Grace Harris is determined to claim the label of ‘Australia’s most versatile player’, following her recall for next month’s T20 World Cup.
Harris was left at home when Australia departed for a white-ball tour of the Caribbean in March, but her unique skillset and recent history of success in the United Kingdom was enough to earn her a ticket to Heathrow later this month.
The 32-year-old is not yet clear what her role in the Australia XI could look like, having been used in a situation-based, floating position when picked in recent times.
That has meant she has needed to be as prepared to walk out in the Powerplay as she has been to come in down the order as a finisher, with only a handful of deliveries to face.
But rather than dwell on the uncertainty, Harris is adjusting.
“I just have to stay adaptable as best I can,” Harris told cricket.com.au in Brisbane this week.
“It’s difficult to get clarity on training, I will admit to that, but at the same time, I’m fortunate enough to be here, and it’s not a life-or-death scenario.
“I’m trying to just a) cement a spot, or try and get a spot there, and I can kind of make my own or b) if I have to float around, then maybe I can be the most adaptable player within the Australian set-up or even domestic set-up.
“If I can offer something that other girls can’t, then I’ll take that too.
“There’s a lot of people that have played cricket for a long time, and they’re definitely set that they’re a number four batter or they’re a number three batter.
“So I think it’s probably a unique trait of mine to be able to go, I’m kind of happy to bat anywhere or to fill up any role.”
Adding to the challenge is the fact Harris has traditionally opened the batting in T20 domestic competitions.
But Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy were locked in at the top of the Australian order across the last decade – and following the latter’s retirement, now Georgia Voll – Harris has had to look to other roles in the national side.
Her powerful batting has been seen as an X-factor by selectors, but being able to hit the accelerator from ball one as a finisher is a unique, and difficult, skill.
The last innings Harris played for Australia, against India at Adelaide Oval in February – her sole appearance for the three-game series – saw her walk out at No.8, with her team 6-128 still needing 49 runs from 25 deliveries.
Harris scored a solitary run before stepping on her stumps – a memory that remains painful.
“I’m hoping to actually get another chance in the middle to correct that,” Harris joked.
“At the end of the day, you are human, you can’t be perfect every time you walk out.
“And I guess with our profession, the worst thing that can happen is you get dropped and I’ve already been there, done that.
“There’s nothing really that scares me there, but just the role-clarity type thing … the way that I’m looking at my cricket currently is ‘hit the ball that comes down the wicket at me’.
“Even if I do play a little bit more of a floating role, it’s not like I’m floating because I’m not good enough to be in the top order, for instance, it’s that I’m the best player for this spot.
“I’m just kind of rolling with (the thought) there’s nothing wrong with my batting – well, nothing any more wrong than anybody else’s in world cricket – so roll with it.”
The experience of being dropped from the Australian side on multiple occasions since her 2015 debut, as well as bitter disappointments due to injury and illness – and an acknowledging this World Cup could be her last – have helped Harris gain that perspective.
The Queenslander was ruled out of the 2016 T20 World Cup after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, and after making last year’s ODI World Cup squad, was forced to fly home from India on the eve of the tournament after picking up a calf injury.
“You don’t often get to go to World Cups, and I’ve found lately that the ones that I do go to, I don’t always make it through,” Harris said.
“I’m touching wood at the moment that I’m on the plane and I’m staying over there for the length of time that I should be … and you know, I’m probably at the age now where it potentially could be the last one that you go to as well.
“That keeps you a bit more present and in the moment.
“I don’t really sweat (selection) anymore, the worst they can do is drop you and they’ve already been there, done that.
“Whatever opportunity comes knocking, you’ve just got to take it.”
Asked about Harris’s return to the T20I squad in Brisbane on Wednesday, Australia coach Shelley Nitschke pointed to her success for Surrey in county cricket last season, and for London Spirit in The Hundred.
Harris struck 338 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 156 for Surrey in the T20 Blast, including a match-winning 63no from 33 balls in the final, carrying that form across town to the Spirit where she hit 214 runs at an average of 35.66 and strike rate of 174 for the Spirit.
Nitschke indicated Harris was likely to remain in a floating role, based on the game situation, but said communication would be key in ensuring the Queenslander was set up to succeed – while also making sure Australia’s decision makers were pulling the trigger at the right time when it came to deploying the right-hander.
“We know with Grace that when she’s on, she can change a game off her own bat,” Nitschke said.
“She has got an excellent record in the shorter format stuff in England, so (we see) her playing an impact role, which we know she’s one of the best at in the world.
“We’ve played her in a number of positions … I think it’s probably about just the game situation, what we need, and being really clear with Grace and what that looks like for her, so we know that she can have an impact.
“But it’s (also) about getting her into the game at the right time to give her every chance of success at that as well.”
Harris confirmed this World Cup had been at the back of her mind when she decided to spend an extended period playing domestic cricket in the UK last year.
But on a more individual note, she had also been keen to test herself in the conditions without the added pressure that comes with wearing the green and gold.
“It was my intention to go over there and just figure things out for myself, too, as an independent person, not necessarily travelling with an Australian team, where you might be locked into a set role, or even pre-perceived ideas that they might have about me.
“I just wanted to go over there play for Surrey and play for the Spirit as best I could without playing for Australia, and when a World Cup’s not on the line.”
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson
Warm-up series v South Africa
May 31: Australia v South Africa, Arundel Castle
June 2: Australia v South Africa, Arundel Castle
June 4: Australia v South Africa, Arundel Castle
ICC World Cup warm-up matches
June 8: v England, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
June 10: v West Indies, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Australia’s Group 1 fixtures
June 13: v South Africa, Old Trafford, Manchester, 11:30pm AEST
June 17: v Bangladesh, Headingley, Leeds, 7:30pm AEST
June 20: v Netherlands, Rose Bowl, Hampshire, 7:30pm AEST
June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST
June 28: v India, Lord’s, London, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)
Final: Lord’s, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
