The 30-year-old left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen made her international debut on 20 January 2012 in a T20I against New Zealand. Over the years, at the international level, she has established herself as one of the prominent wicket-takers with the ball across formats for Australia.
She is considered one of the greatest-ever spinners for Australia, especially in the T20I format, and rightly so, as she is placed at the number three spot in the all-time highest wicket-takers for Australia in the T20I format with 96 wickets to her name, behind Ellyse Perry (123 wickets).
She has played a pivotal role in shaping Australia’s success story at the international level, especially in the ICC events, helping Australia to four ICC Women’s T20 World Cup triumphs in 2012, 2014, 2020, and 2023. She also played a crucial role in Australia’s Commonwealth Games campaign as they clinched a historic gold medal by defeating India in the gold medal match in Birmingham in 2022.
In the Women’s Ashes earlier this year, she picked up four wickets in the T20I series with the best figures of 3/25 in the first T20I. She also picked up four wickets in the ODI series with the best figures of 3/30 in the third ODI.
She is placed in the number four position in the all-time highest wicket-takers for Australia with 141 wickets to her name as far as the ODI format is concerned. However, she has witnessed a form-slump with the ball in recent times, she dealt a massive blow to her confidence after being hit by a Hayley Matthews storm when she was taken for cleaners all over the park by the West Indies skipper in the recently concluded T20I series.
She smashed the left-arm spinner for 52 runs in the 21 balls she bowled to her in the T20I series, scoring at a humongous strike rate of 247.6, including eight boundaries and a couple of maximums against her.
“I was pretty deflated, obviously, it’s never nice to be on the receiving end of a batting masterclass like that. And with where Hayley was at, you didn’t have to miss by much and you were sailing over the rope,” Jess Jonassen speaks about her experience being at the receiving end of the Hayley Matthews masterclass. Following her poor returns in the T20I series, she was dropped from the subsequent ODI series.
Australia’s next assignment is their tour to India in December, later this year for an all-format series.
“The conversations I was able to have with both Shell and Flegs, I was able to be really honest and really frank with them, and likewise them to me. The conversations with [the selectors were] that I’m a really crucial member of the side and there’s the opportunity to play a really big role over (in India). It gives me confidence knowing that just because I missed some games in this series doesn’t mean that things are over or I’m on the outer.” The left-arm spinner speaks up about her conversations with the selectors after being dropped from the side.
(Quotes sourced from ESPN)
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