After being left out of a World Cup squad for the first time in her career, Jess Jonassen has been given hope to force her way back into the Australian team.
The writing was on the wall for Jonassen, who has played 105 Twenty20 internationals, when she was left out of the squad to tour Bangladesh earlier this year. It would be challenging for her to break back in a potent spin group that includes Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Alana King, and Ash Gardner.
The only other World Cup Jonassen has missed was the 2013 ODI tournament, when she was injured and could not play despite having been picked.
A major factor in driving Jonassen out of the team was Molineux’s return to fitness following a few of seasons marred by injuries, as well as the selectors’ desire to have two legspinners in the lineup. After receiving a severe beating at North Sydney Oval from Hayley Matthews, she lost her place in the T20I squad last summer. She hasn’t participated in an ODI since July of last year in Ireland.
In the WPL earlier this year, Jonassen claimed 11 wickets in seven games for the Delhi Capitals. Currently, he is representing Trinbago Knight Riders in the WCPL after an outstanding Hundred season that yielded 12 wickets and 176 runs for Welsh Fire.
“With 100 percent certainty, the path remains accessible, and the door remains open,” stated Australia’s captain Alyssa Healy regarding Jonassen. “When you consider her career and how far it has come, especially in the last five or six years, you can see that she has come and gone from the team, sort of going tit-for-tat with Sophie Molineux.
“I’m sad for Jono personally. I have had several cricket matches with her over the years, so I am well aware of her abilities and what she can provide to the Australian squad during major competitions. She still has a lot of potential on the Australian side, and this summer she will undoubtedly still be around despite any niggles or anything.”
Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning have retired from the Australian team in recent years, but Healy, Gardner, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, and Megan Schutt still make up the senior core. Jonassen’s absence is just another aspect of this gradual change in the team’s makeup.
Because Australian cricket has such depth, replacements have always been available and are now beginning to play a bigger part in the team. While all-rounder Annabel Sutherland is coming off a Player-of-the-Tournament showing in the Hundred, Phoebe Litchfield, who has a T20I strike rate of 161.86 following a breakout 2023–24 season in the middle order, will be playing in her maiden World Cup.
Healy stated, “We’ve seen a fair bit of change.” “You can even see that we’ve lost almost 700 games of experience in the previous 12 to 18 months due to change. It will eventually happen, but thankfully, there are still those of us older folks left who can perhaps share our knowledge on how to succeed in competitions. I believe that our squad’s youth is what will win this World Cup for us, so perhaps we can just guide or coach them.” “I think our squad’s youth is incredibly exciting.”
Additionally, it’s possible that Australia will use the pace tandem of Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck in an XI for the first time, either during the World Cup itself or during the three-match T20I series against New Zealand in September. However, the latter option will depend on the circumstances in the United Arab Emirates.
The potential of it happening throughout the next few months is intriguing, even if it doesn’t happen for the January Ashes.
“If the two were to play together, I’d love to see it,” Healy remarked. We have so many all-round players at our disposal that I believe we can experiment a little bit with our fast-bowling approach. I believe that having those two on our side will make a big difference, particularly given the possible conditions we may encounter. Having genuine pace on your side is a true advantage.
“If the two were to play together, I’d love to see it,” Healy remarked. We have so many all-round players at our disposal that I believe we can experiment a little bit with our fast-bowling approach. I believe that having those two on our side will make a big difference, particularly given the possible conditions we may encounter. Having genuine pace on your side is a true advantage.
“We’ll have to wait and see what the make-ups of the side are but it’s really exciting for the future that those two are in the squad in together and hopefully we can get them firing at the same time.”
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