Mott ponders 'Australia A' revival to keep stars sharp

Australia coach Matthew Mott has flagged possibly reviving the Australia v Australia A concept as he looks for new ways to develop the second tier of the country's top-level female talent.

The Australians used 21 players during their record equalling ODI winning streak, with youngsters like Annabel Sutherland brought into the side to give the next generation of players some exposure at international level.

There have been seven debutantes during the unbeaten run, but giving all these new players a chance to establish themselves in a winning side has proved challenging.

The core of Australia's team has remained largely unchanged over the past two-and-a-half years, with nine players playing at least 18 of the 21 ODIs in their winning streak, meaning the likes of Erin Burns have often been part of an extended squad but have had little opportunity to play.

What could an Australia v Australia A match look like? Laura Jolly & Em Collin from The Scoop put on their selector's caps

Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Sophie Molineux, Jess Jonassen, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck, Megan Schutt, Nicola Carey (12th)

Australia A: Tahlia McGrath (c), Georgia Redmayne (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Bridget Patterson, Phoebe Litchfield, Erin Burns, Delissa Kimmince, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Molly Strano, Maitlan Brown, Belinda Vakarewa, Sammy-Jo Johnson (12th)

And given budget cuts at Cricket Australia this year have included a pause on the National Performance Squad program as well as Australia A tours for both men and women, Mott is thinking outside the box as he looks to give those on the fringes of his star-studded side a more substantial taste of top-level cricket.

One option that has been discussed is a revival of the popular but controversial Australia v Australia A series that created a ripple in the men's game more than 25 years ago.

The 1994-95 one-day series saw the senior side featuring Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne tested by a young group of once-in-a-generation talents, led by Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn.

A quarter-of-a-century later, pitting Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry against Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath and Phoebe Litchfield could be a way to plug the gap created by the COVID-induced postponement of international tours and high-performance programs.

"It's something we discussed, myself and Shawn Flegler the high performance manager, about whether down the track we look at bringing back an A series type format," Mott told SEN this week.

"It was very successful for the men a decade or so ago and produced a lot of the next generation of Australian players.

"It's just key that we provide those opportunities. With COVID, we've had to temporarily shut down the NPS program that has really borne fruit over the last few years.

"It's a great side at the moment and it's … a hard one to crack into. Once you get in there and perform, I think the selectors have been very loyal.

"There's a lot of things to throw up. It's obviously a very uncertain world at the moment and we need to look at how we best cater for that next rung of players.

"It's something we'll put a lot of thought into as we debrief this series and look to what the next couple of years look like. Once we get back into playing, it's a really congested schedule so you would expect that more players would come through that system."

The likes of Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck have all come through the NPS program in the past to be key players in the senior Australian side, with former leg-spinner Kristen Beams this week telling The Scoop podcast that the NPS has "really changed the game for this Australian team".

And she says creating more opportunities to simply play cricket, even at domestic level, will be crucial if the country is to continue to produce talented players.

"There's been Under-19 tours, there's been Aus A tours, so that program that sits underneath is producing Australian cricketers and that's been really exciting," Beams said.

"I think it's a big opportunity for domestic cricket in this country; the more domestic cricket we play, the more games we get into players, it means we're going to keep producing players who are ready to perform at an Australian level.

"Every time the camera pans over to the bench and I see the girls sitting there, you can picture any one of them playing a key role in that Australian team. I'd imagine those girls are so hungry to get an opportunity and that just makes your team better."