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Returning stars set to create selection squeeze

Tough decisions lay ahead for Australia's selectors as they mull their best XI to take on the White Ferns in New Zealand

Australia coach Matthew Mott concedes selecting an XI for the first T20I against New Zealand this month will be "ridiculously hard", with stars Ellyse Perry and Tayla Vlaeminck set to play their first international matches in more than a year.

The No.1 ranked Australians are currently in hotel quarantine in Christchurch ahead of their upcoming three T20Is and three ODIs against New Zealand, starting March 28.

They claimed a 2-1 series win over the White Ferns on home soil at the start of last summer, and a 3-0 whitewash in the ODIs, all without the services of Perry or Vlaeminck.

Of Australia's most recent T20I XI, only allrounder Delissa Kimmince is missing from this current squad, meaning at least one incumbent will be squeezed out should both Perry and Vlaeminck play.

Working out who will make way for the pair will be one of the main challenges for the selectors across the next 10 days, as the 17-player squad trains in managed isolation.

"It will be ridiculously hard, I think," Mott told reporters from Christchurch on Wednesday when asked about selecting Australia's XI. 

"There's going to be one or two very disappointed players who deserve to be in that team but that's the by-product of having success and having players who have been out of the team coming back in.

"There's a lot of competition for those spots and to be honest we're not exactly settled on that XI, we'll see how everyone pulls up."

Express pace part of the long-term plan: Mott

Australia would typically have taken only 13 or 14 players on a trans-Tasman trip, but with quarantine requirements preventing extra players being added mid-series, they have 17 players at their disposal.

Juggling opportunities with the desire to defeat a fierce rival will be key for the selectors, and Mott indicated Australia would err on the side of fielding their strongest available XI, rather than cycling through all available options.

During the T20I series against New Zealand last September and October, Australia maintained an unchanged XI despite having a 17-player squad, while they made just one change during the ODI series that followed, when captain Meg Lanning was forced to sit out one game due to a hamstring niggle.

"In terms of the team management, we're looking 12 months ahead (to the ODI World Cup) but we're also playing for the Rose Bowl, it's a great series and the Kiwis are a very strong team," Mott said.

"They've come off a tough series against England but they never give us an easy run.

"The playing group and the coaching staff have to stay in the here and now and make sure we win the series first and foremost.

"We've never given caps away for the sake of it as well.

"But even those players (who aren't picked), just the pure experience of being over here, bowling in centre-wicket scenarios against some of the best players in the world, they're going to pick up a lot of stuff."

From Thursday, the Australian squad will be permitted to leave their hotel rooms for four hours a day to train at Lincoln's Bert Sutcliffe Oval.

With their isolation due to end around 24 hours ahead of their first match in Hamilton on March 28, Mott said those net sessions and centre-wicket practices would be critical to settling on that first XI.

"Our players have played a bit of cricket (in the domestic 50-over competition) so we're not too worried about that (turnaround) but just for that spatial awareness, to get out there in the middle, it's very different to the nets," he said.

CommBank tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia ODI & T20I Squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Georgia Wareham, Belinda Vakarewa, Tayla Vlaeminck

1st T20: March 28, Seddon Park, Hamilton, 5.10pm AEDT

2nd T20: March 30, McLean Park, Napier, 1pm AEDT

3rd T20: April 1, Eden Park, Auckland, 1pm AEDT

1st ODI: April 4, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 9am AEDT

2nd ODI: April 7, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

3rd ODI: April 10, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo