Southern Stars coach Matthew Mott is adamant precocious fast bowler Holly Ferling can regain form quickly enough to earn selection in the looming women's Ashes Test against England.
The Stars' emerged from the one-day component of the series with great optimism, based on their emphatic recovery after losing the first of the three one-dayers. One thing which did not go to plan for them, however, was the performances of Ferling on her return from injury.
The lanky Queenslander was expensive in the first two matches, conceding at least a run a ball in each. Her failure to take a wicket, arguably a fair result given her lack of penetration, saw her replaced for the third match by Rene Farrell. The veteran seamer justified her return with a miserly 0-29 from nine overs.
Ferling arrived in England with the expectation she and Ellyse Perry would be the Stars' primary strike bowlers, partly based on how she had impressed as a 17-year-old on her maiden Ashes tour to two years ago.
Mott said the "tough call" to drop Ferling was a reflection of both the slow pitch conditions in Worcester for the third match and his pre-series vow that all squad members were in with a chance to play.
"We promised the girls that 14 players would come on tour and be considered, and I think we've shown that already. Every player has played a role in this series," he said.
The coach said he and tour bowling coach Joe Dawes had been particularly encouraged with how Ferling had bowled in the nets in Worcester on Saturday.
"Joe Dawes was very impressed with some of the changes that she'd made, and the lengths that she hit," he said.
"She'll definitely come into consideration for the Test match because we've got to try and take 20 wickets."
Mott downplayed the effect of Dawes' absence from the squad until the three Twenty20 matches at the end of the tour, because of his conflicting duties with Australia's under-19 men's team, which has just arrived in England.
"'Coyley [assistant coach Tim Coyle] and I have been around first-class teams for a while, so we know what works," he said.
"Joe has done some really great things there. Our girls have had the opportunity to work with him for a couple of weeks, and he comes back [for the Twenty20s].
"We want our bowlers to be self sufficient, but in saying that, we've talked about Joe maybe hooking up on Skype with the bowlers if they need to have a chat, and certainly in and around the Test match that would be ideal."
The players were given a mini break after Monday's third one-dayer. They are due to reconvene on Thursday afternoon and travel to Loughborough, the site of their first red-ball practice match.
Mott said he was grateful there would no limit to the number of players they can select for both the two-day match against England's women's academy team starting on Saturday and the three-dayer between a combined academy and Kent boys team from next Wednesday.
"The encouraging thing is all 14 players have had a run now ... it's the selection headaches that you enjoy. Picking that first Test XI is going to be really hard work," he said.
"They're not must-win games for us. They're about fine tuning and making sure we're ready for that Test match."
Jesse Hogan is covering the women's Ashes with the support of Cricket Australia
