England have named 17 players across their three squads for the Women’s Ashes Series against Australia, with over half of the team having Loughborough connections.

The Test squad sees the return of former Loughborough coach Katherine Brunt and graduate Laura Marsh, alongside Lauren Winfield and Natalie Sciver who both made their international debuts against Pakistan last month.

Also selected are University graduates Tammy Beaumont, Arran Brindle, former Loughborough College student Lydia Greenway and current Sports Scholar Anya Shrubsole.

Squads have also been named for the three Women’s One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Women’s International T20 matches which are part of the new multi-format Women’s Ashes Series.

Both squads have strong Loughborough representation and current student Georgia Elwiss has been selected for the ODI matches.

Head of England Women’s Cricket Clare Connor said:

“Facing Australia is the ultimate test for every player. The inaugural multi-format Women’s Ashes is unprecedented in terms of establishing a winning team across all three formats. Our selectors have picked well balanced squads to maximise the strengths of our players in each of the formats of the game.

“England are focused on regaining the Ashes and we know Australia will be looking to continue their dominance of the past couple of years, so we anticipate an exciting and hard-fought month of international women’s cricket, culminating in the three televised T20I matches live on Sky Sports.”

The 2013 Women’s Ashes Series begins with a Test match at Wormsley Cricket Ground on Sunday 11 August.

The full announcement and squads can be viewed on the ECB website.