Thunder's Mahika Gaur named in England A squad for Australia A T20
17-year-old Thunder bowler Mahika Gaur has been named in England's A squad for their opening T20 fixture against Australia A (Wednesday 21 June, Haselgrave, Loughborough).
Gaur, who trained with the senior group during their preparation camps earlier this month, is also selected, alongside Bryony Smith (South East Stars), Linsey Smith (Southern Vipers) and all-rounder Freya Kemp who returns to international cricket after a lengthy injury absence.
The Reading-born left-arm quick was identified by the club at a masterclass session at Dubai Expo 2020, in which now Thunder teammate Kate Cross, Keaton Jennings and Warren Hegg were impressed by her pace and talent.
She went on to join the club's academy in 2022 and broke into the first team in 2023, featuring in the majority of Thunder's games so far an d playing a starring role on the road to Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day!
England Women and England A’s three-day warm-up matches against Australia A and Australia Women respectively both ended in draws.
Wednesday’s opening fixture kicks off the A side’s T20 campaign which will be followed by a ODI series against their Australian counterparts.
England Women Head of Performance Pathways, Richard Bedbrook said: “We’re really looking forward to getting our T20 series underway.
“The A-side pushed the full Australian team hard during the three-day warm up and with a number of quality individual performances, we’re very excited to continue competing across the T20 format against the Australian A-side.
“Jon Batty will lead the A-side across the T20 and 50-over series. Jon has enjoyed success in The Hundred with Oval Invincibles and is vastly experienced in white ball tournaments across the globe.”
England Women's A squad to face Australia in T20 opener
Lauren Winfield-Hill (Northern Diamonds)
Maia Bouchier (Southern Vipers)
Alice Capsey (South East Stars)
Alice Davidson-Richards (South East Stars)
Freya Davies (South East Stars)
Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers)
Mahika Gaur (Thunder)
Sarah Glenn (The Blaze)
Bess Heath (Northern Diamonds)
Freya Kemp (Southern Vipers)
Paige Scholfield (South East Stars)
Bryony Smith (South East Stars)
Linsey Smith (Southern Vipers)