Australia are bowling first in the opening Ashes one-day international in Sydney after Alyssa Healy won the toss, while England have been dealt a significant blow with key quick Kate Cross ruled out of the match.

The Aussies have named an unchanged XI to the side that swept New Zealand in an ODI series last month, with quick Darcie Brown given the nod over leg-spinner Georgia Wareham, while in-form batter Georgia Voll remains on the sidelines.

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy (c), (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

 

England XI: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell

Alyssa Healy will retake the wicketkeeping gloves after passing a fitness test on her troublesome knee on Saturday.

“I think there’s always a little bit in it early … it’s hard to defend here at North Sydney, so hopefully, if we can get the job done with the ball early on, take a couple of early wickets (and) we can restrict them to something chaseable,” Healy said.

Cross meanwhile has not yet recovered from the back spasms that prematurely ended her tour of South Africa last month; this week the 33-year-old revealed she had an epidural in her spine on Christmas Eve in an effort to deal with her ongoing pain, but her recovery had not progressed as quickly as hoped.

England will instead field a new-ball partnership of Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer, with allrounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt the other pace option in the XI.

They will be joined by the spin trio of left-armer Sophie Ecclestone, off-spinner Charlie Dean and leggie Sarah Glenn.

England captain Heather Knight said she also would have bowled first, but was confident her batting line-up could put the hosts under pressure.

“Kate hasn’t been able to get over that back issue unfortunately, we’re still hopeful things will change pretty quickly for her,” Knight said.

“But we’re got two really exciting, young fast bowlers in the two Laurens, Bell and Filer.”

Australia have no shortage of pace at their disposal, with frontline quicks Megan Schutt and Kim Garth joined by Brown and allrounders Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath, alongside spinners Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King.

Rain had lashed Sydney throughout the week leading up to the game, washing out England’s sole tour game against the Governor-General’s XI, but sun and blue skies greeted both teams as they arrived at the ground on Sunday.

Australia and England are both desperate to throw the first punch in the seven-game series, with a hectic schedule to see 10 days of cricket played in the next 22 days.

The three ODIs will be followed by three T20Is, before the day-night Test begins at the MCG on January 30.

Each game will be played at a fresh venue, with teams to fly to a different city for each match.

“England are a big emotional team, and if you let them get in front, they are really good at staying in front,” Healy said.

“For us, we’re hopefully coming (on Sunday) throwing the first punch and saying ‘good luck catching us’.

“You want to get out there and take the first two points, and then you can hopefully settle in from there.”

England managed to come back from a 6-0 deficit in their home 2023 Ashes to draw the series 8-8, and while Knight said that would give her team confidence they could overcome an early loss, she agreed a strong start was ideal.

“Momentum is going to be hard to wrestle back if you lose it early,” Knight said.

“The closeness of it can make it hard.

“But mentally we are prepared for that, and even if we don’t start well we know we have the character and skill in the side to try and wrestle things back.”

Commbank Women’s Ashes 2025

First ODI: January 12: North Sydney Oval, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Second ODI: January 14: CitiPower Centre, Melbourne, 10.05am AEDT

Third ODI: January 17: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 10.05am AEDT

First T20I: January 20: SCG, Sydney, 7.40pm AEDT

Second T20I: January 23: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7.40pm AEDT

Third T20I: January 25: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 7.10pm ACDT (7.40pm AEDT)

Australia squad (ODI/T20Is): Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris+, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

England squad (ODI/T20Is): Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross*, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson+, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath+, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp+, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith+, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

* ODIs only; + T20Is only

Day-night Test: January 30 – February 2: MCG, Melbourne, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: TBC

England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge

The rivalry resumes with a blockbuster series in Australia from Jan 12 – Feb 2. Learn about the remarkable 90-year history at the Women’s Ashes Hub