Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel (NSP) has today announced a 14-player Australian squad for the CommBank Women’s T20 Tour of New Zealand
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Victorian wicket-keeper, Nicole Faltum has been named in her first Australian side in the absence of captain, Alyssa Healy.
The 24-year-old has played in the last eight editions of the Weber WBBL, making the move to the title-winning Melbourne Renegades for WBBL|10 where her work with the gloves and lower-order hitting proved pivotal.
Faltum is no stranger to facing international opposition having represented Australia A on multiple occasions and captaining the Governor-General’s XI against England in January.
Selectors have named Tahlia McGrath as captain for the series, with Ashleigh Gardner her deputy.
Australia will play three T20 Internationals against World Champions, New Zealand from 21-26 March.
Australian squad for CommBank Women’s Tour of New Zealand
Darcie Brown (Adelaide Strikers/Northern Districts CC)
Nicole Faltum (Melbourne Renegades/Dandenong CC
Ashleigh Gardner (Sydney Sixers/Bankstown CC) – vice-captain
Kim Garth (Melbourne Stars/Dandenong CC)
Grace Harris (Brisbane Heat/Western Suburbs CC)
Alana King (Perth Scorchers/Midland Guildford CC)
Phoebe Litchfield (Sydney Thunder/Sydney University CC)
Tahlia McGrath (Adelaide Strikers/Glenelg CC) – captain
Beth Mooney (Perth Scorchers/Sandgate-Redcliffe CC)
Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers/Dandenong CC)
Megan Schutt (Adelaide Strikers/Sturt CC)
Annabel Sutherland (Melbourne Stars/Prahran CC)
Georgia Voll (Sydney Thunder/Sandgate-Redcliffe District CC)
Georgia Wareham (Melbourne Renegades/Essendon Maribyrnong Park CC)
Cricket Australia’s Head of Performance (Women’s Cricket) and National Selector, Shawn Flegler said:
“It’s exciting to be able to bring Nicole into the squad, she’s been a consistent performer over a long period of time and will provide a strong back-up option to Beth who will take the gloves during the series.
“While Beth was brilliant during the Ashes in Alyssa’s absence, it’s important we’re continuing to look to the future and Nicole is certainly someone who we can see wearing the green and gold for a long period of time.
“Alyssa is unavailable for this series due to the foot injury she sustained during the Ashes. She’s working diligently on her rehab with the aim to have her fit for the one-day World Cup later in the year.
“These three matches against New Zealand will be another good test as to how the side has bounced back after the T20 World Cup; the team performed strongly during the Ashes and will be looking to build on that against the World Champions.”
CommBank Women’s Tour of New Zealand
21 March: Eden Park, Auckland (2:45pm)
23 March: Bay Oval, Tauranga (2:45pm)
26 March: Sky Stadium, Wellington (2:45pm)
*All times are local
ENDS
