Wareham eyes first Ashes Test after defining journey

Georgia Wareham fancied her chances of a Test debut.

As the only leg-spinner selected in Australia's 14-player Ashes squad that toured England in 2019, the sole Test match of the series shaped as the perfect time for Wareham to make her debut in the longest format.  

After all, the then 20-year-old had done nothing but impress since her international debut in both one-day and T20 internationals nine months earlier.

But things didn't go to plan for the young Victorian.  

The multi-format nature of the women's Ashes meant the 2019 series was to begin with three ODIs, followed by the sole Test and finish with three T20Is.

Selected in all three of the one-dayers, Wareham returned the uninspiring combined figures of 0-88 from the first two matches, and wasn't required to bowl in the third as Ellyse Perry ran through England with 7-22 in Canterbury.  

Needing some wickets to impress selectors, Wareham had another chance to shine in the form of a three-day tour match against the 'England Academy' side. 

The match would ultimately decide a few uncertain positions in Australia's Test XI, including the make-up of the bowling attack, where fellow spinners Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux – who had missed the one-day portion of the tour while recovering from a shoulder injury but came back for the red-ball tour game to press her claims – and the ever-improving Ashleigh Gardner were also vying for Wareham's coveted spot.

Image Id: 829C2EAD4A734ED7863BA8F4771AD7EC Image Caption: Wareham bowls against an England Academy side in July 2019 // Getty

Fast bowlers Perry (two wickets) and Tayla Vlaeminck (four) did most of the damage in the first innings of that game in Marlborough, but promisingly Wareham took two wickets of her own from 11.5 overs, the most bowled by any of the spinners.

More telling, though, were the performances in the second innings.  

While Molineux (4-30) and Gardner (3-37) displayed excellent control, Wareham's consistency deserted her to finish with 1-43 from 13 overs. 

When the Test XI was finalised five days later – with a final call on the bowling attack made shortly before the coin toss on the morning of day one – Jonassen, Molineux and allrounder Gardner had made the team. 

Wareham hadn't.  

Molineux and Gardner were presented with crisp Baggy Green caps.  

Wareham wasn't.  

It was a tough pill to swallow.

Image Id: D2F85B52AF4945D5804DAE30591BABFC Image Caption: Wareham trains alongside Jess Jonassen during the 2019 Ashes tour // Getty

"It was my first really long tour away, (my) first Ashes," Wareham told cricket.com.au ahead of the Australian squad's departure for this year's tour of the UK. 

"Yeah, I sort of freaked out a little bit with the red ball stuff.  

"I didn't take it as well, I don't think. And then I obviously missed out on that Test match when we were over there, which was pretty flattening." 

Four years on and Wareham is in a strong position to finally play an Ashes Test.  

Her journey since that fateful tour has been anything but ordinary, which she says has helped her grow immensely.  

Sandwiched in between two T20 World Cup titles (in 2020 and 2023) was a devastating knee injury that saw her miss the entire 2021-22 Ashes series, an injury so severe it would keep her out of the game for 15 long, arduous months.  

Throw in a Test debut against India some 27 months after that Ashes non-selection and few players can match the emotional peaks and troughs of Wareham's past few years.

Image Id: 92C2FE9F132B4450B046B652EF1A1843 Image Caption: Wareham after being handed her Test cap in September 2021 // Getty

Wareham, who only returned from her ruptured ACL in January, believes her journey has shaped her into a vastly improved version of the cricketer who arrived in England four years ago.  

"I feel like I've grown a lot more as player," Wareham says. 

"In a lot of different ways, to be honest.  

"The last 12 months or so have helped that as well.  

"I've learned a lot more about myself and my game and what I need to do to perform (at) that level." 

And while she admits there were "dark times" during her long stint on the sidelines, Wareham – somewhat unfortunately for Australia and Victoria's bowling stocks – had good people around her to keep driving her forward.

"I had Sophie (Molineux) doing her rehab and Tay (Vlaeminck) doing her rehab for a large part of it as well," she says.  

"We helped each other a lot through that period … I guess it was a happy ending in the end."

This time around, Wareham isn't the only leg-spinner in Australia's touring party.  

Alana King, who took the place of the injured Wareham in the most recent Ashes series in Australia, provides national selectors with another wrist-spinning option.  

And Wareham sees King not as a rival, but as another teammate that drives her to become a better player.  

"I wouldn't say it's a rivalry," Wareham says of her relationship with King.  

"It's healthy competition, we both push each other to become the best. 

"We bowl differently, in fact we all bowl differently, Wello (Amanda-Jade Wellington) included.  

"We have different styles, some spin the ball a little bit more, a little bit less, we're all just a little bit different.  

"But I think it's really good that there is that competition within the team."

If the last Ashes Test in England is any guide, spin will be crucial in deciding which team secures the four points on offer for victory in the multi-format series.  

At that match in Taunton, which ended a draw, only four wickets were taken by the fast bowlers for the entire contest. 

Spinners on the other hand, took 19 scalps and bowled more than double the overs (218.1 to 107.4).  

Australia coach Shelley Nitschke is keen to continue to use leg-spin as a "weapon" against the English.  

"We've got two leggies in the squad. They've always played a role for us in both red and white ball," Nitschke told reporters at Australia's training camp in Brisbane.  

"It's probably going to be the conditions that determine what our balance looks like.  

"But … we still see leg-spin as a real weapon for us, particularly (with the) white ball and who knows, it could come into play in the red ball stuff (too) if the conditions are right."

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

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)