Courtney Webb selected in Australia A squad for England

The 23-year-old has been rewarded for a stellar WNCL season for South Australia, which saw her named player of the tournament after scoring 594 runs at an average of 54.

"I thought I had a pretty good domestic season particularly WNCL so I was always hopeful that maybe this could be the year and to get a phone call mid last week to find out that I was heading to England was pretty special," Webb said.

"I've never been to Europe and never been to England so to get the opportunity to go over there and play cricket has always been something on the bucket list and to be able to do that as part of an Ashes series for Australia, it's definitely a bit of a dream come true."

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The Australia A tour features seven matches - three T20s, three 50-over games and a three-day tour match against England.

It will start with the three-day contest, one that caught Webb's eye when she saw the tour's dates.

"To even play against the actual England side would be amazing," she said.

"And for it to be a three day-game, a format that we're not really exposed to as domestic cricketers and even Australian players only get to play every so often, it would definitely be an amazing opportunity and something I would love to be a part of."

Born in Tasmania, Webb played with South Launceston in the Cricket North competition and was a state-contracted player for two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20).

Having played WBBL for the Melbourne Renegades since 2018, Webb eventually received an offer to play state cricket with South Australia, which proved too good to refuse.

The move saw her link up with Luke Williams, who was a coach in an under-19 Australian women's team that Webb vice-captained in South Africa in 2018, which featured players like soon-to-be Australia A teammate Tayla Vlaeminck.

National selector Shawn Flegler referenced that tour and being on standby for England's tour of Australia in 2021-22 when speaking of Webb's promotion.

"She's always been in the mix and on the radar," he said.

"I think she's just developed her game into a solid middle-order player, she's got a little bit more aggressive at times as well so she's just expanding her game.

"She bowls some handy overs of medium pace as well, but she's been selected as a middle-order type player for this team.

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"It's a great chance for her to get across and experience those conditions and play some games for Australia A, so I'm really delighted that she's forced her way in."

Since the South African tour, one of Webb's goals has been to make the climb to the senior international ranks, with this tour getting one step closer to that dream.

"(Playing for Australia) is everyone's goal coming through the state cricket ranks... I have a lot of work and a lot of good performances before I'm at that level but that's definitely the long-term goal, to see how far I can take my cricket," Webb said in 2021 in an interview with cricket.com.au.

Webb wasn't the only Tasmanian connection to the squad, with Western Australian-born Tiger Heather Graham selected as well.

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