Strong Australia A squad named for India

History will be made this month when the first official women’s Australia A touring party departs for India.

Cricket Australia have named a 14-strong squad of up-and-coming talent for the subcontinent tour, which will see Australia A meet India A in three one-dayers and three T20s in Mumbai.

It’s the first official women’s ‘A’ tour since a restructure of the National Talent Pathway last year. Previously, the under-23 Shooting Stars team travelled overseas to nurture up-and-coming talent.

Headlining the squad are previous international representatives Lauren Cheatle, Molly Strano, Tahlia McGrath, Belinda Vakarewa and Amanda-Jade Wellington, alongside a host of familiar Rebel WBBL names.

“We’ve assembled a really exciting and talented group of players who have been presented with a wonderful opportunity to continue to develop their skills against a quality opposition in what will be challenging sub-continent conditions,” Australia A head coach Leah Poulton said.
 
“It’s great to see both Sammy-Jo (Johnson) and Chloe (Piparo) back in the Australia setup, both players have been out of the system for a while, but they’ve been able to work their way back through strong performances at domestic level.”

For Cheatle, the tour is a chance to impress after being forced to sit out the majority of the 2017-18 summer through injury, while Vakarewa and Wellington have an opportunity to press their cases for recalls after being left out of Australia’s squad for this month’s Commonwealth Bank Tour of Malaysia against Pakistan.

National Performance Squad members Heather Graham, Piepa Cleary, Josie Dooley and Maitlan Brown are also part of the squad, where they’ll be hoping to put the skills they developed during their eight weeks at Brisbane’s Bupa National Cricket Centre this winter to use.

“This tour will also provide the opportunity for the players to push for higher honours with strong performances, with players such as Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck being selected in the senior national side following impressive performances for the Australia Under-19 side earlier this year,” Poulton said.

The new set-up of CA’s talent pathway also led to the development of the Australia Under-19 team, which embarked on their first overseas tour of South Africa in April.

Australia A squad: Samantha Bates, Maitlan Brown, Lauren Cheatle, Piepa Cleary, Josephine Dooley, Heather Graham, Sammy Jo Johnson, Tahlia McGrath, Chloe Piparo, Georgia Redmayne, Naomi Stalenberg, Molly Strano, Belinda Vakarewa, Amanda-Jade Wellington

Schedule

One-day fixtures at BKC, Mumbai

15 October v India A

17 October v India A

19 October v India A

T20 fixtures at BKC, Mumbai

22 October v India A

24 October v India A

26 October v India A