Quantcast

Hot field vying for injured McGrath's spot

Three young guns looking to press their claims for the vacancy created by absence of injured allrounder

At least one spot in Australia's one-day international XI will be on the line when the Southern Stars meet India A in two warm-up matches in Mumbai this week.

Two changes will be made from the most recent XI that played England during the multi-format Ashes last October, following the retirement of vice-captain Alex Blackwell and an injury to young allrounder Tahlia McGrath.

Captain Meg Lanning returns from injury and is the obvious player to fill the hole left by Blackwell, but there are three candidates for the position left open by the absence of McGrath.

And while Australia's good 50-over form during the Ashes makes it difficult to foresee any other changes when the first of three ODIs is played against India in Vadodara on March 12, head coach Matthew Mott isn't ruling anything out.

"We're happy with our one-day form at the moment, but we are always trying to get better and there will be some tough selections, as there always is," Mott said in Mumbai.

"The first couple of trial games will be important for some players who feel they aren't in in the team to have an opportunity to show what they've got. 

"The selectors are very keen to reward form players, so players who put their hands up in the next couple of games could jump over the top.

"But in saying that, our ODI form has been good and we're comfortable with our structure as well."

'I'm still pinching myself': Molineux

The frontrunner to come in for McGrath is uncapped NSW and Thunder pace-bowling allrounder Nicola Carey, who is the most like-for-like replacement for the South Australian, who has been sidelined with stress fractures.

Fellow uncapped allrounder Sophie Molineux – who offers a slow-bowling option with her left-arm orthodox – and NSW quick Belinda Vakarewa are the other candidates to be called into the team, while batter Beth Mooney will be fighting to break into the in-form batting line-up after a stunning T20 series against England and strong Rebel WBBL campaign.

"It's really wide open, I'm not being cagey about it," Mott said. "It will come down to gut feel.

"We'll sit down as a leadership group and work out what's going to work in the conditions. 

"We obviously don't know a heap about some of venues we're play at. We've done our research but until we get there and have a look (then we'll) see what balance we go with."

Australia touched down in Mumbai late on Saturday night and wasted no time getting into the swing of things on Sunday, going through their paces in a training session at the BKC Ground, which will host this week's two practice matches in hot and humid conditions.

The pace bowlers were given the three-hour session off and will return to the nets on Monday, but the spinners had a chance to roll the arm over while Lanning – without the bulky shoulder brace that became a fixture of her World Cup campaign – was among the first in the nets, batting unencumbered against the local net bowlers and spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington. 

Mott said he pleased with the energy in the group, particularly from returning players Lanning, Carey and Vakarewa, newcomer Molineux – and from new assistant coaches Shelley Nitschke and Ashley Noffke, who join the touring party in India in place of former coaches Joe Dawes and Tim Coyle.

"Shelley had a well-decorated career for Australia and is well known by our players and had a really good insight into them, having coached in the WBBL and WNCL," Mott said.

"She's a great character and full of life. Ash is a former international player in his own right and he's been doing great work with the Queensland Bulls, he's got a lot of bowling acumen and hopefully he'll carry on the legacy (former bowling coach) Joe Dawes started."

Australia tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma

Warm-up match v India A, BKC Ground, Mumbai, March 8

Warm-up match v India A, BKC Ground, Mumbai, March 6

ODI series

First ODI Vadodara International Cricket Stadium, March 12

Second ODI Vadodara International Cricket Stadium, March 15

Third ODI Vadodara International Cricket Stadium, March 18

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31