Aussies in 'great nick' for World Cup

Australia head coach Matthew Mott has issued a warning to the world's bowlers ahead of next month's Women's World Cup, declaring his batters are in "great nick".

Mott spent the past three weeks with an extended Southern Stars squad at Brisbane's Bupa National Cricket Centre, where he was particularly impressed by what he saw from Elyse Villani.

"I think there's a lot of batters in great nick at the moment, they're hitting the ball really nicely," Mott told cricket.com.au.

"Villani is hitting the ball the sweetest I've seen from her.

"I think for a couple of them, it'd be nice to push the fast-forward button at the moment."

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Mott hopes Villani will be able to play a key role in Australia's middle order, making the most of her ability to take on the spinners.

The 27-year-old has spent most of her international career at the top of the order, but since Australia opted for an opening combination of Beth Mooney and Nicole Bolton against New Zealand last summer, Villani has embraced her new role scoring her maiden ODI half-century at against the White Ferns in Auckland.

"The key will be to keep holding on to (her current form)," Mott said.

"But I'm confident she's found another gear with her batting and she's worked extremely hard on her bowling as well."

A wealth of in-form batters will present the Australian selectors with a pleasant headache once the final 15-player squad arrives in England next month, where they'll meet New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan in warm-up matches before their first World Cup match on June 26.

"The competition for spots in the XI will be tough as we saw in New Zealand," Mott predicted.

"We're hoping the jostling for spots will bring out the best in some players."

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The preliminary Australian squad were put through their paces with a grueling three weeks of fitness work and skills training in Brisbane.

For some of the newer faces in the group it was something of a baptism by fire, but Mott was impressed with the way all 20 players had taken on the challenge.

"We made no secret after the New Zealand tour that when they came back for this first three-week block it would be tough both physically and mentally," he said.

"There are some tired bodies, we've given them down time but for some of these players this is a level of intensity they haven't seen before.

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"It was a bit of a shock for some, but now they know what the level of expectation is.

"We've got some outstanding leaders around group who've helped them, it's been great to see the learning curve for these players and they seem to be loving it.

"It was a hard grind but a lot of fun as well, it's pretty much as much as we could have asked for this first three weeks."

Australia's final World Cup squad will regroup in Brisbane next week for a final two weeks of training before they fly to the United Kingdom in early June.

"We've sent them back home this week to freshen up, then they'll come back for another intensive two-weeks where we'll be fine-tuning our games and getting into some match scenarios we're likely to encounter in England," Mott said.

Australia's World Cup schedule

June 26: Australia v West Indies, Taunton

June 29: Australia v Sri Lanka, Bristol

July 2: Australia v New Zealand, Bristol

July 5: Australia v Pakistan, Leicester

July 9: Australia v England, Bristol

July 12: Australia v India, Bristol

July 15: Australia v South Africa, Taunton

July 18: First semi-final, Bristol

July 20: Second semi-final, Derby

July 23: Final, Lord's

Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes schedule

October 22: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

October 26: Second ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

October 29: Third ODI, Coffs Intl Stadium, Coffs Harbour 

November 9-12: Day-night Test, North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 17: First T20I: North Sydney Oval, Sydney

November 19: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra

November 21: First T20I: Manuka Oval, Canberra