over half the squad having tasted international cricket.
“Phoebe, Tess, Courtney, Nicole [Faltum], and Georgia [Voll] are all really talented youngsters and it’s important to expose them to these sorts of opportunities against high-quality opponents.”
The Women’s Ashes and the A-series are set to kick off in Adelaide next Thursday, with the Women’s Ashes to be played in Adelaide, Canberra, and Melbourne.
Australia Ashes squad: Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes (vc), Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck
Australia A squad: Georgia Redmayne (c), Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Katie Mack, Courtney Sippel, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Georgia Voll, Amanda-Jade Wellington
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