Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy is on the verge of bouncing back to form, and opening partner Rachael Haynes has warned deflated England to beware the smiling assassin ahead of the second Women's Ashes one-dayer on Sunday.
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Healy has managed just 34 runs in four innings during the Ashes, including a pair of ducks in last week's thrilling drawn Test at Manuka Oval.
But she threatened a rapid return to form on Thursday in Canberra with a quickfire 27 in Australia's Ashes-retaining win, and Haynes was confident a big score was just around the corner for her long-time NSW teammate.
"One thing I know is when she's got a smile on her face and she's enjoying herself, she plays her best cricket," Haynes said.
"Even though it's not my strength, I try and crack the odd joke here and then to make sure she has got that smile on her face. She's been working incredibly hard in the nets as well.
"We had a practice match in Adelaide and she absolutely smoked it, I think she scored 99 off about 60-odd balls in that innings against a really high quality attack. I've got no doubt she'd not far off and hopefully she'll be peaking at the right time."
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Top-order warrior Beth Mooney is expected to miss Sunday's clash after leaving the field with quad tightness on Thursday night, which followed her match-winning knock of 73.
And while reclaiming the Ashes is now out of reach for England, Haynes was adamant there was still much to play for in the final two one dayers of the series with Australia and England are on a collision course to clash in the opening round of next month's 50-over World Cup in New Zealand.
"It might even be interesting to see how both teams approach these last couple of games, whether there's a bit of cat and mouse in terms of how they mix up their attacks or line ups," Haynes said.
"It could be something that each opposition does. We've had a pretty settled line up for a while now. But getting into such a big tournament and knowing how important winning is in World Cups, there could be a little bit of that.
"We don't just want to retain the Ashes, we want to make sure that we win it outright.
"The game tomorrow from our point of view, that's our focus, first and foremost.
"We've got our eyes very much lowered on that contest.
"We definitely don't consider this a warm up for the World Cup. It'd be pretty disrespectful to what the Ashes means to the playing group to look at it that way."
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.
