Molineux expected to travel to Windies, WC the priority: Flegler

Chief selector Shawn Flegler is hopeful Sophie Molineux will be available to lead Australia on next month's tour of the West Indies, but ensuring the allrounder is fit for the upcoming T20 World Cup will be top priority.

Meanwhile, Australia are expected to announce further updates to their squad for the day-night Test in Perth, with Kim Garth unlikely to recover from her quad injury in time for the match at the WACA Ground.

Molineux was ruled out of the remainder of the multi-format series against India on Friday after reporting lower back pain in the lead-up to the second ODI in Hobart.

Speaking to Channel Seven during the first innings at Bellerive Oval, Flegler said: "Unfortunately Soph has developed a bit of lower back pain over the last few days ... that means she's going to miss the rest of the series.

"We'll work towards (Molineux) being available for the West Indies series coming up.

"We don't want to take any risks with the T20 World Cup coming up.

"She's still right to bat, still right to run, but it's just her bowling that she's just got a little bit of pain at the moment.

"We'll get her scanned, and then we'll have to offload her for a little while, and that's why we don't want to take any chances with the next few matches coming up."

An Australia spokesperson later clarified that Molineux had already had an initial scan, but would need to undergo further testing to clarify the extent of the injury.

When Molineux was named as Alyssa Healy's replacement as Australia captain last month, there were no questions around her cricket smarts or leadership abilities.

The main concern was around her injury history, however, which has seen her sidelined more often than not across the past 4-5 years with various serious foot and knee injuries, missing a string of major series and tournaments across that period.

Should Molineux not play in the West Indies, one of her two deputies, Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner, would stand in as captain.

"We don't think she's going to miss too much more," Flegler said of Molineux.

"We've got Alyssa captaining for the next few games, and then the plan is to take Soph to the West Indies and continue her captaincy over there.

"We think it's good opportunity for her to continue that leading into the World Cup – that was always the plan, the T20 World Cup, and we'll keep making decisions based around that."

Flegler also provided an update on Garth and Ellyse Perry who were both ruled out of the ODIs against India with quad strains.

With one week to go before the start of the four-day game, Flegler suggested Perry, who could play as a specialist batter, was a stronger chance of getting up, while Garth has been all-but ruled out.

"We'll just keep monitoring that (rehab) – Ellyse doesn't bowl as much over the last few years, so she's seen primarily as a batter so she's probably more chance of coming back for the Test match," Flegler said.

"We'll see how Kim goes over the next little while, but I'd expect we'll have to make a change for that and bring someone else in."

Uncapped left-arm quick Lucy Hamilton is now a strong chance to debut at the WACA Ground after being included in the Test squad, but Australia are likely to want to add another pace option to the mix as well.

The wide-ranging chat also covered Alana King's omission from the shortest format against India, following Molineux's return from injury and ascension to the captaincy, stressing that there was still the potential for the leg-spinner to be included in Australia's T20 World Cup squad.

"It's a tough one for her … she's bowled really well every time she's had an opportunity for Australia," Flegler said.

"I think in the T20s, we've been really clear with Georgia Wareham as being our main leg-spinner, Georgia also provides that batting, and she's an outstanding fielder as well.

"She's got that ahead of Kingy in the T20s and then it swaps over in the ODIs.

"With Soph coming into the squad and as captain – the left-arm orthodox is another skillset that we value highly, and so she takes that spot.

"And Ash Gardner's form as a bowler in particular in T20s over the last couple of years, it's been really good ... we'd love to see a few more runs out of Ash but she's done really well in the ODIs with her batting over the last couple of years.

"So Kingy, she needs to bide her time and be ready for when that opportunity does come, but we're certainly not counting her out of T20 calculations at the World Cup or even in the West Indies."

Flegler also touched on the call to give Beth Mooney the wicketkeeping gloves across all formats this series, even following Healy's return for the ODI and Test legs.

Allowing Mooney consistency in the position was part of the decision, he said, while she was also rewarded for her strong recent form behind the stumps.

"(It was) extremely tough, 'Midge' (Healy) has had an unbelievable career and we're trying to be really respectful of that, but also look at what the team requires in the medium to long term as well," he said.

"I think Moons in her own right has been keeping very well for the last 12 to 18 months and the opportunity for her to keep in the T20s in particular, and then continue that through the rest of the series, was too good an opportunity we thought.

"But we're really conscious of what Midge has done for this team and her career, it's been outstanding, she's been an unbelievable keeper for a long time, she's led the team extremely well over the last couple of years and we'll make sure we send her out on the right note."

NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series

The multi-format series is tied 4-4

First T20I: India won by 21 runs (DLS)

Second T20I: Australia won by 19 runs

Third T20I: India won by 17 runs

Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal

February 24: Australia won by six wickets

February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare

March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)