Skipper McGrath keen to 'try some things' against India A

Tahlia McGrath has labelled her upcoming Australia A stint as the "perfect World Cup prep", as she looks to trial a few new tricks following her longest off-season in years.

The national vice-captain will lead Australia A in three T20s and three one-dayers against India A, with the series to get underway at Brisbane’s AB Field on Wednesday.

All games will be available to watch via a free live stream on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, while they will also be available on Kayo.

It will be McGrath’s first competitive hit out since Australia’s tour of Bangladesh ended in early April, after she opted not to nominate for The Hundred draft in favour of a longer winter at home.

"I'm really looking forward to it," McGrath told cricket.com.au in the lead-up to the series.

"It's an opportunity to get some game time under my belt leading into the World Cup.

"(It’s also) a really good opportunity to try some things I've been working on in preseason, to get some time in the middle and to also work on my leadership as well with the opportunity to captain the side."

McGrath will be one of two Australia contracted players to feature in the white-ball legs of the multi-format tour alongside Tayla Vlaeminck.

Fellow quicks Megan Schutt and Kim Garth had also been due to feature, but instead received last minute call-ups as replacement players in The Hundred.

Meanwhile there was a late change made to the Australia A squads on Tuesday after rising quick Courtney Sippel was ruled out due to a bone stress injury in her right foot and replaced by fellow Queenslander Nicola Hancock. 

McGrath said she had made a conscious effort to distance herself from cricket during her break in April and May, before kicking off a preseason that has included a series of camps in Brisbane alongside Australia’s other nationally contracted players.

"It's been really nice just to go tools down, reset, come back fresh and have what I feel like it's been my first preseason in about four or five years with an extended period of time at home to work on a few things," she said.

"You're always looking to tweak and improve parts of your game.

"So for me, specifically, I'm just looking to open up more areas of the ground for a batting point of view. And from a bowling point of view, a little bit more consistency and a bit of depth bowling in there as well."

McGrath will get to put that work to test against an India A outfit that includes a host of internationally capped players.

She is also looking forward to going toe-to-toe with Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire and Soppadhandi Yashasri, who she played alongside at UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League earlier this year.

Australia’s first engagement is a three-game T20 series against New Zealand next month, which immediately precedes their departure for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

"I think it's a perfect World Cup prep, it's a bit of freedom to try some things and work out what parts of my game will work against certain types of bowlers and then go from there," she said.

"I've been working on a few things so to get an opportunity to trial them before heading over to the World Cup is perfect prep for me.

"The best thing about Aus A series are they are a lot of fun. It's an opportunity to get out there with an enthusiastic group, a wide range of young talent (alongside) older domestic superstars and just to come together and play against India A is always going to be really exciting."

As it stands, the T20 World Cup is still scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20, despite ongoing anti-government protests that have resulted in the introduction of a nation-wide curfew.

The ICC released a statement on the situation on Monday, saying: "The ICC is closely monitoring developments in co-ordination with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, their security agencies and our own independent security consultants. Our priority is the safety and well-being of all participants."

Women’s Australia A v India A Series

All games will be streamed live and free on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, and on Kayo

First T20: August 7, Allan Border Field, 1pm

Second T20: August 9, Allan Border Field, 1pm

Third T20: August 11, Allan Border Field, 1pm

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum (wk), Tess Flintoff, Kim Garth, Nicola Hancock, Charli Knott (vc), Katie Mack, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Parsons, Tayla Vlaeminck, Tahlia Wilson

First ODI: August 14, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 9.30am

Second ODI: August 16, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 1.20pm (D/N)

Third ODI: August 18, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 1.20pm (D/N)

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum (wk), Tess Flintoff, Kim Garth, Nicola Hancock, Charli Knott (vc), Katie Mack, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Parsons, Kate Peterson, Tayla Vlaeminck, Tahlia Wilson

Four-day match: August 22-25, Gold Coast District Cricket Club, 9.30am

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke (wk), Sophie Day, Emma de Broughe, Nicole Faltum (vc), Tess Flintoff, Nicola Hancock, Charli Knott (c), Katie Mack, Lilly Mills, Grace Parsons, Kate Peterson, Georgia Voll

India A squad: Minnu Mani (c), Shweta Sehrawat (vc), Priya Punia, Shubha Satheesh, Tejal Hasabnis, Kiran Navgire, Sajana Sajeevan, Uma Chetry (wk), Shipra Giri (wk), Raghavi Bisht, Saika Ishaque, Mannat Kashyap, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh, Sayali Satghare, Shabnam Shakeel (subject to fitness), S Yashasri. Standby: Saima Thakor