Australia have named their 15-woman squad for the World Cup in New Zealand, with Sophie Molineux losing a late fitness race to be included.
Molineux missed the Ashes after suffering a stress fracture in her foot late in the BBL campaign.
She’ll join quick Tayla Vlaeminck on the sidelines, who was ruled out a couple of days ago after also suffering a stress fracture in her foot.
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“Sophie Molineux unfortunately misses out due to injury; she was unlikely to be available until the backend of the tournament and with limited match time and having to complete ten days managed isolation, it was a tough call, but we weren’t prepared to take the risk,” selector Shawn Flegler said.
“It’s incredibly disappointing for Tayla to miss out as well. We’re really disappointed for her after injuring her foot again and will continue to work with her as she recovers.”
Despite Molineux’s absence, Flegler believes the team’s spinning options can get the job done.
“Amanda-Jade [Wellington] provides us with another quality spin option and has the potential to play an important role spinning the ball away from the bat,” he said.
“Leg-spin has been a big part of our success in recent years and while Alana King is currently doing that role for us, there’s no reason we couldn’t play both in the same team if conditions and match-ups suit.”
Two women will travel as stand-by players who are able to be called up in case of injury, while five others have been named in a stand-by squad.
“Some seriously good players have missed out, but we’ve been able to include them as standby players should injury or COVID come into play,” Flegler said.
Australia’s campaign will begin on March 5 against England, the first of seven group stage games. The tournament will consist of eight teams playing on one round robin group with the top four making the semi-finals.
Full squad: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Nic Carey, Ash Gardner, Grace Harris, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington.
Travelling Reserves: Hannah Darlington, Georgia Redmayne.
Stand-by: Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Heather Graham, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani.
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