The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will commence later this year and all the teams are getting ready to make the right team composition for perhaps the biggest tournament of the year. This year’s tournament will be played in Australia and the host country has just announced its 15-member squad for the upcoming tournament.
Right-hand batsman Meg Lanning will be leading the team into the tournament with Rachel Haynes being her deputy. Lanning has been the driving force behind Australia’s success since 2014. In 2014, she was made the captain of the Australian side while going to Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup and turned out to be the winners of the tournament. Lanning was also the highest scorer in that tournament with 257 runs.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be set on all-rounder Ellyse Perry once again as she has been the consistent player in the current Australian side. Recently, Perry was named one of the five cricketers of the year by Wisden. In the final of the last tournament, she became the first cricketer for Australia to take 100 wickets in the shortest format of the game.
On the other hand, all those rumors regarding Annabel Sutherland coming into the team have turned out to be true. The 18-year-old cricketer has earned her maiden call-up after some impressive performances in Australia’s domestic circuit. In the recently concluded series between India A and Australia A, Sutherland picked up 9 wickets in 5 matches at an economy rate of 3.74. With the bat, she accumulated 169 runs in 5 games at an average of 43 with two half-centuries to her name.
Shawn Flegler, the selector of Australia’s team, noted that they are really excited to have a youngster like Sutherland in the side. He also explained that those who have seen Sutherland plays know-how “talented” she really is.
“Anyone who has seen her play will know how special a talent she is, and we know that if called upon she’ll be able to play a variety of roles in the side. This will be another terrific experience for someone who we see as the future of Australian Cricket,” Flegler said.
Sophie Molineux, who was a part of the team that won the 2018 World Cup, has also been included in the team after being out of the game for several months due to health reasons. Nicola Carey, Erin Burns, and Delissa Kimmince have also made the cut.
Australia will start their World Cup campaign with a game against India on February 21.
Australia’s T20 World Cup squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (VC), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
