Australians to watch ahead of Women's Ashes with England

The Women's Ashes begins this Tuesday with the first of three one-day internationals against Australia.

We profile five of the Australian players who will be attempting to wrestle the trophy away from England after two successive series defeats. 

Nicole Bolton

Nicole Bolton announced herself on the international stage in last year's Ashes series with a blistering knock of 124 at the MCG against England - a score which remains the highest by any Australian woman on debut.

The left-hander was rewarded with a central contract in May and continued her fine form over the summer, helping Australia seal a 3-0 series win over Pakistan by scoring 81 off 93 balls in Brisbane.

The 2013/14 Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) Player of the Year left Western Fury to join Victoria last May and ended the year hitting an unbeaten 170 against Tasmania.

At 26, Bolton - who will feature in both the one-day internationals and the Test match in this series - adds some maturity and experience to the talented crop of young Australian women that are attempting to win the Women's Ashes in England for the first time since 2001.

Ellyse Perry

Perry is undoubtedly one of Australia's most talented sportswomen, having represented her country in cricket and football and making her international debut in both sports at the age of 16.

She remains the youngest player - male or female - to have played international cricket for her country and is the first Australian to have played in both the football and cricket World Cups.

A genuine all-rounder, Perry is likely to open the bowling for Australia in this Ashes series, but the 24-year-old also boasts a 40.20 average with the bat in Tests and 36.03 in ODIs.

Perry starred in Australia's 2010 Women’s Cricket World Cup final win against New Zealand, taking 3-18 and earning the Player of the Final accolade.

Perry smashed 74 not out on her last international outing against West Indies in November and has averaged 60 with the bat over her last six innings with New South Wales Women.

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Meg Lanning

Swashbuckling Australia captain Meg Lanning will be desperate to get her hands on the Women's Ashes after finishing up as the losing skipper in the last two series.

Lanning burst onto the international scene as an 18-year-old and became the youngest Australian - male or female - to hit a century when she scored 103 not out in an ODI match against England.

She was handed the captaincy at the age of 21, becoming the youngest person to skipper Australia in 137 years of international cricket.

Big-hitter Lanning is the highest-ranked women's T20I batter in the world and is behind only England duo Sarah Taylor and Charlotte Edwards in the one-day international standings.

The 23-year-old averaged almost 50 across both formats in 2014 and won the inaugural Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World award earlier this year.

Holly Ferling

Holly Ferling earned legendary status in her native Queensland when she took a hat-trick with her first three balls in a men's district competition at the age of 14. She would later go on to be the first female recipient of the Queensland Junior Cricketer of the Year award and made her debut for Australia in 2013, aged just 17.

Later that year, Ferling finished as the second-highest wicket-taker during Australia's 2013 Women’s Cricket World Cup-winning campaign, claiming nine dismissals at an average of 10.55.

Ferling is widely regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in the women's game but has not played international cricket for more than a year to due to multiple stress fractures to her back.

During her rehabilitation, Ferling says she has worked on her action to ensure she can maintain her pace while bowling longer spells and the 19-year-old is now raring to make her Test debut during the forthcoming series.

Jess Jonassen

Jess Jonassen is a regular in the Australian side and is another Queenslander returning from injury after undergoing knee surgery, which forced the all-rounder to miss the second half of the WNCL season.

But in five WNCL matches at the beginning of last term, Johanssen was in great touch, scoring almost 200 runs and claiming 11 wickets at 13.36.

The 22-year-old's early-season performances saw her named 2014/15 WNCL Player of the Season and her recent international form is also impressive.

At the end of last year, Jonassen opened the batting against West Indies and recorded her highest T20I score, smashing 47 from 39 balls before taking 2-12 and taking a running catch, in addition to running a player out.

Jonassen, who bowls orthodox spin, also scored 38 not out on her last ODI outing against West Indies last November.

Watch every ball of the Women's Ashes live and exclusive on our dedicated Sky Sports Ashes channel. Coverage of the first ODI gets underway on Tuesday from 10am.