Injured Aussies tipped to return for World Cup defence

Injured pair Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineux are expected to feature in Australia’s ODI World Cup defence in October, with a long winter lay-off to give the pair ample time to build up to the showpiece tournament in India.

Healy will miss next month’s T20I tour of New Zealand with the foot injury picked up during the Ashes, as will Molineux, who had knee surgery in January.

Australia's matches after the NZ tour will be their September ODI tour of India but national selector Shawn Flegler said there was the potential for the pair to feature in an Australia A series against India A in August, or in The Hundred if drafted, ahead of the ICC tournament.

"At the moment Alyssa's just focusing on that rehab and staying off her foot as much as possible," Flegler told reporters on Wednesday.

"My understanding is there's no doubt that she'll get through to the World Cup.

"She's had a complicated last nearly last two years, with some different injuries that's been related to her foot, and she's had some Achilles (issues too).

"We certainly don't want to rush it but as far as I'm aware, there's no risk that she'll miss out on that World Cup.

"We think (Sophie) will be an important member of that side (too) ... so again, we're not going to rush her back."

The timeline on injured fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck is less certain. The 25-year-old had shoulder surgery after a heartbreaking injury in the first over of her first appearance at last October’s T20 World Cup.

"She's progressing well, she's going to come up to Brisbane to do a little bit of work in a couple of weeks’ time, just as part of her rehab," Flegler said. "We haven't put a timeline on Tay, to be honest ... we're just aiming towards next season."

Beth Mooney will take the wicketkeeping gloves in New Zealand with Melbourne Renegades’ batter-keeper Nicole Faltum called into an Australian squad for the first time as a back-up option.

Flegler said Faltum would only play if injury were to befall Mooney, adding the 25-year-old’s inclusion was a look to the future.

He explained the reason she had been given the nod over other wicketkeeping candidates in a similar age bracket – including WNCL leading run-scorer Tahlia Wilson, who has just completed the third-most prolific campaign in the competition’s history – was down to the format.

Faltum played a number of crucial lower-order innings after moving to the Renegades for WBBL|10, including a career-high 66no from 42 deliveries against former team Melbourne Stars.

"It's a tight call, to be honest," Flegler said.

"We've had a few of those 'keepers rotate through different programs, Aus A and Governor-General's, but we saw it as a really great opportunity to see Nic around the senior team in that environment.

"(Tahlia’s) had a great year in the WNCL in particular, her WBBL numbers weren't as strong, and that's where we see Nic slightly ahead with the T20s … we've got to look forward to the next T20 World Cup as well and make sure we're planning for the future.

"But Tahlia's done a great job, as has Maddy Darke, she's got really strong numbers as well (but) at the moment we just see Nic slightly ahead of the others, particularly in the T20 format."

Australia’s regular squad members are close to completing one of their busiest seasons ever, which started against New Zealand in mid-September and included the T20 World Cup, ODI series against NZ and India and the multi-format Ashes alongside the WBBL and ongoing Women’s Premier League.

Australia have nonetheless named their strongest squad possible for the New Zealand tour, with Flegler pointing to the need to continue refining their approach to the format following last year’s semi-final exit in Dubai.

An ODI-heavy back end of 2025, which will see Australia play three one-dayers in India ahead of their 50-over World Cup defence, means they will play just nine T20Is across the next 16 months before the next T20I World Cup in England in June 2026.

The upcoming games in NZ will be followed by series against India and West Indies in early 2026.

"We don't have that many (games) leading into the next T20 World Cup so every opportunity we get now is really important to keep trying those different combinations and getting players used to those positions that they're now in," Flegler said.

"Phoebe Litchfield got elevated up the order (in the Ashes), I thought she played a couple of nice innings and she'll be looking to consolidate that, and Annabel Sutherland as well, she didn't have a great series with the bat with the Ashes white-ball stuff but we think she's going to be really important player for us at the next T20 World Cup.

"Georgia Voll came in and opened the batting when Alyssa was unavailable and (this is) another opportunity for her to play in that role.

"Alana King came in and played a really good role during the Ashes T20s as well, and I know she's desperate to be a permanent member of that side."

Hopefuls from outside the regular T20I squad will instead get a chance to push their cases when Australia A host England A in a multi-format series comprising three T20Is, three one-dayers and a red-ball game starting in late March.

"We'll get a few newer faces in for that T20 format in particular against the England A side," Flegler said.

"There'll probably be some different faces that you'll see ... whether that's looking forward to the next T20 World Cup or a little bit further forward in the future, it's a really good opportunity."

CommBank T20I tour of New Zealand

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

First T20 | March 21: Eden Park, Auckland

Second T20 | March 23: Bay Oval, Tauranga

Third T20 | March 26: Sky Stadium, Wellington

All games starting at 12:45pm AEDT, 2:45pm NZDT