Ash Gardner has not ruled out putting her hand up again for the Australian captaincy should the role become vacant in the future.

The Muruwari off-spinning allrounder was considered a frontrunner for the position, however was overlooked in preference of finger spinner Sophie Molineux following captain Alyssa Healy's recent retirement announcement.

Pundits considered the selection of Molineux somewhat of a surprise considering her injury history and position in the side, with the left arm orthodox, Gardner and leg-spinner Alana King vying for similar bowling roles in the XI.

"You kind of have this defence mechanism where if you don't get it, you also don't want to be so disappointed that you can't move on," Gardner told global cricket website ESPNcricinfo.

"So, for me, it was like making sure that if I got it, amazing - if I didn't, that's okay.

"Obviously when I got the news that I didn't get it, there was certainly disappointment there, of course."

The Muruwari woman could have been the first Indigenous player to skipper a national cricket side, the second female to captain the country behind Indigneous softballer Stacey Porter, and one of a handful which includes rugby league pair Arthur Beetson and Gorden Tallis, and rugby union's Mark Ella to lead Australian sport more generally.

Gardner's motivation was never about elevating her name into history, but something a lot more pragmatic.

While the 28-year-old was not hiding the fact as an Aboriginal role model, she has more respect for the dressing room than wanting to shape the narrative.

"It's because I care about this team, and you kind of get caught up in 'how can I influence this team in Ashleigh's way'," she said.

"But then to find out that Soph got it, I was just so excited for her.

"She's an amazing person (with) the influence that I've seen from afar that she's had on groups.

"Everyone speaks so highly of her, which is a credit to her as a person, but then also it's just the way that she leads and she's a very deep thinker of the game."

For Gardner, who is the current captain of the Sydney Sixers amid leading the Gujarat Giants in India's Women's Premier League competition, missing out on the Australia captaincy has done little to curb her growing leadership ambitions.

Cricket Australia is also not discounting the appointment among the new leadership structure.

She was named one of two vice-captains alongside Tahlia McGrath, whose own form has been placed under scrutiny despite being the side's acting skipper 15 times since 2022 during Healy's absence, mostly courtesy of injury.

The finer details of how the dual vice-captaincy set-up will work, and the potential for Molineux to have her workload managed given an extensive injury history, could allow Gardner to skipper within the next Australian season.

"If they ever saw me to be in that position, absolutely (I would want to captain)," Gardner said.

"I love playing in this team - I love the people within this group.

"I think for me it's making sure that I've got the outlook of, if there's a 'C' next to your name, it's great.

"But you can still lead in a lot of other ways, and I guess that's something that I have tried to do probably the last couple of years.

"If I'm passionate about something and I want to be a real driver for change, still doing it, even if you're in an official role or not.

"So, if that opportunity ever came up, great."

McGrath was omitted from Sunday's opening T20 international soon after the appointments, leaving Gardner to be Molineux's sounding board on the field and in the pavillion.

It begs the question whether the balance of two spinners being in charge is best considering Australia's past three captains have been exclusively batters.

Gardner was on a golf course in India after her WPL side was knocked out in the semi-finals when Molineux and McGrath were told of new leadership structure.

Neither of the team's two new leaders were able to influence the recent rain-affected result.

Molineux took the sole wicket after India reached 1-50 off 5.1 overs to win by 21 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system in pursuit of Australia's 10/133 from 18 overs.

Gardner made just four off six balls in the contest and didn't get the opportunity to bowl.

"It was almost like taking that news for what it was and then being able to one, get the feedback on areas that I can improve on, first and foremost, and then how can I support Soph and T-Mac in whatever that is," Gardner said.

"It's probably just those ongoing conversations that you need to keep having to best utilise all of us.

"We're all very different people and I think we've got different strengths.

"It's being able to support Soph in whatever that is and then ultimately whatever happens with T-Mac and I, it's being able to just be really diligent and just be transparent with whatever that looks like in terms of the leadership group and then just where we see the team going as well."