McGrath to put own spin on Aussie captaincy stint

Tahlia McGrath says she will ‘put her own’ spin on the Australian captaincy, as she takes on her first full series in charge of the national side.

McGrath has taken the reins for the three-game ODI series against India starting Thursday, with Ashleigh Gardner deputising while Alyssa Healy nurses her injured knee.

The South Australian has had a taste of captaincy before, but only in an ad-hoc capacity when Healy has been ruled out mid-series or mid-tournament.

Most recently, she stepped up for the final two games of Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign in October, while she and Gardner formed a leadership duo for the final one-dayer against Ireland in mid-2023.

"I'm excited, every opportunity I get to lead any side I love, I thrive off of it," McGrath told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday.

"I'm really excited to work alongside Ash Gardner in a new partnership.

"We've done one game together in Ireland, and really excited to have a three-game series together.

"This is the first time I've had a full series as captain – previously I've stepped into the role at the end of a series or a tournament.

"I like to put my own spin on it. Every captain's slightly different, but a full series for me, and I'm really excited about the opportunity to work alongside Ash to implement a few things that that I do as captain, and hopefully get the most out of this group and have a series win."

Assuming Healy is fit for the three-game ODI series in New Zealand later this month, McGrath will hand back the captaincy.

Healy has been with the Australian squad in Brisbane this week and she is going through her rehab protocols.

"It's really good to have Midge up here as well and she's still really involved with the squad," McGrath continued.

"I'm more of a quieter leader; lead from the front, small conversations, and I think my biggest strength in leadership is my calmness.

"That's what I bring to it. Midge and I balance each other out really well and have found that partnership

"I'm hoping to do the same with Ash, because she's got a lot of strengths of her own that complement mine … I'm really excited to showcase that."

This series against India marks a fresh phase for Australia, with their next global event – the 2025 ODI World Cup in India – now less than 12 months away.

Australia’s most recent 50-over series was in Bangladesh in March, with a heavy focus on T20 from that point on through to the end of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October.

"We've played a lot of T20 cricket, (but) not too much changes," McGrath said.

"We love to take the game on, play positively, and it's just more time to do that.

"We're really excited to get back out there in a format that we're really successful in and really excited to get out in home conditions as well.

"(India) have got superstars ... always hard-fought and crucial key moments in every game, and while we're at home we're expecting a lot of India support.

"We want to win that World Cup ... it starts tomorrow."

Commbank Women's ODI series v India

Australia squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Priya Punia, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Titas Sadhu, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor, Radha Yadav

First ODI: December 5: Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 3.20pm AEDT

Second ODI: December 8: Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.45am AEDT

Third ODI: December 11: WACA Ground, Perth, 3.20pm AEDT