All you need to know for the #AUSvPAK series

14 Jan 2023 Laura Jolly

All the information you need ahead of Commbank ODI & T20 Series between Australia and Pakistan

Australia will begin their bid for a third consecutive Women’s T20 World Cup title next month, but before they jet off to South Africa, they have unfinished business at home.

Meg Lanning is BACK and will lead her Australians in three one-day internationals and three T20Is against Pakistan, in her team’s first matches on home soil since last January’s Ashes.

This is also Pakistan’s first bilateral series in Australia since 2014, making it a long-awaited return from Bismah Maroof’s side.

What's the schedule?

It all begins in Brisbane on Monday, as Australia play their first matches at the redeveloped Allan Border Field since their series against New Zealand in late 2020.

The first two one-dayers will be played at the boutique venue, before the action shifts to Sydney, where the third ODI will be played at North Sydney Oval before the first of the three T20Is is staged at the same ground three days later.

Australia then make a long-awaited return to Hobart, for their first game in the Tasmanian capital since 2016, before the series concludes at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

Jan 16: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Jan 18: Second ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Jan 21: Third ODI, North Sydney Oval

Jan 24: First T20, North Sydney Oval

Jan 26: Second T20, Blundstone Arena, Hobart

Jan 29: Third T20, Manuka Oval, Canberra

How can I attend?

Tickets are now on sale HERE.

All tickets to women's matches are $20 and $5 for children, with a family pass on sale for $43, plus transaction fees.

How can I watch?

Every ball of the series will be broadcast live on the Seven Network and Fox Sports, and if you can't get to a TV, you can head to cricket.com.au or the CA Live app to sign up and stream via Kayo Sports.

And if you prefer to listen to your cricket, tune in to ABC Grandstand's radio coverage.

How else can I follow?

If you can't tune in live, or simply want to relive the action again and again – never fear!

You'll be able to catch up on all the highlights on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, while our crew on the ground will bring you the latest news and video.

Catch a replay of every wicket in the CA Live app's match centre, while push notifications can alert you to all breaking news.

You can also subscribe and tune into The Scoop Podcast, where hosts Emily Collin and Laura Jolly chat to the players and cover all the news you need to know.

For all the latest updates and behind-the-scenes action, and for player reactions after every match, be sure to follow @cricketcomau and the @AusWomenCricket social channels.

What are the squads?

Meg Lanning returns from a five-month hiatus to lead Australia, while Alyssa Healy will miss both the ODI and T20I series as she continues her recovery from a calf injury.

She's back! Lanning smashes rapid half-century for Victoria

Australia have named a 13-player ODI squad, and Phoebe Litchfield is a chance to add a maiden ODI cap to the T20I debut she made this month after being named in her first national 50-over squad, while Kim Garth is another fresh face who could find herself adding an Australian one-day debut to the one she made for Ireland in July 2010.

Jess Jonassen is poised to return after injuring her hamstring in the first India T20I, while Tahlia McGrath will serve as vice-captain in the absence of Healy.

Australia’s 14-player group for the T20Is is the same as their World Cup squad, minus Healy, who will return for that tournament.

Australia have made two other changes to the 15-player squad that defeated India in December, with Lanning and leg-spinner Wareham replacing Phoebe Litchfield and Nicola Carey, who have both been omitted.

Wareham has been selected ahead of fellow leggie Amanda-Jade Wellington, who was a late addition to the India tour following a mid-series injury to Jess Jonassen and who was also the second wrist spinner in Australia’s Commonwealth Games squad last August and in last year’s 50-over World Cup squad.

Two-time T20 World Cup winner Wareham has not played a T20 match since rupturing her ACL in October 2021, but played her first matches since incurring the injury last week when she turned out for Victoria in the domestic one-day competition.

Wareham returns to the wickets with two against NSW

For Pakistan, fast bowler Diana Baig makes a return from a shoulder injury, and has been named in both their ODI and T20I squads.

Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal has also been recalled to both squads, while leg-spinner Ghulam Fatima has withdrawn from the tour for personal reasons, with young leg-spinner Tuba Hassan her replacement.

Former skipper Javeria Khan, who missed Commonwealth Games selection, has been included in the T20 side.

Dar stars with four to peg back Governor General's XI

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

Pakistan ODI squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan

Pakistan T20 squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan

The bigger T20 picture

Australia will be keen to continue the good T20 form that saw them win 4-1 in India last month, while also refining their best XI following the returns of Lanning and leg-spinner Georgia Wareham, who will be looking to find form in the shortest format of the game alongside another injury returnee in Jess Jonassen.

Pakistan meanwhile will be hunting their first win over Australia in any format; a result that would be a significant shot of confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup, a tournament they have never progressed beyond the group stage of.

The ODI Championship

ICC Women’s Championship points will be on offer in the three-match ODI series. Running every four years, the Championship determines which five teams, alongside hosts India, gain automatic qualification for the 2025 World Cup.

This is Australia’s first round of the new edition of the Championship and having won both previous editions, they will be eager to secure all six points on offer.

Pakistan have already played two rounds, against Sri Lanka and Ireland, and sit second on the table after winning five of those six matches.

How’s the recent form?

Australia emerged 4-1 winners on their pre-Christmas T20 tour of India but were tested in an exciting series.

They have not played a one-day international since the World Cup final in Christchurch last April, but some members of their squad had a 50-over domestic hit-out in the WNCL last week – notably, Ellyse Perry hit back-to-back hundreds and Lanning struck 29 and 61 in her first games back from her six-month hiatus.

Pakistan suffered a 53-run defeat to the Governor-General’s XI on Friday, but the game was an ideal chance for them to adjust to the conditions at Allan Border Field.

Prior to that, their most recent series was at home against Ireland in November, where they swept the ODIs 3-0 but lost the T20I series 2-1.

CommBank ODI Series

Monday Jan 16:Allan Border Field, Brisbane 10:05am

Wednesday Jan 18:Allan Border Field, Brisbane 10:05am

Saturday Jan 21:North Sydney Oval, 11:05am

Buy #AUSvPAK ODI tickets here