Australia’s star spinner Sophie Molineux is on track to feature in the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, having been named in the 15-player squad. Fellow spinner Georgia Wareham has also fully recovered from the injury that cut short her Hundred season, reinforcing Australia’s spin arsenal ahead of the tournament.
Molineux, who has been sidelined since late last year due to knee surgery, may miss the ODI series against India before the World Cup but is expected to be fit for the main event.
“𝑺𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒙 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒐 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. “𝑮𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒂 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅.”
Experienced Squad with Strategic Picks
The squad, led by Alyssa Healy, sees few surprises. Grace Harris earns the final batting spot, while Georgia Voll is selected after an impressive debut year. Harris, with limited ODI experience, is expected to strengthen the middle order.
“𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆-𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅,” 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒓.
Healy, who recently returned from a foot injury sustained during last year’s Ashes, is also in form, scoring a blistering 137* off 85 balls against India A last month. The team is confident she can keep wicket throughout the tournament despite the demanding schedule.
Adapting to Subcontinent Challenges
Australia faces unique conditions, with some grounds never having hosted women’s cricket. The team has collaborated with the men’s setup to gather insights and prepare for varying pitches and possible monsoon interruptions.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕,” 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
The squad also includes uncapped players Nicole Faltum and Charli Knott for the ODI series against India, before they return for the WNCL season. Australia will kick off their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Indore on October 1.
Australia Women’s ODI World Cup Squad
Alyssa Healy (capt), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
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