New-look Nic bolts into WT20 squad

Nicole Bolton’s tireless work to bring a more aggressive edge to her batting has paid off, with the Western Australian rewarded with a place in Australia’s World T20 squad.

A stalwart of the national one-day side, where she has averaged 46.22 at the top of the order since debuting against England in early 2014, Bolton hasn’t been given much of a chance in the 20-over game and has played just two T20Is for her country.

The most recent of those was against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2016, a one-off T20 at the end of an ODI tour where Bolton’s inclusion in the final XI was the result of captain Meg Lanning being struck down by illness pre-match, and where she wasn’t required to bat as the tourists recorded a 10-wicket victory.

But a standout Rebel WBBL|03 campaign, a new-look approach to her batting during Australia’s ODI campaign in India in March and a stint in England’s domestic Super League have been enough to convince selectors to include Bolton in their 15-player group for the ICC tournament, and for the three T20Is against Pakistan in Malaysia that will precede it.

“It was awesome, the best thing I’ve ever done,” Bolton told cricket.com.au late last month of her time with Lancashire in England. “I was really grateful for the opportunity to play in a competition that’s now expanded to 10 games, it meant it was more of an option to go over and play.

“The more games I can play the better. Coming up against quality bowlers and opposition and playing that high level of cricket in a six-week block was really good, it beats running laps and doing a proper pre-season and get you really instant feedback.

“Playing in different conditions as well, little lower slower wickets in England.”

Bolton scored 482 runs at 32.13 for the Scorchers in WBBL|03, finishing third on the overall runs table. But with a strike rate of 101.47, she was still lagging behind the likes of Australia T20I stars Beth Mooney (143.51) and Elyse Villani (125.88) and was unable to force her way into the T20I squad to tour India.

But during the ODIs in India, the 29-year-old made a calculated effort to break the shackles and find another gear in her batting and produced a run-a-ball century as well as an 88-ball 84 – a speedy return compared to her career strike rate of 73.66 in the format.

She continued that work during the off-season before her Super League stint, where she struck 274 runs in 10 innings – including a 61-ball 87 – with those runs coming at a rate of 119.65.

“After the Big Bash I started to develop a little bit more how I want to play my cricket,” Bolton said.

“Then having such a big break between India to the WNCL didn’t sit well with me, I wanted to keep going while I was feeling good and evolving my game, so going over to the Super League and playing that level of cricket (helped). I think my 50-over cricket will keep going through the roof (too).”

Australia head coach Matthew Mott described Bolton as a “natural selection” following her recent improvements.

“Nicole Bolton’s been a real revelation the last 12 months in T20 cricket,” Mott said in Brisbane on Tuesday.

“She’s traditionally more of a one-day player but she’s gone and reinvented herself, she’s playing some different shots and putting bowlers under pressure.

“She’s also one of the best fielders in the world at the moment. I think she’s a natural selection for us and adds depth to our squad.”

The Australian squad will travel to Malaysia early next week, where they’ll play three ODIs and three T20Is before travelling directly to the Caribbean for November’s World T20.

CommBank Tour of Malaysia

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Australia T20 & World T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen (subject to fitness), Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Pakistan ODI/T20 squad: Javeria Khan (c), Bibi Nahida, Ayesha Zafar, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Sidra Amin, Omaima Sohail, Nida Rashid, Sidra Nawaz, Sana Mir, Nashra Sundhu, Anum Amin, Natalia Parvaiz, Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Aiman Anwar

October 18: First ODI v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur

October 20: Second ODI v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval

October 22: Third ODI v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval

October 25: First T20I v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval

October 27: Second T20I v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval

October 29: Third T20I v Pakistan, Kinrara Academy Oval

2018 ICC Women's World T20  

November 9: Australia v Pakistan, Province Stadium, Guyana

November 11: Australia v Ireland, Province Stadium

November 13: Australia v New Zealand, Province Stadium

November 17: Australia v India, Province Stadium

November 22: Semi-finals, Sir Vivian Richards Ground, Antigua

November 24: Final, Sir Vivian Richards Ground