How are Australia women prepping for the World Cup?

How are seven-time Women's ODI World Cup champions Australia prepping for yet another edition? By having fun, mostly. Warm-ups so far have included relearning the alphabet, which Tahlia McGrath and Megan Schutt seem to have aced, but Darcie Brown might need to go back to grade school for. Who, exactly, is Ethan?

And there's one issue in women's cricket that really doesn't get talked about enough - managing longer hair. The Australia squad, though, have discovered a secret weapon in Nicole Faltum, who's been the unofficial hairdresser of the side and has decreed that the dress-code for an undoubtedly warm and humid World Cup in India is... plaits. But that makes wearing helmets uncomfortable. Annabel Sutherland has taken to carrying a portable hair straightener in her kit bag to tame her hair pre-match in the dressing room, but Sophie Molineux has the real life-hack: keratin treatment for the hair that makes it wash-and-go ready. For more haircare tips, follow the Australia women's squad.

Meanwhile, no matter the outcome of the World Cup, no matter if Australia clinch yet another title this year, there is one thing you absolutely cannot ask Alyssa Healy to do if you want to stay in her good books.

The 2025 Women's ODI World Cup kicks off tomorrow in Guwahati with India facing off against Sri Lanka, the joint hosts of this edition, which will see matches divided between the two countries. Guwahati, Indore, Navi Mumbai, Visakhapatnam will host matches in India, while Colombo's R Premadasa stadium will host the rest. The tournament will run from September 30 to November 2.