Sutherland adds wobble seam delivery to push Test dream

The chance to fulfil a childhood dream is fuelling Annabel Sutherland as she aims to put her best foot forward for selection in next week's one-off Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

The 21-year-old allrounder was a standout with ball in hand in Australia's most recent Test at Manuka Oval in January 2022, and she has relished the chance to get her hands on the Dukes ball for the first time as the Ashes squad ramped up their Test preparations over the past month.

This is Sutherland's first overseas Ashes tour, and it is an experience she has been hungry for since sitting in the stands watching Australia's men play at Lord's as a 15-year-old back in 2015.

"Growing up the Ashes was something that I always looked forward to watching," Sutherland told cricket.com.au in Leicester on Tuesday.

"Just the history that goes along with it and the girls always talk about (an away Ashes tour) a lot in terms of what it means to them, especially the senior girls who have played in a fair few."

This is the first time Australia's women have played a Test with the Dukes ball; previously all women's Tests were played with the red Kookaburra, before the England and Wales Cricket Board made the switch for last year's one-off Test between South Africa and England.

Adapting to the Dukes and adding the wobble ball to her armoury were both high on the agenda for Sutherland at several national training camps held in Brisbane throughout May and she will have another shot at impressing when Australia meet England A in a three-day warm-up in Leicester starting Thursday.

"I've loved (bowling with the Dukes), it stays harder for longer and swings for longer too," Sutherland.

"I've got a bit of a wobble seam ball going, which has been nice, and so far I've loved it and I'm looking forward to getting out there for the three-dayer and putting it into practice against the England A girls.

"(Assistant coach) Scott Prestwidge has been awesome in his knowledge and luckily enough, Mitchell Starc was at some of the camps (in Brisbane) and the Aussie boys were at that second camp that we had up there so a few of the girls were pretty keen to pick the boys' brains.

"I'm certainly looking forward to it and playing my role as well as I can if I get the opportunity.

"Any time I am handed the ball or get the chance to go out there and have a hit I'm pretty keen to just get stuck in and compete as well as I can."

While the depth in Australia's pace stocks have made it difficult for Sutherland to cement a regular place in the nation's best white-ball XIs across the last 12 months, she believes the opportunities she has had in domestic cricket, both at home and in The Hundred and the Women's Premier League, have helped evolve her game.

She is also looking forward to locking horns with some of her English teammates from those competitions – including England Test squad member Alice Capsey, and England A members Lauren Winfield-Hill and Bess Heath – in the coming weeks.

"It is cool to see their faces and I'm sure it'll fuel that competitiveness in me when we get out there for the three-day game ... and the same goes for the Test match," she said.

"There's no shortness of competitiveness between the two teams so we're certainly looking forward to what's to come."

CommBank Ashes Tour of the UK 2023

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (vc), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Issy Wong, Danielle Wyatt

Test: June 22-26 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 11am local (7pm AEST)

First T20I: July 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, 6.35pm (3.35am July 2 AEST)

Second T20I: July 5 at The Oval, London, 6.35pm (3.35am July 6 AEST)

Third T20I: July 8 at Lord’s, London, 6.35pm (3.35am July 9 AEST)

First ODI: July 12 at The County Ground, Bristol, 1pm (10pm AEST)

Second ODI: July 16 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, 11am (7pm AEST)

Third ODI: July 18 at The County Ground, Taunton, 1pm (10pm AEST)