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With Healy retired, Molineux to captain Australia at the T20 Women’s World Cup

By The Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia has announced its first World Cup women’s cricket squad since the retirement of Alyssa Healy, with Ashleigh Gardner confirmed Wednesday as one of two vice-captains after being overlooked for the captaincy earlier this year.

Healy announced in January that she planned to retire following a series against India. Healy ended her one-day international career in March with a score of 158 when Australia comfortably beat India.

Spinner Sophie Molineux will lead the Australia squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in England and Wales from June 12 to July 5. The tournament features 12 teams competing in 33 matches across seven venues, with the final at Lord’s.

New Zealand is the defending champion after having beaten South Africa by 32 runs in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. In 2023, Australia won its sixth title and third in a row by defeating South Africa in South Africa by 19 runs.

Australia opens this year’s tournament on June 13 against South Africa at Old Trafford.

Left-arm fast bowler Lucy Hamilton surprisingly replaced Darcie Brown, who has 34 wickets in 41 T20 matches. Grace Harris and all-rounder Annabel Sutherland return to the squad.

Australia selector Shawn Flegler praised Molineux for making an immediate impact as captain following Healy’s retirement.

“These squads are never easy to select but we’re confident with the balance and stability we’ve got across the group. It’s an experienced group and one we believe is capable of winning the World Cup,” Flegler said.

He said Brown was “unlucky to miss out.”

“The decision was based on the conditions we’re expecting and the makeup of the side,” Flegler added. “With at least six right-arm pace options in the mix and raw pace expected to be less effective, we opted to go with Lucy Hamilton, who offers something different as a left-arm quick.”

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Australia squad: Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner (vice captain), Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vice-captain), Sophie Molineux (captain), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia Wilson (traveling reserve)

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel’s Hawaii trip included ‘VIP snorkel’ at a Pearl Harbor memorial

By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau's Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI's news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor. The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by The Associated Press, comes to light amid criticism of Patel’s use of the FBI plane and his global travel, which have blurred professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island. “It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions — this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in U.S. history — instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” said Stacey Young, who founded Justice Connection, a network of former federal prosecutors and agents who advocate for the Department of Justice's independence.
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