Talk to most Australian cricketers and you’ll uncover that there are two issues on the high of their record of vital worldwide cricketing experiences: the primary is to play in an Ashes sequence; the second is to tour the subcontinent. It’s this second merchandise that can be taking part in on the minds of the Australian ladies’s staff as they put together for his or her journey to to face Bangladesh in three ODIs and three T20s. The chance to journey someplace the place the whole lot – from the circumstances to the pitches – is so completely different from dwelling isn’t one taken flippantly.
However the sequence additionally tells the story of two very completely different groups. To this point in 2024 Australia have performed 11 matches – 4 ODIs, six T20s and one Take a look at. Bangladesh haven’t performed a single match this yr – they final performed in December once they toured South Africa, successful one T20 and one ODI within the six matches they performed. Earlier than that, they received each the T20 and ODI sequence in opposition to Pakistan in October. As a squad, they clearly have expertise and drive however their lack of constant match expertise stands in stark distinction to their Australian counterparts.
On high of this imbalance in worldwide matches performed, 10 gamers from Australia’s squad of 14 have travelled straight from taking part in within the Girls’s Premier League in India – a contest that featured no Bangladeshi gamers, regardless of Marufa Akter and Rabeya Khan getting into the draft. Nor did any Bangladeshi gamers participate within the Girls’s Large Bash League or The Hundred in 2023, although three gamers took half within the FairBreak Invitational in Hong Kong final April.
It’s a robust ask then, to return up in opposition to an skilled Australian squad so accustomed to successful. The Australian staff chosen for this tour is just not considerably completely different from the staff that received the house sequence in opposition to South Africa. Jess Jonassen has been omitted and Tayla Vlaeminck returns from harm, whereas Darcie Brown will sit the sequence out after sustaining a foot harm. No participant will make their debut for Australia throughout this tour – all 14 members of the squad are seasoned worldwide gamers.
From one perspective, this may be thought-about an unimaginable signal of respect to their opposition. Fairly than ship an inexperienced squad and relaxation their star gamers, Australia have opted to deal with this sequence like they’d an Ashes, regardless of Bangladesh’s rating of seventh on the planet for ODIs and ninth for T20s. Australia sit comfortably on the high of each rankings tables – greater than 500 factors away from their nearest rival in T20s and effectively over 1,000 factors clear in ODIs.
However after a season of fantastic performances from uncapped gamers within the WBBL and the Girls’s Nationwide Cricket League it’s value contemplating why at the least just a few of these gamers weren’t given the chance to tour the subcontinent and acquire helpful publicity to worldwide cricket in a sequence that appears constructed for such a factor. Sophie Day lit up the WBBL with 27 wickets at a median of 12.48, whereas Katie Mack scored 471 runs at a median of 47.1 within the WNCL. Even within the three-day “Gold v Inexperienced match”, Georgia Voll scored an unbeaten 200, after additionally scoring 459 runs at a median of 41.72 within the WNCL.
In addition to these uncapped gamers, there are an entire host of others who’ve performed for Australia prior to now however have fallen out of favour. Nicola Carey was the participant of the ultimate for Tasmania within the WNCL, scoring 111 runs and taking a wicket, and topped the batting rankings for the event, with over 100 runs greater than her nearest competitor, whereas Amanda-Jade Wellington and Hannah Darlington have been among the many high wicket takers within the WBBL.
Australia’s coach, Shelley Nitschke, cited the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as a key cause that the skilled squad was required.
“I feel [taking uncapped players] is one thing that at all times crosses our thoughts and we’re acutely aware of succession planning,” she mentioned. “However I nonetheless really feel like we’ve obtained an affordable combine right here and we do have a white ball World Cup we have now to remember as effectively.
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“I really feel like with gamers like Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, they’re all nonetheless early of their careers … we wish to ensure we’re giving these gamers the publicity they want as effectively.”
With six matches over the following two weeks, it is going to be fascinating to see how Bangladesh strategy their rather more skilled opponents and the way Australia reply to the circumstances as they put together for September’s World Cup. Whereas on the floor it could appear merely like a sequence with a foregone conclusion, there are numerous tales able to unfold that may make for compelling viewing.
