'Hard to fit everyone in': Flegler on Molineux ommission

National Selector Shawn Flegler has explained the brutal decision to axe Sophie Molineux from the women's contract list for the 2022-23 summer, saying it was a difficult conversation to have with the left-arm spinner.

Having been sidelined since January with a stress fracture in her left foot, Molineux was left off the 15-player list announced today, with leg-spinner Alana King taking her spot after a stellar few months in the Aussie side.

Flegler said Molineux, who boasts a career ODI bowling average of just 13.3, was unfortunate to be without a contract and cited the timing of her injury and the depth of women's cricket for her omission.

"We've got 15 contracts to work with … and it's very hard to fit everyone in," he said.

"It's not just Soph but a number of players that have missed out.

"We had to work with a few who had long term injuries, with Tayla (Vlaeminck) and Georgia (Wareham) and Soph to a degree, that we had to squeeze around because Alana King deserved a contract.

"Sophie is the unlucky one this time but we feel that she can get back on board and playing games a little bit quicker than the other two."

Despite the omission, Flegler said Molineux was an important player for the national side and he is lookimg forward to seeing the spinner put her hand up for future selection once her recovery is complete.

"Soph can hopefully get back on board and playing games in the short term and be ready for domestic cricket and even put a hand up for the (Commonwealth) Games," he said.

"If she does that, she can get upgraded once she plays games. Soph is a world class bowler, she's been crucial to our success over the last couple of years and we're very keen to see her back involved.

"She's still part of part of the family, essentially, and it was a tough call to make.

"You don’t like dropping players and you don't like letting players miss out on contracts. It's not one of the nice parts of the job to be honest."

The beneficiary of Molineux's omission, King has enjoyed a remarkable summer where she made her international debut in all three formats of the game on her way to winning both the Ashes and the World Cup.

But her path into the Australian side wasn't straightforward, with her inclusion in the Ashes squad as Wareham's replacement over fellow leggie Amanda Jade-Wellington indicative of the tough decisions Australian selectors have had to make this summer.

King's outstanding form has ultimately led to her securing a contract, with Flegler praising the Western Australia spinner for embracing all the challenges she was presented.

"We were fortunate to have two world-class spinners to replace Georgia," Flegler said of the choice between King and Wellington for the Ashes.

"We felt like Alana probably played a similar role to what Georgia had played for us over the previous couple of years.

"We're just really pleased that Alana did so well. We were always confident that she had the skills to do it, but there's always that unknown with how you cope mentally (with the) step up into the spotlight. But she embraced it completely.

"She's a competitor, number one, so she gives herself every chance to be in the game. And she's had some great success over the past few months, so that was great to see."

Wellington as well as players like Grace Harris and Georgia Redmayne are others that could be considered unlucky to not receive a contract, with Flegler reiterating how cut-throat selection had been in the past few months.

However, he added he was pleased with how positively all players had reacted to these tough calls and said it was a major reason behind the team's recent success in New Zealand.

"It's bloody hard, there's no getting around it," he said.

"You only had to look at the other players sitting on the bench in the World Cup final that could be playing for any other team around the world.

"We've got some great depth and that is one of the tough things; we've got this sweet spot of world-class performers having success at the moment and we've got this next level coming through pushing for spots.

"That keeps pushing performances up and up, which is nice to have, but it's also a challenge from a selection point of view because you've got to let people know that they're missing out.

"Sometimes it's not through performance, it could be the role against a certain team, it could be conditions.

"What I'm really pleased with is the way people have reacted to that. It really is a squad mentality to win big events and I couldn't praise the players highly enough about how they've embraced that and accepted it."

Flegler said there was an opportunity with the growth of women's cricket in recent years to see a more flexible contract situation in future, with the potential to see more players rewarded for their performances.

"This MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) agreed by the ACA and CA is that women's contracts is between 12 and 15 (players)," he said.

"I think since that MOU was agreed five years ago, the game has evolved a little bit more. So it might be at the point where there's more expanded contracts.

"I guess we still don't have the same future tours program as the men's. They're still probably playing more games on the road, whereas the girls get to play a bit more domestic cricket than the international male players do.

"I think it's a chance to review the contract system and have a look at what best suits our needs.

"It's always going to be tough to squeeze in, whether it's 15 or 18 or 20 … because the depth of the talent pool in Australia just keeps increasing."