Dani Wyatt-Hodge lavishes praise on Australia’s batting depth and doesn’t buy into the idea that Australia are weakened.
Dani Wyatt-Hodge does not believe relinquishing the T20 World Cup has weakened Australia.
In the 2025 version, which begins this weekend in Sydney, she thinks Australia’s batting depth, brutality, and home conditions will make them as dangerous as ever. She is scheduled to compete in her eighth Women’s Ashes series.
Australia has won all five of their completed home summer matches so far, all ODIs, defeating India 3-0 and New Zealand 2-0, since they failed to make it to the T20 World Cup final last year for the first time since 2009. They discovered the exceptional talent of Georgia Voll, a 21-year-old opening batswoman who averages 86.50 and scores at a strike rate of 108.80 throughout that time. In December, she scored a century in just her second international match against India.
With Beth Mooney taking wickets and captain Alyssa Healy returning from injury for the rain-affected tour of New Zealand in a batting-only role, Voll’s future in the Ashes is still unclear. But after establishing herself as a great option for the hosts and a shining example of their still enviable depth, which also includes the more firmly established 21-year-old opener Phoebe Litchfield and 23-year-old all-rounder Annabel Sutherland, Voll was draughted into the Ashes white-ball squads to replace injured all-rounder Sophie Molineux.
Wyatt-Hodge is therefore rejecting the idea that Australia is a weaker team as a result of their unexpected World Cup exit.
“No, not at all, they’re a quality squad,” Wyatt-Hodge said in Australia on Monday. “Anyone in their squad that comes in performs. Look at Georgia Voll, she’s had an outstanding start to her ODI career. Anyone in their line-up is capable of match-winning performances. So it’s going to be a massive challenge for us, but one that we really can’t wait for, and especially playing them in their conditions as well adds another challenge.”
“We’re going to take confidence from what happened,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “But we’re starting a new Ashes, obviously it’s in their conditions as well. We all know how good the Aussies are, they’re a real quality team, full of world-class players, but we’re really looking forward to the big challenge ahead.
“They bat so deep, don’t they, the Aussies? Anyone that comes in is capable of getting some valuable runs for their team. They’re just so ruthless, they just fight and fight till the end, and they are a very hard team to beat.”