Annabel Sutherland says a brief spell away from cricket has left her recharged before the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Australia all-rounder Annabel Sutherland says a short break from the game has helped her return refreshed and prepared for the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England.
The 24-year-old missed Australia’s white-ball tour of the West Indies in March following a demanding stretch that had started last year with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Sutherland believes the time away was valuable for her physical and mental recovery before another major global event.
“Physically, mentally, just to refresh and prioritise what I needed to make sure that I’m raring to go for when it matters most – which is this T20 World Cup,” Sutherland told cricket.com.au.
The call was made after conversations with Cricket Australia. “It was really well supported by Cricket Australia…it was a two-way discussion in terms of what was best for me and best for the team looking ahead to the T20 World Cup,” Sutherland said.
The right-arm pacer acknowledged that being away from the Australian setup was not easy, but said she felt it was the correct choice. “I think it’s obviously tough when your teammates are playing and I absolutely love playing for and representing Australia, so I missed that – but I knew it was the right call for me, to be honest,” Sutherland explained.
Sutherland also said she is focused on making the strongest possible impact for Australia with both bat and ball. “I want to impact the team as much as I can, and doing that with bat and ball is part of my role…we’ve got a pretty stacked batting order that we pretty much bat down to 10 or 11,” she said. “Wherever I sit in that (order), I want to impact the game, and if I get the chance to do that, then that’s awesome.”
In T20 internationals, Sutherland has grown into a key option for Australia. As a bowler, she has taken 44 wickets in 44 innings at an economy rate of 6.44, while her batting strike rate stands at 136.84.
