Due to a knee ailment that may require surgery, all-rounder Sophie Molineux has been ruled out of the multiformat Ashes series, while skipper Alyssa Healy is still uncertain if she will keep wicket because of her chronic knee issue.
Left-arm spinner Molineux battled a knee injury during the WBBL, leading the Melbourne Renegades to their first championship, and the issue resurfaced during the ODI series against India. Molineux will now have to spend more time on the sidelines after being excluded from the most recent tour to New Zealand.
“Next month, Sophie Molineux will have surgery on her left knee. After that, we will give you more information about when she should be able to return,” team physiotherapist Kate Beerworth stated.
Whether Healy can hold onto wicket after giving the gloves to Beth Mooney in New Zealand will be one of the main questions Australia must address before the Ashes. Healy described the upcoming match as a decent test for her knee and the selectors included her in the Governor-General’s XI side for a 50-over warm-up match against England on January 9 at North Sydney Oval.
At the MCG, Healy told reporters, “That’ll be a great opportunity for me to take the gloves for a little bit and see how everything’s progressing.” “I truly am unable to provide you with any other details beyond that. Right now, you have to rely on your intuition to observe how things work out.
However, I had a great time sprinting around the field in New Zealand. Therefore, that could be the best course of action going ahead if it is an option and less disruptive to us. However, the goal is to take the gloves, which I hope to do.
“Knowing the extremely strict schedule with the Ashes, together with having an angry joint in there and flaring that up, I’m probably managing that and not wanting to blow it up too much that it will affect my ability to play at all.” Moving into the series in ten days will be the true test, I believe, to see how that holds up and how it reacts to keeping again. We’ll just evaluate as we go.”
The selectors have chosen Georgia Voll for the one-day and Twenty20 International series, which make up the first two sections of the Ashes, following her spectacular debut against India, where she scored 173 runs in three One-Day Internationals, including a century. Grace Harris will play in the Twenty20 Internationals at the SCG in Adelaide and Canberra.
“It was pleasing to see Alyssa Healy return to action against New Zealand and looked in good touch, along with a number of batters continuing their strong form on from the recent series against India,” Shawn Flegler, the national selector, said.
“Despite not playing against New Zealand, Georgia Voll has had an outstanding start to her international career and will be a reliable batswoman in her first Ashes series if needed. When facing a formidable England batting lineup, the bowling group’s abundance of diversity will be crucial.
In the upcoming weeks, selectors will choose a team for the day-night Test at the MCG in late January.
“I think you see how we’ve probably shaped up in Test cricket over the last couple of seasons; it looks a little bit different from what we’ve done in the white-ball format,” Healy stated. Various explanations exist for why we haven’t revealed that Test team, and we’ll likely examine them over the coming weeks to find out where all of the domestic cricket bowlers are, how much they’re carrying, and how they plan to prepare for a Test match.
“Knowing it’s pink ball, knowing it swings a little bit more, and what the conditions are going to be like, I think there’s a few players around the country at the moment that could stick their hand up for a baggy green which I think is really exciting.”
The Ashes begins on January 12 with the first ODI in North Sydney, and then there will be games in Melbourne’s Junction Oval and Hobart.
Legspinner Georgia Wareham, who participated in only one of Australia’s previous six ODIs without having the opportunity to bat or bowl, has joined the Governor-General’s XI team, replacing fast bowler Darcie Brown, to give Wareham additional playing time before the Ashes.
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