Stars mull options for WWC17 opener

Australia's XI for their opening Women's World Cup match won't be known until the toss in Taunton on Monday as selectors mull their best combination to take on West Indies.

Meg Lanning's squad took their first look at the County Ground on Sunday, going through their paces one final time before their campaign for a seventh title at the 50-over tournament gets underway at 10.30am (7.30pm AEST) on Monday.

The only hint Lanning gave about the make-up of Australia's XI was that selectors had "14 players fit and ready" – suggesting leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington who missed both warm-up matches due to an injury to her right forefinger – will not be available for the match.

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"Yes, there is," Lanning confirmed when asked if decisions were still to be made about the team she will lead out on Monday.

"Coming here today for first the time and looking at the conditions, we just wanted to get a feel for what it's like and this afternoon we'll have a think about the best XI for our team.

"It's going to be very a difficult decision to make, we're got 14 players fit and ready for this game and it's going to be difficult to leave them out."

Good form from the Australian batters since arriving in England means it is highly unlikely the top seven of Beth Mooney, Nicole Bolton, Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Elyse Villani, Alex Blackwell and Alyssa Healy will change, leaving Rachael Haynes the likely unlucky batter to miss out in Taunton.

The make-up of the bowling attack is less clear.

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With quicks Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt, as well as left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen consistently playing crucial roles for Australia in recent times, two spots appear to be left open with four candidates to fill them.

Off-spinning allrounder Ashleigh Gardner, leg-spinner Kristen Beams and uncapped seamers Sarah Aley and Belinda Vakarewa are in the hunt for those final two berths.

The West Indies boast a powerful batting line-up, with captain Stafanie Taylor, and allrounders Hayley Mathews and Deandra Ditton among those capable of easily clearing the ropes.

With that in mind, Australia could be tempted to include at least one extra spinner to take the pace off the ball in a bid to slow down the Windies' batters.

Asked if she thought spin would play a big role in the tournament, Lanning said: "I think so."

"I think generally, pace off in the women's game is very effective, whether that's spin or medium pace.

"We've got some good spinners in our line-up who've done a good job over a long period of time, so I'm looking forward to seeing them playing well and I expect the Windies to throw in a few spinners as well."

Light drizzle throughout the morning meant the Taunton pitch was covered up, but Lanning expects a typically high-scoring match at the venue which earlier this month saw 834 runs scored in a one-day domestic match.

"Generally the scores here in one-day county matches have been very good and the wickets we practiced on today came onto the bat pretty well," Lanning said.

"There was a bit of drizzle around which made it a bit skiddy, but we're expecting the wicket to be pretty good for batting with lots of runs in it, so hopefully the batters can cash in."

A cloudy but dry day is forecast for Monday, with Lanning eager to get the tournament underway after two weeks of training and warm-up matches since arriving in the United Kingdom.

"We're really looking forward to it," she said. "It's been a long time coming, the preparation has been long but great and we feel like we've had enough time to get used to the conditions in the UK. 

"Now everyone else is playing, we're itching to get out there and get started."

Women's World Cup 2017 Guide

Australia World Cup squad: Sarah Aley, Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell (vc), Nicole Bolton, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning (c), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Squads: Every World Cup squad named so far

Australia's World Cup schedule

View the full tournament schedule here

Warm-up matches

June 20: Australia v South Africa, Oakham

June 22: Australia v Pakistan, Leicester

Tournament

June 26: Australia v West Indies, Taunton

June 29: Sri Lanka v Australia, Bristol

July 2: Australia v New Zealand, Bristol

July 5: Pakistan v Australia, Leicester

July 9: England vAustralia, Bristol

July 12: Australia v India, Bristol

July 15: South Africa v Australia, Taunton

July 18: First semi-final, Bristol

July 20: Second semi-final, Derby

July 23: Final, Lord's