Australia captain Sophie Molineux will be fit for the T20 World Cup in England. Darcie Brown has been left out of the squad with selectors opting for the left-arm seam of 19-year-old Lucy Hamilton while Grace Harris has also been added to the final 15.
Australia's selectors have also picked two legspinners in Alana King. Georgia Wareham alongside the left-arm orthodox Molineux and offspin-bowling allrounder Ash Gardner.
Speaking in Brisbane on Wednesday, national selector Shawn Flegler said all four could play in the same XI. that King was clearly the fourth option for spinning conditions only despite being the No. 1 ODI bowler in the world. taking 3 for 14 and 2 for 25 in two T20Is on the most recent tour of the West Indies, the second of which earned her Player-of-the-Match honours.
"[Molineux is] our skipper and she's going to play.. left-arm orthodox, it's highly valued in the women's game," Flegler said. "Georgia's been a No. 1 legspinner. Alana's come in and done really well. But I think the pecking order is pretty clear. We've got Ash, Soph and Georgia, and then if conditions allowed, then Alana comes into it as well."
Brown's axing is noteworthy given she was a pivotal contributor in Australia's last T20 World Cup title in South Africa in 2023 when she took 2 for 18 from four in the semi-final against India. 1 for 25 from four in the final against South Africa. But she only played three matches in the 2024 edition in the UAE. bowled just one over in each of the three games she played. She has also gone wicketless in her four T20Is this year against India at home and West Indies away. She did not bowl her full quota of overs in any of those games. conceded more than nine runs per over in the last three.
Flegler explained that Brown had been squeezed out because of the expected slow pitches in England. the balance of the attack.
"She was obviously disappointed," Flegler said. "We've been trying to get Darc up over the last couple of years to be a frontline bowler. bowl in that powerplay and she just hasn't quite nailed that opportunity, but we still think she's going to have a great career for Australia as well.
"She's still a young fast bowler, this is certainly not the end,. she may well get called up during the World Cup anyway."
Hamilton has had a meteoric rise after only making her T20I debut in March in the Caribbean. She has played just one T20I, two ODIs. one Test in her career but she starred on Test debut against India taking six wickets while she proved effective with her angle in her two outings across the two white-ball formats in the Caribbean. She will be the only left-arm seamer alongside the right-arm group of Kim Garth, Megan Schutt, Nicola Carey, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath. Ellyse Perry.
"She gets some good bounce. bowls a really heavy ball; it's a real point of difference, especially for our attack," Australia coach Shelley Nitschke said. "There's not a lot of them around."
Harris returns to add power to the lower-middle order after being left out of the West Indies tour. She has only played one T20I in the last 12 months. has only batted once in her last four matches. But she is coming off a century in Queensland's WNCL final victory in March. also helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the WPL title in February, albeit with a feast or famine season with the bat.
"She's a handy all-round option and someone who can take the game away from an opposition," Flegler said.
Australia also welcome back Sutherland after she was rested for the series in the Caribbean. She will play a key role with the ball. what role she plays with the bat remains a mystery, having batted at Nos. 7 and 8 in her last two T20Is against India. She only batted twice in the last T20 World Cup, at No. 9 and No. 8.
The selectors have only picked one wicketkeeper in the main squad with Beth Mooney taking the gloves after Alyssa Healy's retirement. But New South Wales and Sydney Thunder wicketkeeper Tahlia Wilson will travel with the squad as a reserve.
Australia will play three games against South Africa at Arundle Castle on May 31, June 2. 4 before they begin their World Cup campaign against the same opponents at Old Trafford on June 13.
Australia's T20 World Cup squad Sophie Molineux (capt). Ashleigh Gardner (vice-capt), Tahlia McGrath (vice-capt), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney (wk), Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson (wk)
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