Southern Stars on front foot with Defence

Several Southern Stars players have tuned up for this winter's Women's Ashes by mixing it with the best female cricketers the Australian Defence Force has to offer.

A practice match at Bill Albury Oval in Tingalpa, Queensland, combined the best players from the Australian Services Cricket Association (ASCA) with the Southern Stars for the T20 match.

The sides, named after ASCA ambassadors and former cricket legends Belinda Clark and Greg Chappell, comprised of seven ASCA players and seven Southern Stars.

Captained by Ellyse Perry, the Chappell XI sent the Meg Lanning-led Clark XI in to bat with Elyse Villani and Jess Jonassen looking to press their claims for selection in the UK.

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The combined Southern Stars and Australian Services Cricket Association players // cricket.com.au

Villani (45 off 51 balls) was faultless against an attack including Ashes hopefuls Megan Schutt, Holly Ferling and Delissa Kimmince but fellow opener Jess Jonassen could manage only 12 off 8 balls before being caught.

Enter Lanning, who continued her great form in a year in which she has already been named the inaugural Leading Woman Cricketer in the World by Wisden by storming to 43 off 39 balls before retiring.

In reply, Kimmince (37 off 34), Perry (33 off 39) and Grace Harris (43 off 24) all retired not out, with Harris hitting 18 off the last over to win the game for her side.

Despite her team going down by seven wickets, Southern Stars captain Lanning said it was good to gather the squad for a competitive match for the first time since February.

"It was nice to be out in the middle, we've been in the nets for a while and the wicket came up well after a few days of rain," Lanning said.

Lanning was also impressed with the return of injured-quick Holly Ferling who went for 12 runs from her four overs.

"Holly Ferling bowled with good pace and mixed it up … it's good to have her leading the attack and in the fold, she is a real weapon for the team."

Groundcrewman Mission Support Officer Rachael Martin was part of the team and said it was the highlight of her cricketing career.

"To play with (Ellyse) Perry and (Alyssa) Healy was amazing, the quality of cricket was just so good," Martin said.

This was the first time Martin has played with the Australian squad, having played against them last year in Bowral for the West Indies.

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Martin sees the parallels between the skills needed to be in the Defence Force and those needed to thrive on the pitch.

"It's all about teamwork for both, it's something to take out into the field and you definitely learn those skills through playing cricket."

The Southern Stars will play against an Indigenous Academy XI before leaving for their Ashes campaign on July 13.