Victorious Australia ready for rest period

With the trans-Tasman Rose Bowl safely in their keeping for another year, the Australian women's cricket team will now begin a well-earned break before what looms as their busiest period ever.

Australia capped off the international summer with a 3-0 ODI series win over New Zealand, sealing the whitewash with a seven-wicket victory at Melbourne's Junction Oval on Sunday.

A six-week leave period will give Meg Lanning's team a chance to put their feet up, take a well-deserved rest and reflect on what was a highlights-filled season both on and off the field.

But it won't take long for their minds to begin to turn to the tasks ahead; the first of those the multi-format Ashes in the United Kingdom.

"I think everyone's ready for a break," Lanning said on Sunday. "We were really keen today to make sure we finished off on a really good note, because we didn't want to head into our break with our last game being a loss.

"It's nice to be able to tick that off, there's a few exhausted players in there at the moment and the coaching staff too, they've really put in a lot of effort to help us.

"So as a collective I think we're ready for a few days off."

Beginning with an ODI in Leicester on July 2, Australia will meet England in three one-dayers, a Test and three T20Is as they battle to keep their hands on the coveted trophy.

Following the Ashes, Australia will play the West Indies (away) and Sri Lanka (home) in limited-overs series, before the first standalone season of the Rebel WBBL gets underway in October.

And less than a year away is the biggest event of them all: the 2020 T20 World Cup, where Australia will defend their title on home soil.

"An Ashes series is always something you look forward to, especially an away one," Lanning said.

"To compete in that and win an Ashes series in their home conditions is really tough to do and something we always want to tick off.

"Once we do get through the break we'll be honing in on that Ashes series against a good England team who'll be hard to beat at home."

Australia have won 24 of the 26 matches they've played across the last 12 months, a period of dominance rarely seen by any team at international level.

Lanning believes it has the team well-set to tackle the challenges of the year ahead.

"Next year is probably busier than what this year was," she said.

"We're going to have to get used to it. Generally everyone's coped really well with the demands we've been put under and that's the way international cricket is going now.

"There's so much more cricket, which is exciting and we want to be part of it.

"Moving forward it's about managing ourselves and working with the coaching staff to get the best out of ourselves. That's why we put in the work in preseason, to make sure we can compete for long periods and I think we're shown this summer we're up to it, and now we're going to have to do that again next summer."

CommBank ODIs v NZ 

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Lauren Cheatle, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand squad: Amy Satterthwaite (c), Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

February 22: Australia won by five runs

February 24: Australia won by 95 runs

March 3: Third ODI, Junction Oval, Melbourne