Sutherland took five wickets in total during that Ashes Test, her second appearance in the format, some four months after Australia drew with India, also in Canberra. She has played 31 white-ball matches for her country, and now, after arriving for the return Ashes series, Sutherland has been relishing the chance to get used to the Dukes ball in English conditions ahead of next week’s Test at Trent Bridge.

“I’ve got a bit of a wobble-seam ball going, which has been nice, and so far I’ve loved it,” Sutherland said. “I’m looking forward to getting out there for the three-dayer and putting it into practice against the England A girls.”

England have experience playing with the red Dukes ball, having used it in last year’s Test against South Africa at Taunton, but both squads will be using this week’s three-day warm-up matches to gather more information. Australia will play England A in Leicester from Thursday while Australia A will face the England Test squad in Derby at the same time.

The upcoming three-day warm-up fixture also represents a chance for Sutherland to press for selection in the final XI for the Test starting on June 22 amid an Australian pace-bowling attack well stocked with contenders.

“I’m super keen,” Sutherland said. “There’s so much history that goes along with Australia and England and the Ashes. This one’s been flagged on my radar for a long time, my first trip over to England playing in an Ashes so I’m very excited and looking forward to what’s to come in the next month or so.”

“Obviously, we would love to have Meg here and our thoughts are certainly with her back home,” Sutherland said. “We’ve talked about it as a group that it’s obviously a big, big miss to not have Meg. She’s an outstanding player and leader of the team, so we’re certainly going to miss having her.

“But in saying that, I think Alyssa and T-Mac are exceptional leaders in their own right. We know it’s going to be a big miss, but we think we’ve got really good depth in our side to fill that and have shown that in previous series where Meg hasn’t been there.”

“It’s really disappointing for Meg that she’s not able to join us and she’s in our thoughts but we’ve had some time together at a camp in Brisbane, we’ve spoken a bit about it as a group and I know Alyssa is very well placed,” Nitschke said. “She’s got some really good support in Tahlia McGrath and some other really senior players within the team that are going to step up into some leadership responsibilities.

“I think we’re really well placed to cover her but we certainly understand that she’s a great player, a great captain, so definitely going to be missed for us this campaign.”