Jess Jonassen has been omitted from Australia’s squad for the white-ball tour of Bangladesh which is set to start on March 21.
Australia Women’s squad for Bangladesh tour
Australia women are set to play a three-match ODI and T20I series against Bangladesh on a home-away tour. They haven’t been to Bangladesh since their victory in the T20 World Cup campaign in 2015.
Recently, Australia completed a three-match ODI, T20I, and one-off test on South Africa women’s tour of Australia 2024.
On this occasion, Australia has named the squad which is set to travel to Bangladesh to play in the white ball series. Jess Jonassen is one of the notable omissions in the squad.
The chief selector Shawn Flegler has indicated that the player will be featured in future international fixtures.
Tayla Vlaeminck will be given an opportunity to play her first match for Australia in more than two years after being included in the 15-member squad for the Bangladesh tour.
Jonassen has been part of Australia’s tour squad since making her debut in 2012. But she was overlooked for any game time during the recent home series against South Africa.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Ash Gardner has been picked for Bangladesh ahead of Jonassen, who was also snubbed from the ODI leg of West Indies tour to Australia.
“I think over the last couple of years, particularly over the last 12 months, JJ’s role has not been as strong in the team,” Flegler said.
“That’s probably more to do with players like Ash Gardner having her game develop…and also players like Georgia Wareham with her skill set. Alana King’s form as well over the last 12 to 18 months has been really strong.”
Heather Graham has also been overlooked for the Bangladesh tour. Jonassen is currently playing the second season of the WPL 2024 in India.
Jess Jonassen was part of the Delhi Capitals squad in WPL 2024. Despite losing their first match against Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals won their second match of the tournament against UP Warriorz.
“We’ve seen over the past few World Cups and Comm Games, we’ve had issues with injuries that come up at the last minute,” Flegler said. “So if you’re not in the squad right now, you’ve just got to keep fighting and be ready if that opportunity does arise.”
Vlaeminck will be returning to the international set-up after recovering from a dislocated shoulder to play at the end of the WNCL season.
She was part of Australia’s Ashes in the 2021-22 season but was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her foot during the series. Due to the injury, she was ruled out of the ODI World Cup and Commonwealth Games in the year 2022.
She learned about her recall from Flegler. “I think I lost the ability to speak for a moment there,” Vlaeminck said.
“It’s something I’ve been pushing towards and it’s given me motivation over the last couple of years. For it to actually happen, it felt a little bit surreal, to be honest,” concluded Fleger. The first ODI match will be played on March 21 at Dhaka.
Australia squad for Bangladesh tour
Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20s only), Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck.
