Australia women - Sophie Molineux, Lucy Hamilton out of Bangladesh ODIs, Tahlia McGrath to captain

Australia women‘s skipper Sophie Molineux and Lucy Hamilton have been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh due to injury but both are expected to be fit to face New Zealand in the T20I series that follows.

Both were named in a combined 14-player white-ball squad on Tuesday that covers both series but Tahlia McGrath will captain Australia in the three match series against Bangladesh from October 9 to 14 in Brisbane with fellow vice-captain Ashleigh Gardner likely to lead the T20I side if Molineux misses any of the matches against New Zealand from October 18 to 22 in Sydney.

Darcie Brown is unavailable for both series due to a back injury she suffered during the Australia A tour of India with her availability for the WBBL still to be determined, although there is a chance she could be out for up to 10 weeks. Grace Harris, who was part of the T20 World Cup winning squad, has been left out of the squad for both series.

National selector Shawn Flegler confirmed that Molineux’s hip issue has not settled enough for her to play in the ODIs starting next Friday.

“She suffered a hip injury just when she got back from the Hundred actually,” Flegler told reporters on Tuesday. “She went into Cricket Victoria training, and it seemed a fairly innocuous hip injury initially, and unfortunately it just didn’t progress as quickly as we thought it would up until until the weekend, to be honest and then she’s sort of turned the corner. But I think it’s too tight for the ODI series.

“She’ll be right for the T20 games. But we’ll keep assessing during that particular series. But I can confirm that she’s not going to play any of the ODIs against Bangladesh, unfortunately.”

Flegler confirmed that McGrath would captain the ODIs ahead of Gardner who has not led the team in any format since her appointment as vice-captain. She needed endorsement from the Cricket Australia board to remain in the role following public revelations of her relationship with team-mate Georgia Voll who has also been named in the squad.

However, Flegler confirmed that Gardner would lead the T20I side if Molineux was not fit for that series with McGrath not in Australia’s first-choice T20I XI. Flegler added that the scrutiny surrounding her personal life would not be an issue.

“If Ash gets that opportunity, I’m sure she’ll do a great job,” Flegler said.

“I think she’ll be fine with that. The captaincy roles have been endorsed by the board. Soph will be on tour with us anyway, so I can see that leadership group performing really well. They function really well as a group, and I don’t see any issues coming up.”

Hamilton suffered a minor quad strain at training but Flegler said the left-armer should be fit for the T20 series against New Zealand. Australia currently only have 12 players to choose from for the Bangladesh series that will be played in the space of six days at the Allan Border Field. Flegler said they are likely to add another player following the next round of WNCL matches.

“We’ll look at that over the next couple of days,” he said. “Obviously, some WNCL rounds going on at the moment, so keen for those just to finish and then we’ll name someone.”

Brown’s injury could rule her out for some time but there is hope she could be back for part of the WBBL which begins at the end of October.

“She’s had a bit of a disc issue with her back that she’s been trying to get get on top of,” Flegler said.

“She got back to Australia earlier in the week and she got scanned again and got clinically assessed, and it just hasn’t progressed. So we’re going to have to shut her down for a few weeks initially. Just offload her from bowling and running in particular, and then it’ll be a reload period after that. Worst case scenario, it’s actually 10 weeks. But we’re hopeful that improves quicker than that. We’re hopeful that she gets back for some WBBL, but if she doesn’t, she’ll be in contention particularly for the Champions Trophy in the new year.”

Flegler added that Harris’ omission was unfortunate.

“With the T20 squad reduced in size and limited opportunities during the World Cup, Grace is unlucky to miss out on selection but remains in the frame moving forward,” Flegler said.

Australia Women squad vs Bangladesh and New Zealand

Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton (T20I only), Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux (capt), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at Cricinfo

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