Alana King is not content with being crowned the world’s top ODI bowler, with the Australia leg-spinner declaring her intention to remain on the throne.
Having missed out on selection for the T20I leg of the multi-format series against India, King issued a reminder of her class across the one-day leg, taking seven wickets at 16.71 including 4-33 in the third match.
A couple of days later, she rose to No.1 in the ICC’s ODI bowling rankings for the first time, ending England spinner Sophie Ecclestone’s 1,450-day reign in top spot.
While the 30-year-old’s attention in Perth this week was firmly fixed on the pink ball and a return to Test cricket, she said her white-ball success was reward for the work put into her game.
“It definitely came as a surprise when I saw it on socials earlier today, but it’s a nice little reward,” King told cricket.com.au in Perth this week.
“But I don’t think you can be satisfied with just getting there. You want to hopefully stay at the top – and I’m just going to keep focusing on doing my role for this team.
“I absolutely love this team, and I think they helped me get to places and create those chances and take those wickets.
“But no doubt, there’s lots of hard work that goes into it.
“I speak to a lot of people about my bowling, and just want to keep getting better every chance I can … it’s a nice feeling and I hopefully I can keep that spot for a little bit.”
Perth-based King was a force to be reckoned with the last time Australia played a Test, at the MCG against England in January 2025.
She took nine wickets for the match, including 5-53 in the second innings, and sent down a total 46.3 overs across the truncated three-day game.
A predicted Perth scorcher across at least the opening two days of the match will not get in the way of King’s desire to holding down an end at the WACA Ground, as she looks to make the most of her home ground advantage.
“We’re in the west and it might play a little bit differently (to the MCG) and we’re against another opposition,” King said.
“I think the best thing for me is I get to bowl for a lot longer.
“I’m not limited to 10 overs or four overs or whatever it is. I can bowl as much as I want, and I really thrive on that.
“Hopefully I can bowl long spells, maybe a whole session, like last year as well.
“I’m just excited that I can, hopefully, tie down one end, contribute as much as I can as an attacking bowler.”
While the WACA Ground has historically been viewed as a pace bowlers’ paradise, King is adamant she can extract plenty from the surface with her spin.
“The WACA spins – whoever says that it doesn’t spin, it definitely does,” King said.
“I love bowling here. It’s helped me, I’ve had some great games for the Scorchers, for WA, and hopefully few more games for Australia over here as well.
“It definitely takes some spin, I think you’ve just got to find the right pace and the right length.
“No doubt I’ll try and extract as much as I can, but we’ll see what happens … the bounce plays into the spinners’ hands as well.
“So, I think as a spinner, it’s a great place to bowl.”
Her skipper Alyssa Healy held the same view when speaking to media on the eve of the Test, tipping King and off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner to carry on their success from last year’s MCG Test and have a significant influence on the match.
Between the pair, they sent down a combined 82.2 out of 140.2 overs, taking 14 wickets in total.
“We talk about the pace and bounce, but I think someone like Alana King is going to be a real tricky prospect out here,” Healy said.
“I think spin might actually come into play at this ground, in particular, in the women’s game.
“We’ve seen how successful spin’s been in Test matches.”
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
Australia lead the multi-format series 8-4
February 15: First T20: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
February 19: Second T20: Australia won by 19 runs
February 21: Third T20: India won by 17 runs
February 24: First ODI: Australia won by six wickets
February 27: Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets
March 1: Third ODI: Australia won by 185 runs
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Rachel Trenaman, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
