Australia’s new era has started with a clean sweep of the Caribbean, but greater frontiers now await Sophie Molineux’s team as their minds turn to the T20 World Cup.
The Aussies closed out their West Indies tour with their most clinical display of the six white-ball games, cruising to a nine-wicket win at Warner Park.
It was a strong start to the post-Alyssa Healy era, albeit against a rival who, while boasting the world-class talents of Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor, has only ever beaten Australia a handful of times.
Thursday’s final ODI also drew the curtains closed on a packed seven months that included a one-day tour of India, the ODI World Cup, WBBL|11, a home multi-format series against India and for most of the Australians, a second stint in India for the Women’s Premier League.
“We’re really pleased on how we finished the series,” Alana King said after Thursday’s ODI.
“I think the T20s were quite commanding for us and we wanted to continue that momentum into the ODI.
“I think everyone’s just now really pleased to have come to the Caribbean and enjoyed a really tough series – the scorecard might have not have (reflected) that at times, but they’re a pretty dominating team, and they’ve got some incredible players, so to win 6-nil is pretty pleasing, and everyone’s looking forward to a well-earned rest.”
A hard-earned month off awaits the Australian players – most of whom are swapping Caribbean beaches for the big city and heading to New York for a post-tour holiday en route home – before they come together in Brisbane in early May to begin their T20 World Cup preparations in earnest.
The make-up of the squad that will travel to the United Kingdom for that ICC tournament will be revealed in early May, but it’s likely only a couple of spots remain up for discussion in what has otherwise been a settled group.
Whether Grace Harris returns after missing selection for the Windies tour is a major question mark – and given Australia’s middle-order batting issues so far in 2026, the Queenslander’s strong record in the UK will be given plenty of consideration – while it also remains to be seen whether teenage left-arm quick Lucy Hamilton has done enough to book herself a spot following her impressive debuts across all formats in March.
The top priority for Australia will be to ensure captain Sophie Molineux is 100 per cent recovered from her ongoing back issue when she boards the plane for London.
The newly appointed skipper was limited to playing as a specialist batter in the Windies and while she acquitted herself well both times she batted, scoring a 12-ball 25 in the T20Is and a career-best 47 in the first ODI, it’s her primarily skill of left-arm orthodox spin that Australia will be looking to in England.
The 28-year-old played the first four matches, with the opportunity to captain on field – something she had only done on three previous occasions, against India in February – considered the highest priority, leading to her unorthodox selection.
Molineux then sat out the final two one-dayers, observing from the sidelines as attention turned to her rehabilitation.
But behind the scenes the Victorian remained busy. With a clear plan already in mind for what Australia needs to do to restock their trophy cabinet, Molineux was starting to put her own spin on training drills, meetings and ensuring her teammates were aligned in how they will approach the coming months.
“I’ve loved being here with Soph as captain, it’s my first time with her taking the reins and it’s just a great character who’s leading this incredible team,” King said.
“Disappointing no doubt for her that she had to sit on the sidelines for a couple of the games, but she’s doing everything she can to be ready to go when that World Cup comes around.
“The best thing about Sophie is she’s a people’s person, it’s just in her nature to get to know people away from the game, and she wants to know people on a deeper level about their game.
“So she’s still learning, she’s going to be learning for a bit, because this is still quite new to her, but no doubt that she will look at this series and think what a great opportunity it was to get to know a bit of her players and different conditions and how people have (responded) when pressure’s been put on them.”
In many ways the West Indies tour was treated as a fact-finding mission, and while the conditions in England in June will be vastly different to those in St Vincent and St Kitts, the Australia brains trust took the opportunity to test bowlers in different roles, while the absence of Annabel Sutherland from the middle order also created opportunities for players including Molineux and Nicola Carey to bat higher up the order.
“We played with the few different match-ups in the team, so I think there’s definitely flexibility in that and there’s so many versatile players, the whole squad’s quite versatile,” King said.
“The depth of this squad is incredible and for players to come in, we had Tahlia Wilson to come in with a very short notice that she was going to debut, and she did an incredible job in that first ODI.
“So we know that when people are part of the squad, they can fill a role when required and that just speaks volumes of the depth of Australian cricket.”
One facet of Australia’s game stood out, however: the spin department. King was the headline act across both white-ball formats, finishing the tour with 12 wickets from six matches, while fellow leggie Wareham and off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner also acquitted themselves well in a tour dominated by the slower bowlers.
Adding the skills of Molineux to that trio creates a spin group that would be the envy of every other team in the world, but it also set to create selection headaches in England, where Australia will play matches across Manchester, Leeds, Southampton and Lord’s.
“We’ve all enjoyed bowling in these conditions,” King said. “We’ve had a taste of it, and we just don’t know what the next little bit is going to bring – the UK is going to be very different.
“(But) I think our group has been very good at assessing conditions, and that’s something that we pride ourselves on, and that’s not going to change, no matter what series we play in.”
Qantas tour of the West Indies 2026
First T20I: Australia won by 43 runs
Second T20I: Australia won by 17 runs
Third T20I: Australia won by 40 runs (DLS method)
First ODI: Australia won by 103 runs
Second ODI: Australia won by 90 runs
Third ODI: Australia won by nine wickets
West Indies squad: Hayley Matthews (c), Chinelle Henry (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Jahzara Claxton, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Jannillea Glasgow, Realeanna Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Qiana Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Shunelle Sawh, Stafanie Taylor
Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia Wilson
All matches to be broadcast on ESPN via Disney+ only
