Phoebe Litchfield to play for Australia in Ashes opener

Australia will begin its other Ashes campaign on Thursday with a batting prodigy at the top of the order in a new-look team.

There have been runs galore in the lead-up to the one and only women’s Ashes Test and a new-look Australian batting line-up is ready to feast again in a first-ever match at iconic Trent Bridge.

Rising star Phoebe Litchfield is set to make her Test debut on Thursday night as retirements, absences and a reshuffle look set to give the Ashes holders something different to throw at the home team.

The retirement of Rachael Haynes opened one vacancy before the late withdrawal of captain Meg Lanning from the tour created another at the top of the order.

Alyssa Healy, who will captain the team in Lanning‘’ absence, also moved down the order in warm-up matches having flagged her intention to no longer open the batting, paving the way for Litchfield, 20, who has a “wide circle” of family and friends flying to England to watch her debut.

Phoebe Litchfield made her T20 debut in India in 2022. Picture: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

Litchfield, who made her NSW debut as a 16-year-old, has been limited mostly to 50-over and T20 cricket, with no multi-day cricket played in the Australian domestic women‘s game.

The adjustment in warm-up matches, first an Australia A v Australia game, then a clash with England A, has required a “mindset” adjustment to prepare for her maiden outing in a baggy green.

“I think just temperament and choosing which balls to score off, play the long game,” Litchfield said of the shift she had to make from so much white-ball cricket.

“There’s lot of time in this format, so playing smart cricket for long periods of time.

“You’ve got to have a good technique, but if you drive balls that aren’t there, it’s dangerous, so I think it’s just about playing smart shots. It’s a mind game I think I’ve realised.”

The Australians have had a positive lead-in to the opening Ashes clash in England. Picture: Jan Kruger - ECB/ECB via Getty Images

Runs haven’t been an issue for the Australians in the lead-in games, with Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland making centuries. Litchfield also made 78 in a 167-run stand with Sutherland.

All-rounder Jess Jonassen also smashed a massive 174 against a full-strength England attack, her haul coming on a dry, lifeless wicket on which England’s own stars went big and scored a mammoth total of 650.

It’s that sort of wicket Jonassen expects when the match starts at Trent Bridge, a venue where the Aussie women have only played once, a sole ODI in 1976.

The only women’s Test at the Nottingham ground was in 1979 and it hasn’t hosted a women’s international since 2009.

Jess Jonassen is flying high after a massive 173no in the warm-up match against England!

Full story: https://t.co/2WLsESzeTu#Ashespic.twitter.com/pc3HjpyX9Y

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 19, 2023

England’s men’s captain Ben Stokes ordered fast and flat pitches for his team and Jonassen said it seemed like the instructions had flowed to all other grounds as well.

“It’ll be interesting to see what the wickets are like when we have our first training session at Trent Bridge, but I’m not really expecting them to be too much different from what we’ve got (so far),” she said.

“If the men’s Ashes and all that is anything to go by, they might be a bit batting friendly.”

The Ashes consists of one Test, then three ODIs and three T20s, with matches at Edgbaston, Lord’s and The Oval.

Originally published as Phoebe Litchfield to play for Australia in Ashes opener