Caribbean tour to help Aussies with T20 World Cup selection

Australia coach Shelley Nitschke wants to use her side's upcoming tour of the Caribbean to help finalise selection for this year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

The Aussies take on the West Indies across six matches (three T20Is and three ODIs) starting on Thursday, with star all-rounder Annabel Sutherland skipping the tour to allow her to freshen up prior to the next edition of the T20 World Cup in England from June.

It will see the likes of all-rounder Nicola Carey and seamers Lucy Hamilton and Megan Schutt be given the chance to show their capabilities across the six matches and Nitschke is hoping it will help her settle on the final squad of 15 for the T20 World Cup that commences on June 12.

"We all know how great Annabel is and I certainly think that, she's going to be a main part of our T20 batting line-up at some point and still offers us some really good hitting down the order at the moment," Nitschke said.

"But I guess her not being here is part of a bigger management plan, but it also provides some opportunities and allows us to sort of have a look at a few things that we perhaps need to see before we head across to England and start to get a better idea of what our options are and what our best make-up looks like."

Nitschke confirmed that skipper Sophie Molineux has recovered well from her recent back issue and is expected to be fit to take on the West Indies across the six white-ball fixtures, while pacer Kim Garth and veteran all-rounder Ellyse Perry would also be available after shaking off their quad concerns.

"We are coming here and we want to win these games," Nitschke continued.

"I'm going to pick the team that's best for the conditions and I think there will be some opportunities for people.

"We've got 15 or 14 players here at the moment and I think that there could be some opportunities that are provided within these three games. But, you know, first and foremost, we still want to play really well."

It means the opening partnership of Beth Mooney and Georgia Voll will likely get another chance to shine in the Caribbean after the combination produced mixed results during the recent series against India, with left-hander Phoebe Litchfield set to continue at No.3 in the shortest format ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Nitschke suggested there was still some chance that hard-hitting batter Grace Harris could work her way into contention for the T20 World Cup despite the fact she is missing the tour of the West Indies, with just some fine-tuning to the top six expected over the coming months.

"I think we're really close (to finalising our best side)," Nitschke added.

"I think there was a fair bit of talk about the India series, but we didn't change too much, our top-order has been pretty stable for a while.

"I think there's just a couple of decisions and a few tweaks we need to make or work out our best combinations are as well.

"I think we all know how great Belsy (Sutherland) is, and I certainly think that she's going to be a main part of our T20 batting line-up at some point.

"She still offers us some really good hitting down the order at the moment.

"We all know what Grace (Harris) can do, she's got a massive point of difference and she's still part of the discussions around what that final squad looks like for a World Cup."

Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia Wilson

Tour schedule

First T20I: March 19, St Vincent
Second T20I: March 21, St Vincent
Third T20I: March 23, St Vincent

First ODI: March 27, St Kitts
Second ODI: March 29, St Kitts
Third ODI: April 2, St Kitts