The rise of domestic T20 leagues means Australia will head into the women's Ashes knowing their rivals, and their rival's grounds, better than ever
Australia to return to home away from home
Not only will Australia and England know each other better than ever in the upcoming edition of the women’s Ashes, a host of Australia’s stars will arrive in the United Kingdom with greater insight into the local conditions than ever before.
Some of Australia’s biggest names have featured in the three editions of England’s domestic 20-over Super League, a competition that was introduced the 2015 Ashes in the UK were won by Australia.
Ellyse Perry, Elyse Villani and Rachael Haynes have all turned out for Loughborough Lightning, while Nicole Bolton was part of Lancashire Thunder’s squad in 2018, and Beth Mooney and Delissa Kimmince have both played for Yorkshire.
"I'm pretty comfortable over there now," Mooney told cricket.com.au.
"Some of the wickets are not too dissimilar to here, it’s probably just the conditions ... it’s never really extremely hot conditions, which probably suits me more than most people.
"We’ve got a few games in some pretty well known places that we’ve played a bit of cricket at. I think people will take confidence from that too."
Of those who haven't played in the Super League, a further five – captain Meg Lanning, allrounder Ashleigh Gardner, spearhead Megan Schutt, spinner Jess Jonassen and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy - were part of Australia’s 2017 World Cup squad in the UK.
That group didn’t get the desired result, falling to India in a shock semi-final loss, but they did play their group matches on three of the six venues they’ll revisit during the Ashes next month; Leicester’s Grace Road Oval (host of the opening two ODIs), Taunton's County Ground (the venue for the one-off Test) and Bristol's County Ground (where the final T20 will be played).
The more senior members of the squad including Lanning, Jonassen, Perry, Villani, Bolton and Schutt come with even more experience having been part of the winning 2015 Ashes squad that played at Canterbury (venue for the third ODI this year) as well as Chelmsford and Hove (hosts for the other two T20s).
In all, no venue will be a complete unknown for Lanning’s squad, while only newcomers Nicola Carey, Tayla Vlaeminck and Georgia Wareham have never played in English conditions before.
"Cricket is a pretty simple game in terms of the more you play, the better you get," Villani told cricket.com.au. "So I think it’s really important to be playing as much as you can on all different types of conditions.
"Certainly having those extra games in the Super League for a number of players has been beneficial from that point of view.
"Any experience is great experience."
The rise of the Rebel WBBL, as well as the Super League, also mean the Ashes rivals are more aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses than even before.
Of England's current 15-player one-day squad playing the West Indies, 13 have featured in the WBBL at some stage across the past four seasons.
Knowing each other better than ever brings a new element to an age-old rivalry, and it’s one Lanning is eagerly anticipating.
“We are absolutely (expecting a tough contest from England)," Lanning told cricket.com.au. "I think Katherine Brunt will probably come back into that side and she's a real leader within their team and loves the contest, so that will add a dimension to them.
"We’ve seen that they've got world-class players who can perform consistently well, so we expect a really tough battle."
CommBank Ashes Tour of England
Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
June 26: England Academy v Australia, Loughborough
June 28: England Academy v Australia, Loughborough
July 2: First ODI, Grace Road, Leicester
July 4: Second ODI, Grace Road, Leicester
July 7: Third ODI, St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
July 11-13: England Academy v Australia, Marlborough College, Swindon
July 18-21: Only Test, The County Ground, Taunton
July 26: First T20, County Ground, Chelmsford
July 28: Second T20, The County Ground, Hove
July 31: Third T20, Bristol County Ground, Bristol
A Test victory is worth four points (two each for a draw), two points are awarded for ODI and T20 wins