Spots up for grabs in record-breaking ODI side: Mott

Places are up for grabs in Australia’s No.1 ranked ODI side despite their current world-record win streak, coach Matthew Mott has confirmed.

Australia’s attention is now firmly on the 50-over format ahead of the 2022 Women's ODI World Cup in New Zealand, where they will look to claim the trophy that eluded them in 2017.

With the tournament postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a window has opened for those sitting just outside the squad to force their way into the world’s top-ranked team.

The first opportunity to do so will come during the domestic 50-over competition, which begins on January 15.

Australia’s next ODI squad will also more than likely be named sometime in January, however their next international engagement is yet to be confirmed.

A three-game ODI series against India in late January had been planned pre-pandemic as a warm-up for the World Cup, but with the tournament postponed it is unclear whether it will proceed.

Australia have also been in talks with Cricket New Zealand on a proposed trip across the Tasman in February and March, to fill the gap left by the delayed tournament, with England also likely to be involved.

For Mott, any game time will be invaluable ahead of the ICC tournament – and when Australia do play, he hinted some new faces could be thrown into the mix.

"(New Zealand) would be an amazing dress rehearsal for a year later and we’d able to take some players over there who might not have experienced NZ conditions, to see whether our gut feelings are right," Mott told cricket.com.au.

"I wouldn’t say we’d try a few new players for the sake of it, but if there’s an opportunity to try and test a few of our theories about players who are on the rise, then absolutely we will.

"We always try and pick our best team, but you’ve got to balance that with the fact everything is about World Cup cycles.

"We want to win every game we play, but we’d be crazy if we had a gut feeling and we didn’t utilise that opportunity to test it out beforehand."

Australia extended their ODI win streak to 21 in October, equaling the world record held by Ricky Ponting’s team of 2003, but that does not mean there is not room for improvement in the eyes of their coach.

"When people are dissecting those 21 wins (and look at) the number of people who played in that period, it shows it is certainly not a closed book," Mott said, pointing to the fact his team used 21 players across their winning run.

"If you’re getting runs and wickets at the right time and there’s a perceived role you can play, the selectors will show faith.

"I don’t think there’ll be anyone crazy coming out of the hill, but those who perform will all put themselves in the mix … the WBBL has got them in the shop-front window for selections, and the WNCL is what confirms those final three or four spots you always agonise over in any squad."

After carefully watching the Rebel WBBL, Mott is eager to see some of the young talents who impressed in the 20-over format carry that form into the one-day domestic tournament.

Among those who impressed him were 17-year-old South Australian quick Darcie Brown and 18-year-old Sixers quick Stella Campbell, while he was sorely disappointed to see fellow pacer Maitlan Brown struck down with a serious hamstring injury that will see her sidelined until mid-2021.

"This WBBL season was a great learning curve for a lot of these young players … that hub life is as close as you can get to international cricket," he said.

"We’ve had a great look at a few of those young players and when they stand up in that pressure-cooker environment, you know they’ve got a potential future in international cricket.

"We’ve had some really good chats with the selectors and we’re trying to lift our eyes to that tournament.

"Sometimes you get caught up in the here and the now but we’re setting our sights to picking the 15 to win that World Cup in New Zealand."