Villani puts her hand up for opening spot

Elyse Villani says she’s fully recovered from a hamstring injury as she targets a return to Australia’s one-day international team.

Villani suffered the injury late in the Rebel WBBL season, resulting in an interrupted end to her campaign with the Perth Scorchers before she was also forced to miss Victoria’s final two domestic 50-over matches.

The 29-year-old last played an ODI during the Ashes in late 2017 before being squeezed out of the side, although she was a part of Australia’s triumphant World T20 campaign in November.

And with a place in the one-day XI up for grabs due to the absence of regular opener Nicole Bolton – who is unavailable for the three-match Commonwealth Bank ODI Series – Villani says she’s confident medical staff will pass her fit and ready to go if given a chance.

“The rehab’s been going really well, and I haven’t had any setbacks,” Villani told cricket.com.au.

“I’m feeling really confident in my body and confident I can put my hand up for selection.

“Originally it was thought to be a low-grade (hamstring) strain but the scans showed it was more of a tendon injury.

“It wasn’t ideal to miss a few games, but I’ve had a good few weeks under my belt now rehabbing it so it’s feeling really strong.

“Even though I missed a few games, that means I’m refreshed and ready to go. I’ve been training really well the last couple of weeks and I feel in a good position both body and mind-wise.”

Villani sat on the sidelines through the six ODIs Australia played in 2018 but after good form in the WBBL, where she scored 403 runs at 44.77 for the Scorchers, and with a WNCL century under her belt earlier in the summer, she’s hopeful of seizing her opportunity should it come her way.

“The girls have done a phenomenal job over the last 12 to 18 months,” she said.

“I found myself on the sidelines but that was due to my poor form at the time and it’s such a difficult side to get back into it.

“I love the way the selectors stick with a winning side and put confidence in the players who’ve been getting the job done.

“I’ve been biding my time on the sidelines. Nicole Bolton’s been such a rock at the top for our side and she’s got a phenomenal record. (And with her) not available for this series there may be a batting spot up for grabs.

“But we’ve got a lot of allrounders as well who can fill the batting positions … I’ll just wait and see.

“But I’m ready to go if selected.”

Rachael Haynes and Beth Mooney have been touted as the frontrunners to join Alyssa Healy at the top of the order, but Villani – who also has experience opening for Australia – is another potential candidate for the position.

And if not installed at the top of the order, she could occupy the same middle-order slot she currently holds in Australia’s T20I XI.

Speaking ahead of Australian training on Wednesday, coach Matthew Mott said selectors had settled on Healy’s opening partner, but he remained tight-lipped who it is.

And he said several other decisions had yet to be made about the make-up of the XI.

“We have (picked an opener) but we’ll keep that under our hat for now,” Mott said.

“We’re definitely still mulling (the XI) over … we’ve had a forced change at the top of the order, so our batting line-up looks a little bit different to the last time we played.

“There’s still some decisions to make. It’s a big hit out today for a few players and it’s just really interesting to see how this session goes and this will just cement our plans.

“We’re pretty close to our XI, but there’s a couple of little things that need to fall into place.”

The first ODI between Australia and New Zealand gets underway at 10.20am local time (1.20pm AEDT) on Friday.

The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and the Seven Network and can be live streamed via Kayo, with news, scores and highlights on cricket.com.au and the CA Live App.

CommBank ODIs v NZ 

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Lauren Cheatle, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand squad: Amy Satterthwaite (c), Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

February 22: First ODI, WACA Ground, Perth

February 24: Second ODI, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

March 3: Third ODI, Junction Oval, Melbourne