England to go spin heavy while Alana King presses for T20 recall

England will bolster their spin attack for the first T20I against Australia at the SCG as they look to keep the Ashes alive, but there is intrigue as to whether the home side will be able to find room for the in-form Alana King.

Heather Knight confirmed that legspinner Sarah Glenn, who took 4 for 20 in her most recent T20I against South Africa, would come into the line-up alongside Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone. She even suggested that England wouldn’t be afraid of playing four frontline spinners, with left-armer Linsey Smith also part of the squad, if they felt conditions suited it.

“They’ve played in our T20 team pretty much for the last couple of years altogether,” Knight said of the spin trio. “They’ve been a real strength of ours, those three bowlers, the different attributes they bring, the different types of spin, and the different roles that they play.

“Sarah will definitely come in. She’s one of the best spinners in the world. She’s been outstanding for us, particularly in those middle overs, taking wickets and then really squeezing oppositions. It’s been a big part of our tactics against opposition teams.”

Knight also indicated that Sophia Dunkley would continue at No. 3 and that allrounder Freya Kemp could be an option for the middle order.

Australia are confident they have the batting order to counter whatever England throw at them, having taken Ecclestone for her second-most expensive ODI figures in Hobart

“I’ll back myself against spin, which is nice,” Phoebe Litchfield said. “Ecclestone, bowling into me, she still poses the big threat, but I think [with] our lefties there’s a point of difference for our team to have that spinning into us. Charlie Dean has also been bowling really well, and the likes of Glenn could come in. The middle order, you kind of face more spin [and] I prefer that.”

Australia will retain the Ashes with victory in Sydney, but this is their first T20I since they exited last year’s World Cup in the semi-final against South Africa. And, while Georgia Voll’s inclusion in the squad is the only change in personnel, there remain questions to be answered about how they line-up.

King took nine wickets across the final two ODIs but has not played a T20I since the 2023 World Cup in South Africa, with Georgia Wareham the preferred option in that format. The pair teamed up with great effect in Hobart where Wareham crunched 38 off 12 balls before taking two key wickets, and Knight expected the same in Sydney.

“I think I would be surprised [if King wasn’t selected],” Knight said. “We’re probably expecting a couple of leggies. They’ve obviously had some success against us in the series, but we’ll have to see who lines up tomorrow.”

Sophie Molineux, who played in the recent World Cup, is injured so there is an opening for King with the selectors having moved on from Jess Jonassen. King was also the joint-leading wicket-taker in this season’s WBBL with Perth Scorchers, claiming 20 at 13.30.

“I think she’d make a massive impact, but, equally, you saw Georgia Wareham, her impact [when] she came in the other game,” Litchfield said. “Those two have been bowling amazingly well in T20 cricket for long periods of time and Georgia Wareham’s probably had the luck of the green being selected, but they offer so much individually and you’d love to put them both in the side, but unfortunately there’s probably not much room… so it’s a tough choice because they’re so good.”

The other interest around Australia is how they structure their batting order after the T20 World Cup where a failed experiment with Wareham at No. 3 found the likes of Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland having very few deliveries to make an impact.

Litchfield made 15 not out off nine balls against India batting at No. 7 and 16 not out off nine deliveries in the semi-final against South Africa from No. 6, where the top order had struggled to lift the tempo, although she was reluctant to talk up a move higher in the order.

“Our batting order is just ridiculous,” Litchfield said. “I’m pretty excited for our team to unleash the shackles tomorrow. I really enjoy it in the middle order. I think you look at the likes of Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Ash Gardner, they’re striking the ball really well at the moment. Probably better than I am. So full trust in them.

“I think the situation [in the World Cup] was always quite tough, the slow wickets. If you give me an extra 20 balls, I probably won’t strike at 160. So I think the way I came in and the position that we were in forced me to do that. But in every game of T20 cricket, I’m trying to play the same way and try to score as many runs off as little balls as possible.”

Grace Harris, fresh off 140 off 78 balls for Queensland in the WNCL, is also part of Australia’s squad for the T20Is to provide a further batting option alongside the uncapped Voll. Harris played three matches at the World Cup, starting in the middle before moving to the top when Alyssa Healy injured her foot.

Australia (possible): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 2 Beth Mooney, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Ash Gardner, 5 Phoebe Litchfield, 6 Tahlia McGrath, 7 Annabel Sutherland, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Alana King, 10 Darcie Brown, 11 Megan Schutt

England (possible): 1 Maia Bouchier, 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Sophia Dunkley, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Heather Knight (capt), 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Freya Kemp, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Sarah Glenn, 11 Lauren Bell