Jess Jonassen believes her Brisbane Heat team-mate Georgia Redmayne should be in the Australia side after another prolific WBBL campaign where she has excelled in front and behind the stumps.
Redmayne, who has yet to be capped at international level, made 436 runs at 36.33 in the regular season while claiming a tournament-leading 17 dismissals with the gloves to help Heat into the finals where they will face Adelaide Strikers in the Eliminator on Wednesday.
She was part of the Australia squad for the multi-format series against India earlier in the season but could not break into the XI even when Rachael Haynes was ruled out with injury. She will again be pushing hard for inclusion when the selectors pick an Ashes squad in January.
"Being a fellow Queenslander, she should be in that side," Jonassen said. "She was part of the series against India and my opinion she is probably the form keeper-batter in the competition at this stage. It's no surprise to anyone in the Brisbane Heat set-up with the amount of work she has put in."
Her leg-side stumping to remove Ella Hayward against Melbourne Renegades was one of the standout moments of the competition. Redmayne credited the work she had done with former England keeper Sarah Taylor while with Welsh Fire in the Hundred with Taylor noting her excitement at the piece of work on Twitter.
"I was at mid-off and it was incredible. She's tidied up a few of those balls down the leg side and that stumping was probably one of the quickest I've seen," Jonassen said. "It's really exciting for us that she's producing the level of cricket that we know she's capable of and it's no surprise."
Heat and Strikers will have to take the long route if they want to claim the WBBL title. The winner of their match faces Melbourne Renegades in the Challenger final on Thursday to decide who takes on Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium on Wednesday. Of the four sides still in contention only the Heat are previous winners.
Jonassen had no qualms about facing Strikers on their own patch despite finishing above them in the table. Renegades, who finished second, nominated Adelaide as their preferred venue for the Challenger final with border restrictions meaning Melbourne wasn't an option.
"It's probably a good thing for us that we will be playing against the Strikers," Jonassen said. "There will be a really good atmosphere. Sometimes you can use that to your advantage if you are the away side and use it to fuel the drive to come out on top.
With South Australia's borders opening to Victoria on Tuesday it means friends and family of players from the state should be able to travel for the Challenger.
"Not being able to get to Victoria wasn't ideal but with the borders opening, get some family over here and it will feel like home I think," Renegades captain Sophie Molineux said. "A lot of us haven't been home for a long time so just being able to see parents, sisters, brothers, partners, it's a bit of a motivator for us. Will be really cool over the next few days to reengage with them and hopefully have them at the ground."
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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