Grassroots impact a factor in push for more Tests

If ever there was a case for Cricket Australia to introduce four-day women's cricket at a domestic level, the example is Hannah Darlington.

Darlington is one of nine uncapped players vying for a Test debut for Australia against India on Thursday, a cohort that includes six quicks all hoping to form part of a new-look pace attack.

Incredibly, Darlington's last game of cricket that went for more than a day was in January 2016, playing for the St Clair Hawks with the boys in under-15s at Penrith.

It's hardly the ideal preparation for a Test debut, and fellow pace bowlers Annabel Sutherland, Darcie Brown and Stella Campbell are in the same boat, having never played a multi-day game at the elite level.

It comes as long-form cricket remains one of the key questions around Cricket Australia's annual Press for Progress report.

COVID-19 saw a drop in female participation, but numbers increased at the entry-level Blast program where one-in-five participants are now female.

At an elite level, CA chief executive Nick Hockley on Tuesday pushed for parity across all formats, with a clear shift towards more Test cricket for women.

WA Cricket boss Christina Matthews also backed that cause, claiming four Tests through as many multi-format series a year would be ideal for female players.

But she is aware a balance must be struck at domestic level, needing to prepare players for red-ball cricket amid difficulties with ground bookings and a calendar logjam.

"I understand as a state CEO how difficult it would be to introduce a full Test program, same as the men, that needs to then cascade down to local cricket," she said.

"(It) all becomes harder. If you were going to truly have a strong Test nation, you have to start at the bottom level and work up. I think the system we have now provides that opportunity.

"I know the girls when they get to an Australia level they want to play it. But you talk to young girls they want to play T20s. So you've got this balance that you've got to get with it."

Australia's XI will feature at least four debutantes on Thursday, but their players insist they won't come into the Gold Coast Test underdone.

They've trained with a pink ball in the nets, and NSW-based players have spent a winter preparing for it in locked-down Sydney.

"We've been having net sessions dedicated with the whole Breakers team to four-day cricket," Darlington said.

"So once a week the net session would become a four-day cricket net.

"You'd bowl as if you were setting up a batter.

"You'd bat as if you were you know trying to save the day or batting up the top of the order putting the bad balls away."

Uncapped players Georgia Redmayne, Nicola Carey, Georgia Wareham, Molly Strano and Maitlan Brown have at least had the benefit of featuring in three-day warm-up matches across the last two Ashes series. All but Wareham experienced the pink ball during the 2017 practice game.

But Darlington is yet to play with a pink ball in an official match, although she has trained under lights.

And without domestic long-form cricket, even those who have worn the Baggy Green go in with limited experience; of the current squad, Ellyse Perry has played eight Tests, ahead of Alyssa Healy (4), Meg Lanning (4) and Beth Mooney (2), while Sophie Molineux, Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath have played one each.

"It would be the dream to play for my state in multi-format cricket," Darlington said.

"And to have that opportunity to learn how to play the game a bit better in those types of formats.

"But saying that in terms of the pre-season and the scheduling we've got at the moment, it's really tricky to try and fit that in."

CommBank Series v India

Australia lead India 4-2 on points

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets

Sep 24: Australia won by five wickets

Sep 26: India won by two wickets

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast