MacDonald-Gay, Kemp, Smith & Heat named in England’s squad for Women’s Ashes

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) Seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, all-rounder Freya Kamp, spinner Linsey Smith and wicketkeeper-batter Linsey Smith have been named in England’s squad for the upcoming Women’s Ashes.

Ryana, who made her white-ball debut on England’s tour of Ireland earlier this year, took two wickets on her Test debut against South Africa and retains her place in the longer format team for the trip to Australia.

Freya and Linsey are in an Ashes squad for the first time and are a part of the T20I team only, while Bess is included in T20I and Test squads after suffering a fractured thumb, which kept her out of the South Africa tour.

Left-arm pacer Mahika Gaur will be with the group, continuing her return to bowling following the injury that made her unavailable for the recent South Africa tour. England travel to Sydney on January 2 and will play a warm-up match against a Governor General’s XI on January 9.

“We have named balanced squads for this Ashes series, with a good mix of youth and experience. Ashes series’ are always special. We want to go there, play our way, and are all excited about the challenges ahead,” said head coach Jon Lewis in a statement.

England begins their Women’s Ashes trip with three ODIs in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart from January 11-16. It is followed by three T20Is taking place in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide from January 20-25.

The four-day Test, also the maiden day-night game, is set to be held from January 30 to February 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The game will also end the multi-format Women’s Ashes series for the first time since it was introduced in 2015.

During the last Ashes in England in 2023, Australia won the Test match at Trent Bridge but England triumphed in both white-ball formats, resulting in an eight-all draw of the multi-format series.

England ODI squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England Test squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

–IANS

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3rd Test: Head, Smith put Australia in command against India

Brisbane, Dec 15 (IANS) Left-handed batter Travis Head continued to be a thorn in India’s flesh as he hit his second straight Test century, while Steve Smith found his groove through an unbeaten fifty to put Australia in total command against India on day two of the third Test at the Gabba on Sunday.

At tea, Australia have reached 234/3 in 70 overs, with Head and Smith unbeaten on 103 and 65, respectively, while their unbroken fourth-wicket stand is at 159. If the morning session was even-stevens, Australia ensured they totally dominated the post-lunch session by amassing 130 runs and scoring at 4.8 per over.

The Australian camp would be giving big thanks to Head feasting on a listless Indian bowling attack and their lack of proactive field settings to render the visitors’ ineffective. It was yet another show of scintillating batting from Head, who produced a stunning array of shots off the front and back foot to deflate India.

After Smith began the session with a streaky inside edge going for four off Jasprit Bumrah, Head began his stunning show. With the ball being a little bit softer, Head ramped Bumrah over slip for four, before pulling Ravindra Jadeja for another boundary. Despite Akash Deep beating Smith with three rousing deliveries, including India burning a review, the batter drove and cut him for two cracking boundaries.

Head lofted and hammered Jadeja for two boundaries, before reaching his fifty in 71 balls. India’s ploy to bang it short didn’t work as Head ramped, pulled and slashed Siraj for three fours, even as Smith got his fifty. After carving Siraj over gully, Head proceeded to hammer Jadeja for another boundary, before he and Smith took a four each off Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Despite India getting Bumrah back, there was no stopping Head as he unfurled a drive on the up through mid-on for four and after Smith punched Reddy through point for a boundary, Head whipped for three runs to get his ninth Test hundred and notch up another game-defining knock against India.

Brief Scores: Australia 234/3 in 70 overs (Travis Head 103 not out, Steve Smith 65 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 2-51, Nitish Kumar Reddy 1-33) against India

–IANS

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