Katie Mack will miss all three Australia A matches in Adelaide this week, as she remains in isolation following a COVID-19 positive returned on the same day she was named in the squad.
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The Meteors run machine will remain in Canberra as she recovers, and link up with her teammates next week for three 50-over matches against England A to be played at Phillip Oval in parallel to the Women's Ashes series.
Tasmania's Molly Strano will also miss the three T20s in Adelaide for Australia A while isolating in Hobart after testing positive for the virus, and will travel to Canberra next week.
Australia's Ashes squad also hasn't escaped the Omicron wave with Ellyse Perry's arrival in Adelaide delayed as she waits out her isolation period after unknowingly contracting the virus.
Perry was asymptomatic despite producing a positive result in the lead up to the series which forced her to miss Tuesday's warm-up match between Australia and Australia A. She was due in Adelaide later this week in time for Thursday night's T20 Ashes opener against England at the Adelaide Oval.
Cricket Australia officials have been forced to implement strict COVID protocols around its Australia and Australia A squads during the Ashes series, as it desperately tries to prevent COVID-19 from infiltrating the playing group.
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The Ashes moves to Canberra next week for a four-day Test match at Manuka oval, before the first of three 50-over matches is played in the capital.
Two more ODIs will be played in Melbourne, after which the Australian and England squads must travel to New Zealand where they're facing a 10-day quarantine period before beginning preparations for the March World Cup.
"We've moved past trying to avoid COVID completely, and there's a realisation that it may infiltrate our group at different times," Australian coach Matthew Mott said.
"What our medical staff have been exceptionally good at is just managing expectations. Where we've tried to be really smart is trying to keep as separated as we can for as long as we can. If someone does go down. . .we're getting tested daily [so] that we can isolate that really quickly and not take the whole group down.
"That's the world we live in. There's going to be cases, there's probably more to come.
"We have not played a lot of cricket for the last two years and I think it's our duty probably to the Australian public to try and get this up and going.
"We'll endure what we have to endure, we know we're in for a tough three months, we're going to be on the road for three months here. Players and staff are really dedicated, that we see this as a really important opportunity for women's cricket worldwide to get this series up and get going through the World Cup."
Australian selectors are facing several tough decisions this week ahead of the opening T20 international, made even more complicated after top-order star Beth Mooney fractured her jaw in training on Monday.
Mott hinted Perry could be used sparingly throughout the T20s in a bid to keep her as fresh as possible for the Test match, and subsequent ODIs.
"We've got depth to make some tough decisions," Mott said.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
