The surprise omission from Australia’s T20 World Cup squad

Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney headline Australia’s T20 World Cup squad alongside Alyssa Healy, who will captain her first world cup team when the tournament gets under way in the United Arab Emirates in October.

Australia are chasing a record fourth consecutive victory in the tournament after claiming titles in 2018, 2020 and 2023. However, they will be without veteran spinner Jess Jonassen, who was overlooked in favour of Sophie Molineux.

Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Alyssa Healy, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner are all part of Australia’s T20 world cup squad.Credit: Getty Images for Cricket Australia

Jonassen was left out of Australia’s white-ball tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, but had made a strong case for a recall in franchise cricket since then. She will miss out on a T20 World Cup for the first time since her debut in 2012, having featured in five tournament wins since then.

Jonassen is the highest-profile name missing from Australia’s 15-woman squad, with Phoebe Litchfield set to play in her first World cup, While Tayla Vlaeminck returns for her first world cup since 2018 after overcoming a string of injuries.

The tournament, originally scheduled to be played in strife-torn Bangladesh, was moved to the UAE last week – but Healy said the location shift wouldn’t change much for her seasoned side.

“I’m not too sure what sort of conditions we’re going to get,” Healy said. “Hopefully, the wickets are nice and fresh, and we get some good batting tracks, but I think regardless we have picked a squad that is pretty adaptable to any conditions.

AUTRALIA’S SQUAD FOR WOMEN’S TWENTY20 WORLD CUP

Alyssa Healy, Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck.

“Obviously, the conditions in Dubai are generally pretty different, so we’re just going to have to adapt on the fly, but the squad of 15 that we’ve picked I think is a great mix of youth and experience to go out there and tackle anything that’s thrown at us.”

Litchfield, dubbed the squad’s “W-factor” by selection chief Shawn Flegler, said she didn’t think the pressure of chasing a fourth consecutive title would weigh on her until she arrived in the UAE, and said playing next to proven international cricketers would help her “play with ultimate freedom”.

“I’m just going to go out there and have fun, and I think the pressure will come probably in the finals or whatnot, but I don’t see those trophies as pressure,” she said. “I see them as exciting opportunities”.

Litchfield, who has never played in the Middle East, had some concerns about the desert heat, calling it a “different beast” to other conditions she’s contended with in the past.

Phoebe Litchfield will make her T20 world cup debut this year.Credit: Nick Moir

“It’s going to be interesting. I think we’ve got some acclimatisation sessions leading up to [the tournament], and hopefully that helps. But it’s going to be very hot,” Litchfield said.

“Luckily, all the games I think are at night, but yeah, it’s heat nonetheless. At least it’s only T20 cricket... I’ve played in Bangladesh and India, which are quite similar [temperatures], but the desert I feel like it’s a different beast.”

With AAP