The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 has approved Heather Graham as a replacement for Ashleigh Gardner in the Australia squad. The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 has approved Heather Graham as a replacement for Ashleigh Gardner in the Australia squad.
Graham, who has played a solitary ODI for Australia against Sri Lanka in Brisbane in October 2019, is a temporary replacement for Gardner, who has tested positive for COVID-19 and is undergoing a period of isolation. A COVID replacement can be temporary, in that once the player has recovered, she would be eligible to return to the squad in position of the travelling reserve that replaced her.
Ashleigh Gardner can rejoin the Australian squad later
The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad. The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 comprises Chris Tetley, ICC Head of Events (Chair), Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager Umpires and Referees (ICC Representative), Andrea Nelson, LOC CEO (Host Representative), Catherine Campbell (Host Representative), Sana Mir (Independent), Nasser Hussain (Independent).
Meanwhile, Australia Women have made a delightful start to their campaign, beating arch-rivals and defending champions England by 12 runs in their opening game. It was a nail-biting clash which went right down to the wire. Chasing a mammoth 311 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton, the Three Lions looked in the hunt for the best part but were eventually restricted to 298/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
As England are among the favourites to clinch the competition, Aussie skipper Meg Lanning was pretty pleased with the result. “Nice to get a win first up. Expected a contest and that’s what we got. We did well to get to 311 to be honest. Was tricky batting at the start, seemed to flatten out as the day went. She wanted the ball (Jess Jonassen), she’s bowled big overs before and delivered. She probably could’ve bowled a few more overs. Expected that at the halfway mark, knew it was a good score, but we expected the batting conditions to get better,” Lanning said after the game.