The recently concluded three-match bilateral ODI series against the hosts New Zealand saw the regular Australian skipper Alyssa Healy return to the helm. However, she didn’t keep wickets as Beth Mooney continued with the gloves in hand for the ODI series against the White Ferns.
The Australian women’s team will now be involved in the much-anticipated, potentially high-octane all-format Women’s Ashes series from 12th January 2025. The arch-rivals will be up against each other in a three-match ODI series followed by a three-match T20I series, and a one-off Pink Ball Test Match down under.
The return of skipper Alyssa Healy is a massive boost for the home side, but it leaves a cloud of uncertainty over the skipper’s availability as a wicketkeeper in the upcoming all-format Women’s Ashes. In that case, Beth Mooney will continue with keeping gloves in hand.
Earlier in the day, Australia announced their white-ball squad for the upcoming Women’s Ashes. The young 21-year-old Georgia Voll who earned her maiden call-up into the Australian squad as a last-minute replacement for the Australian skipper Alyssa Healy against India has retained her place in the squad courtesy of her impressive performances in the home series against India.
Notably, 26-year-old left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux has been ruled out of the Women’s Ashes which could prove to be a crucial miss for Australia, especially considering her experience and her ability to make handy contributions with the bat in hand, and her leadership traits along with her all-round ability.
“Sophie Molineux will undergo left knee surgery next month, following that we will provide further updates on an anticipated return date,” explained Kate Beerworth, the physiotherapist of the Australian women’s team, the reason why the experienced left-arm spinner didn’t make the cut into the Ashes squad.
Molineux has been nursing her knee injury ever since her return to action as a skipper of the Melbourne Renegades in the landmark 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She successfully led her side to the maiden title in the tournament by defeating Brisbane Heat in the final by 7 runs. She was the leading wicket-taker and the 4th highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 16 wickets in 7 innings with the ball for her side.
Molineux also played a couple of games for Australia in their recently concluded three-match bilateral ODI series against the visitors India. She also picked up one wicket at an economy of 6.54 in a couple of innings with the ball for her side in the series. She didn’t get much opportunity with the bat in the series.
Her knee injury was aggravated after the conclusion of the ODI series against India, in which they managed to inflict a dominating whitewash. As a result, she was also ruled out of the subsequent three-match bilateral ODI, away series against New Zealand led by skipper Sophie Devine. Australia also went on to seal that series 2-0 after the first game was washed out without a ball being bowled.
The upcoming multi-format Women’s Ashes will get under-way with a three-match ODI series from 12th January 2025 (Sunday), followed by a three-match T20I series from 20th January 2025 (Monday) and then a one-off Pink Ball Test match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from 30th January 2025 (Thursday) to 2nd February 2025 (Sunday) from 9 AM IST.
(Quote sourced from Cricket Australia Press Release)
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