THE second home series for the Australian women’s cricket team this summer gets underway tomorrow when the Aussies host South Africa for a rare series.

These two do not meet outside tournaments very often, so no doubt both sides will relish in the opportunity to have a full, multi-format series against each other.

Last time these two sides met was the final of the 2023 T20 World Cup, and that particular match saw the Australians prevail to win yet another World Cup. South Africa will be hoping they can do to Australia on home soil what was done to them at home 11 months ago.

For the Australians, consistency has been a defining feature of them for a long time. Losses are as rare as changes to their tours squad, and it has been several years since they have lost a match on home soil and they will not want that to change this time around.

For at least the limited overs portions of the series, the squad will be the exact same as the one that had a successful tour of India over the Christmas/New Year period. Whether the selectors make any changes after that point remains to be seen.

This means that the Aussies will have the big hitting prowess of Grace Harris for only the T20s, and the cool, calm and collected head of Alana King for only the ODIs.

Phoebe Litchfield continues to grow more and more as she earns caps for Australia, and had an arguably break out series over in India, so will be looking to take her international game to the next step in this series.

One player who will be interesting to watch this series for a very different reason is skipper Alyssa Healy. Only recently made full-time captain of Australia, her showings with the bat in recent times have been up and down so will be looking to get into a more consistent rhythm with her batting performances this series.

Meanwhile for the South Africans, they are a team looking to really make that next step into being one of the consistently top countries in world women’s cricket. They are also a side going through a transition at the moment, with a number of big names retiring in recent years.

One of those is Shabnim Ismail, who retired from international cricket in May last year and will be a huge loss to the South African attack. The question will be how are they able to cover someone like her with such an impact factor.

One player they do still have that has plenty of impact is captain Laura Wolvaardt. The highest scorer for the Proteas last time these sides met, she is coming off another strong WBBL campaign so the tourists will be looking to her to provide leadership and a lot of firepower at the top of the order.

However, their tour did get off to a rocky start with a less than impressive performance in the warm-up match against the Governor-General’s XI. In saying that they did not have Marizanne Kapp that day, so her inclusion will make a big difference. One player that impressed with the bat in that match was Nadine de Klerk, so South Africa will be hoping she can replicate that in the actual series.

This multi format series kicks off with a T20 tomorrow in Canberra, before moving on to games in Hobart, Adelaide and Sydney, culminating in the Test Match in Perth.

Australia vs South Africa Squads

Australia

Alyssa Healy (c)

Darcie Brown

Heather Graham

Ashleigh Gardner

Kim Garth

Grace Harris*

Jess Jonassen

Alana King**

Phoebe Litchfield

Tahlia McGrath

Beth Mooney

Ellyse Perry

Megan Schutt

Annabel Sutherland

Georgia Wareham

*T20s only

**ODIs only

South Africa

Laura Wolvaardt (C)

Anneke Bosch

Taszmin Brits

Nadine De Klerk

Mieke De Ridder

Ayanda Hlubi

Sinalo Jafta

Marizanne Kapp

Ayabonga Khaka

Masabata Klaas

Sune Luus

Eliz-Mari Marx

Nonkululeko Mlaba

Chloe Tryon

Delmi Tucker

Australia vs South Africa Fixtures

January 27 – T20 1- Manuka Oval – 10.45am

January 28 – T20 2- Manuka Oval – 10.45am

January 30 – T20 3 – Blundstone Arena – 7.05pm

February 3 – ODI 1 – Adelaide Oval – 2.10pm

February 7 – ODI 2 North Sydney Oval – 2.40pm

February 10 – ODI 2 North Sydney Oval – 2.40pm

February 15-18 – Test Match – WACA Ground – 11.00am