Dual leg-spinners on the cards for Ashes Test

Australia could sensationally unleash two leg-spinners in their Ashes Test against England later this month as injuries and the threat of COVID-19 adds intrigue to selection for the series.

Australia's selectors met today to finalise their squads for the multi-format Ashes and upcoming World Cup, with leg-spinners Amanda-Jade Wellington and Alana King both in contention to be picked due to the absence of spin stars Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux due to injury.

Left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Jess Jonassen, the world's top ranked ODI bowler, has overcome a lower-leg injury and is set to earn automatic selection in all three formats through the series, but such is the glut of allrounders in the Australia set-up, the make-up of the XI could take on various forms.

Chief selector Shawn Flegler said today that both Wellington and King, who impressed in the recent Weber WBBL, could find themselves in the squad when it's announced next week.

And with the threat of COVID-19 hovering over the series, which could see key players ruled out of games at the last minute, Flegler didn't rule out picking both leg-spinners for the one-off Test in Canberra on January 27-30.

"They've both put up pretty good cases for selection," he said.

"We've got to take a bit of a leap of faith in regards to the Test match … we're always keen to play a leg-spinner in a Test match, and perhaps it's two.

"I think we've actually got to be open to that if something does happen to one of our other spinners, that perhaps we do have to play a couple of leggies.

"And if that's the case, more power to the spinners.

"It's disappointing that Sophie is going to miss the Ashes and Georgia as well, but we've got a couple of very, very good replacements. I think we're probably the envy of a couple of other countries around the world.

"We're confident we will be able to provide an opportunity to play one of them, and perhaps two of them, and they'll do well."

South Australian Wellington played an Ashes Test in Sydney in 2017 but hasn’t played for Australia in almost four years, while King, from Victoria but playing in Western Australia, is uncapped at international level.

But with two-time T20 World Cup winner Wareham suffering a serious knee injury last October, at least one of the wrist-spinners is set to play a major role in a pivotal six-month period that will take in the Ashes, the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in the UK.

Complicating matters for Flegler and his panel are the recent changes to the WNCL schedule, with the spread of the coronavirus leading to multiple games being postponed.

It means neither Wellington nor King have played any domestic cricket since the end of the WBBL in November.

"We obviously scheduled some WNCL games prior to the Ashes thinking that we'd have some selection opportunities for players to put their hands up," Flegler said.

"That's been thrown out the window to a degree."

Apart from returns of veterans Jonassen (injury) and Megan Schutt (family leave), the rest of Australia's Ashes squad is expected to be similar to that which faced India at the start of the summer.

Young batting stars Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll could come into consideration given a larger than normal squad will be picked, although they could instead be named in the Australia A group for the series against England A that will run concurrently with the Ashes.

"I think we've got to go slightly larger with that Ashes squad, just to try and cover all formats and minimise any disruption (caused by the virus)," Flegler said.

"And then if there's opportunities that the players can cross over (between squads), we will try and take that opportunity.

"(Litchfield and Voll) certainly have been discussed over the last few months.

"Whether they get an opportunity in that senior Ashes squad or Australia A, we'll finalise that the next couple of days."

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes v England

Jan 20: First T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 22: Second T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 23: Third T20, Adelaide Oval

Jan 27-30: Test match, Manuka Oval

Feb 3: First ODI, Manuka Oval

Feb 6: Second ODI, Junction Oval

Feb 8: Third ODI, Junction Oval

Australia A v England A

Jan 20: First T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 21: Second T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 23: Third T20, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

Jan 28: First OD, Philip Oval, Canberra

Jan 30: Second OD, Philip Oval, Canberra

Feb 2: Third OD, Philip Oval, Canberra