NSW Breaker Lauren Cheatle named in Australia's women's Ashes squad

The young left-armer joins South Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath in the squad, both having recently returned from injury, but there was no place for NSW veteran Sarah Aley despite her trip to England for the recent World Cup.

A shoulder injury sidelined Cheatle for six months this year and cost her a spot at that tournament, but she returned for the Breakers on the weekend to push her Ashes claims.

She was wicketless through seven overs against Victoria but selectors saw enough of the 18-year-old to bring her back into the Australian squad.

"It's good to see Lauren Cheatle come back from injury, she bowled well on the weekend, and she's still got a couple of weeks to go before that first ODI," national selector Shawn Flegler said.

"Tahlia McGrath has just come back from injury as well and performed well over the weekend with bat and ball.

"We've got good coverage across all bowling options.

"We certainly would have loved to see bowlers put their hands up and take five fas and demand selection. We didn't see that over the weekend but we still think we've got bowlers who can do roles that they'll need to do during the ODIs, the Test match and the T20s that will come after that."

A squad of 14 was picked for the three ODIs against the world number one team, which begin on October 22 in Brisbane.

NSW youngster Belinda Vakarewa didn't make the 14, but was the extra in the 15-strong Test squad. The Test squad will be trimmed to 13 after a three-day practice match against an ACT invitational XI.

All four spin bowlers from Australia's failed World Cup campaign have retained their positions, despite selectors expressing a desire to adjust the balance of the team.

Jess Jonassen, Australia's number-one ranked bowler for the last few years, was always going to be selected while Kristen Beams' five wickets against NSW on the weekend couldn't have been better timed.

Ex-Breaker Ashleigh Gardner and fellow South Australian Scorpion Amanda-Jade Wellington also made the cut.

Australia's batting looks super solid despite the absence of superstar Meg Lanning, and newly anointed captain Rachael Haynes is already leading from the front after scoring an opening-day hundred for NSW on the weekend.

Alyssa Healy, Alex Blackwell, Beth Mooney, Nicole Bolton and Elyse Villani also started the domestic season strongly with the bat.

"Meg's obviously a world class player, she's the best batter in the world, she'd be any loss to any team that she'd be a part of," Haynes said.

"Our batters are really rising to the occasion, they showed that in the runs that they scored.

"I feel very confident that we've got the depth in our team, that's a great strength of Australian cricket.

"England have shown that they're really going to bring an aggressive brand of cricket, we're very much prepared for that.

"The two best countries in the world are coming together in this series. It's going to be a really well fought contest.

"We certainly want to win and we're going to be doing anything in our power to do that."

Kristen Beams VIC
Alex Blackwell (vc) NSW
Nicole Bolton WA
Lauren Cheatle NSW
Ashleigh Gardner SA
Rachael Haynes (c) NSW
Alyssa Healy NSW
Jess Jonassen QLD
Tahlia McGrath SA
Beth Mooney QLD
Ellyse Perry NSW
Megan Schutt SA
Elyse Villani WA
Amanda-Jade Wellington SA

Kristen Beams VIC
Alex Blackwell (vc) NSW
Nicole Bolton WA
Lauren Cheatle NSW
Ashleigh Gardner SA
Rachael Haynes (c) NSW
Alyssa Healy NSW
Jess Jonassen QLD
Tahlia McGrath SA
Beth Mooney QLD
Ellyse Perry NSW
Megan Schutt SA
Belinda Vakarewa NSW
Elyse Villani WA
Amanda-Jade Wellington SA