Talk to most Australian cricketers and you will discover that there are two things at the top of their list of important international cricketing experiences: the first is to play in an Ashes series; the second is to tour the subcontinent. It is this second item that will be playing on the minds of the Australian women’s team as they prepare for their trip to to face Bangladesh in three ODIs and three T20s. The opportunity to travel somewhere where everything – from the conditions to the pitches – is so different from home is never one taken lightly.
However, the series also tells the story of two very different teams. So far in 2024, Australia have played 11 matches – four ODIs, six T20s and one Test. Bangladesh have not played a single match this year – they last played in December when they toured South Africa, winning one T20 and one ODI in the six matches they played. Before that, they won both the T20 and ODI series against Pakistan in October. As a squad, they clearly have talent and drive, but their lack of consistent match experience stands in stark contrast to their Australian counterparts.
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On top of this imbalance in international matches played, 10 players from Australia’s squad of 14 have travelled directly from playing in the Women’s Premier League in India – a competition that featured no Bangladeshi players, despite Marufa Akter and Rabeya Khan entering the draft. Neither did any Bangladeshi players participate in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) or The Hundred in 2023, though three players took part in the FairBreak Invitational in Hong Kong last April.
It is a tough ask then, to come up against an experienced Australian squad so accustomed to winning. The Australian team selected for this tour is not significantly different from the team that recently won the home series against South Africa. Jess Jonassen has been omitted and Tayla Vlaeminck returns from injury, while Darcie Brown will sit the series out after sustaining a foot injury. No player will make their debut for Australia during this tour – all 14 members of the squad are seasoned international players.
From one perspective, this can be considered an incredible sign of respect to their opposition. Rather than send an inexperienced squad and rest their star players, Australia have opted to treat this series like they would an Ashes, despite Bangladesh’s ranking of seventh in the world for ODIs and ninth for T20s. Australia sit comfortably at the top of both rankings tables – over 500 points clear of their nearest rival in T20s and well over 1,000 points clear in ODIs.
However, after a season of excellent performances from uncapped players in the WBBL and the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL), it is worth considering why at least a few of those players were not given the opportunity to tour the subcontinent and gain valuable exposure to international cricket in a series that seems built for such a thing. Sophie Day lit up the WBBL with 27 wickets at an average of 12.48, while Katie Mack scored 471 runs at an average of 47.1 in the WNCL. Even in the recent three-day “Gold vs Green match”, Georgia Voll scored an unbeaten 200, after also scoring 459 runs at an average of 41.72 in the WNCL.
As well as these uncapped players, there are a whole host of others who have played for Australia in the past, but have fallen out of favour. Nicola Carey was the player of the final for Tasmania in the WNCL, scoring 111 runs and taking a wicket, and topped the batting rankings for the tournament, with over 100 runs more than her nearest competitor, while Amanda-Jade Wellington and Hannah Darlington were among the top wicket takers in the WBBL.
Coach Shelley Nitschke cited the upcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh as a key reason that the experienced squad was required.
“I think [taking uncapped players] is something that always crosses our mind and we’re conscious of succession planning,” she said. “But I still feel like we’ve got a reasonable mix here and we do have a white ball World Cup we have to keep in mind as well. I feel like with players like Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, they’re all still early in their careers…we want to make sure we’re giving those players the exposure they need as well.”
With six matches over the next two weeks, it will be fascinating to see how Bangladesh approach their much more experienced opponents and how Australia respond to the conditions as they prepare for September’s World Cup. While on the surface, it may seem simply like a series with a foregone conclusion, there are many stories ready to unfold that will make for compelling viewing.
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