How the Aussie women's XI could look at the 2028 Olympics

Australia's top women cricketers know what its like to stand on the top step of the podium after they claimed Commonwealth Games gold in 2022 but the sport's return to the pantheon of Olympic pastimes in 2028 looms large.

The 2024 Olympics in Paris have closed, and with the 2026 Comm Games uncertain to go ahead, eyes are on the horizon of Los Angeles where cricket will end a 128-year absence.

Details over where matches will be played, how many teams will compete and how they can qualify for the Games are still being ironed out – but the standard in 2028 is certain to be higher than the 1900 Games when the only two men's teams, Great Britain and France, played a one-off, 12-a-side, two-innings match.

This time, the women are involved as well and the format will be Twenty20, with cricket joining baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash as the new sports for the '28 Games.

After we took a fun stab at how the Aussie men’s XI might look in 2028, we've had an equally tongue-in-cheek look at women who might continue Australia's golden run.

There is expected to be some turnover in the Aussie ranks over the next four years, and we’re by no means trying to prematurely retire anyone – although Alyssa Healy has gone on the record saying she has no intention of extending her career out to 2028.

AUSTRALIA’S OLYMPIC XI*

*player profiles from the year 2028

Beth Mooney (wk)

Age: 34

Mrs Consistent has continued to live up to her name, despite the added responsibility of taking the wicketkeeping gloves following former captain Alyssa Healy’s retirement from international cricket after she led her side to yet another ICC title two years ago (funnily enough, Healy is also here at LA28, representing Australia in golf). Mooney has also been a massive influence on the Australian Olympic Commission’s plans for the athletes’ village in Los Angeles, convincing them that allowing athletes to bring their dogs with them would be invaluable for morale.

Annabel Sutherland

Age: 26

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Sutherland has evolved into a genuine all-round superstar, opening the bowling and the batting for Australia. Fresh off captaining the Chennai Super Queens to their first Women’s Premier League title – where she was named player of the tournament – Sutherland is primed for a shot at gold.

Phoebe Litchfield

Age: 25

Litchfield has taken her game to new strengths under the tutelage of Australia batting coach Meg Lanning, and those efforts paid off when she was crowned player of the tournament as Australia added another T20 World Cup to the trophy cabinet earlier this year. The left-hander received perhaps an even bigger honour shortly after when she was presented with the keys to the city of Orange.

Tahlia McGrath (c)

Age: 32

Since taking over the captaincy from Healy, McGrath has already lifted an ICC trophy after leading Australia to yet another T20 World Cup win in March. The South Australian allrounder has hinted that she might pack away the kit bag following this event and would dearly love to do so with a gold medal around her neck.

Ashleigh Gardner

Age: 31

Gardner remains one of the world’s premier allrounders, having got her first taste of captaincy when McGrath missed an ODI series against Thailand late last year. Off the field she has become one of the most prominent voices in the game – and in Australia – advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people. She continues to prove a nightmare for England’s batters and bowlers alike, so no doubt is eagerly looking forward to Australia’s opening match against Great Britain.

Ellyse Perry

Age: 38

The greatest of all time continues to defy age and the passing of time as she looks to add another achievement to her 20-year long international career in the form of an Olympic gold medal. At 38, Perry has shown no sign of slowing down after bringing up game No.400 in the green and gold earlier this year, and is not even ruling out a crack at Brisbane in 2032 – although the keen skateboarder has hinted that attempt may come in another discipline. While she has focused more on her batting than bowling in recent years, it paid off when she became the first Australian woman to hit a century in each format in 2026.

Georgia Wareham

Age: 29

A bona fide allrounder these days, who has now been a core member of the Aussie team for a decade, Wareham’s ability to float up and down the order and routinely strike at 200 makes her one of the most exciting members of the Aussie side. The leg-spinner is coming off a standout WPL season for Rajasthan, where she unveiled a crafty new delivery that has been dubbed the 'Wolf bite'.

Grace Harris

Age: 34

Harris is another hoping to add an Olympic gold medal to the Commonwealth Games one she helped Australia win in Birmingham in 2022. The ever-entertaining Queenslander remains one of the most destructive players in the world, despite combining cricket with her entrepreneurial side these days as she operates Brisbane’s most popular burger joint that is in its third season as the subject of Seven's most-popular reality TV show. 

Charli Knott

Age: 25

Knott had to be patient for her shot in the green and gold, given the wealth of spin-bowling and batting talent at Australia’s disposal, but the Queenslander grabbed her shot when a series of retirements followed the 2025 ODI World Cup. After bagging a five-wicket haul on debut, she has become a powerful member of the middle-to-lower-order alongside her skills with the ball.

Sophie Molineux

Age: 30

The Victorian was crowned the Belinda Clark Award winner for the first time earlier this year, after an unprecedented run of form in 2027 that included a maiden Test century and five-wicket haul at Headingley, that helped the Aussies claim a thrilling win over Nat Sciver-Brunt’s side. Molineux’s continued rise into the game’s best left-arm spinner has happened during a golden run of premiership success for her beloved Collingwood Magpies – coincidence?

Darcie Brown

Age: 25

Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck are the two quickest bowlers in the world, after becoming the first women to routinely exceed 130kph. Australia are expected to rotate the pair at this tournament, given the LA pitches are tipped to be super spin friendly. Brown recently went viral – again – after videos posted to TikTok incited rumours she was ditching cricket for speed climbing, but to cricket’s relief, they proved unfounded.

Squad members:  Tayla Vlaeminck (29), Tess Flintoff (24), Georgia Voll (24), Alana King (32)