Now 60 matches into her international career, the 22-year-old feels she has a great understanding of her role in the Aussie ODI team
When Australia lifted the ODI World Cup trophy in New Zealand in early 2022, a teenaged Phoebe Litchfield was still nine months away from an international debut, the highly-regarded young gun just waiting in the wings for her opportunity.
Today, Litchfield has played 60 matches for Australia and having only enhanced her reputation as one of the ‘next big things’ on the international stage, her teammates believe she is now coming into her own.
The opener will play a critical role in Australia’s chances of lifting the silverware in six weeks’ time, and while her preparation since arriving in India has been less than ideal, with a low-grade quad injury sidelining her for two of the three ODIs against India, she arrived full of confidence after a dominant season in The Hundred and backed it up with 88 in the first one-dayer in Chandigarh.
“Probably the biggest thing that comes to mind is the art of batting, or how to construct an innings,” Litchfield told cricket.com.au, when asked how she had changed from the 19-year-old who made her ODI debut in Brisbane in early 2023.
“I’ve obviously gotten stronger – that just physically happens when you grow up.
“But just knowing how to time an innings, knowing when to cool your jets, not play every reverse or ramp that comes to your mind and just get the job done sometimes.
“That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned, and especially up the top of the order to absorb pressure, know that that’s my role – not striking at 150 – I think just knowing that and being able to learn off players and construct innings, that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt.”
Litchfield was named player of the tournament in The Hundred after topping the competition runs table for champions Northern Superchargers.
While the format and conditions were different to those she’ll face in a one-day tournament in India and Sri Lanka, the Orange product was pleased to see the small changes to her game she had worked on during Australia’s long preseason starting to come to fruition.
“The first thing that comes to mind is probably just a bit of confidence coming off a big break, not really knowing where your game’s at after working at it over the off season,” Litchfield said of what she was taking away from her Hundred stint.
“It’s really cool to see a couple of things that I’ve been working on come out in the middle.
“Looking at the World Cup, I think spin will play a massive role and I’ve been working on a few ways to dominate spin and put the pressure back on them … obviously it’s a different format, and you’ve got to bide by your time and absorb some pressure at times.
“But I think facing spin and potentially putting the pressure back on those bowlers in the 50-over format could be a key for us, just not letting them settle.
“I know that I can try and attack that fifth gap and move the field around, and I think my biggest thing against spin is to try and score off as many balls as possible, and get them moving their field around and pretty much second guess where they want to bowl, and hopefully put a bit of doubt in their minds.
“But equally, you’ve got to respect a good ball, and especially in India, I think those conditions will be pretty different to England, so I’ve got to have that in the back of my mind.”
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Australia’s warm-up match
September 28: v England, Bengaluru, Bengaluru, 7:30pm AEST
Australia’s group stage matches
October 1: v New Zealand, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 7:30pm AEST
October 4: v Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7:30pm AEST
October 8: v Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8:30pm AEDT
October 12: v India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT
October 16: v Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT
October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai or Colombo*, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
* All games involving Pakistan to be played in Colombo, including the semi-final and final if they qualify
