By the end of next month there could be a pint-sized addition to that list, one whose presence for the Southern Stars in the women's Ashes series starting on Tuesday will delight purists who love a leg-spinner.

While the likes of Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi carved out fine careers as leg-spinners who darted the ball in and deceived their opponents with bounce and occasional wrong'uns, Kristen Beams is a throwback to the stereotypical leggie who relies almost exclusively on her leg-break.

The conspicuous loop she generates is accentuated by her petite frame. From side-on, you can appreciate her willingness to toss the above the striker's eye-line and still be confident it will drop in time, to spin sharply away from right-handers and into lefties.

Beams was a reluctant tweaker, having adopted the notoriously difficult craft when her lack of growth – "I reckon I've been the same height since I was 11" – thwarted her ambition to be a dangerous seamer.

She was a quick learner, which was obvious to Cricket Tasmania's then regional manager in Launceston, Tim Coyle, after watching her bowl 20 years ago at an indoor session.

Her enthusiasm was palpable. Of all those invited she was the only one to wear full whites, he said.

Coyle, who went on to be a Sheffield Shield-winning coach with Tasmania and is now assistant coach of the Southern Stars, remembered that while Beams' bowling was "a bit slow and a bit loopy . . . you could tell there was a future there".

"She always had a desire to take her cricket to the highest level. The highest level for her now is a Test player."

As recently as a year ago it would have been reasonable to assume Beams' international chance had come and gone. Having moved in her early 20s to Victoria to play in the women's national league – Tasmania did not have a team at that stage – she had reached the national squad without ever cracking a match, and her career was on a downward slope.

When Beams was stuck in a form and motivation rut two years ago – she was struggling to keep her VicSpirit spot, let along chase one for the Stars – she was grateful she took the advice from current and former teammates to play a season in England, for Essex.

She regained her love of playing, returned and had a good domestic season with the VicSpirit. From there she earned a berth on an Australia-A tour of Sri Lanka and, on the back of that, eventually made her international debut last August. Her impressive performances in her first two series, at home to Pakistan and West Indies, secured the now 30-year-old the Ashes tour berth she coveted.

"I always thought I could, but I wondered whether I would in the end. It's been a really nice surprise," she said of her late elevation tot he Stars. "I've always – unashamedly – been more determined than talented," she said.

"I knew that if I just stayed with it long enough it might happen. I just didn't want to look back with any regrets."

Beams, dubbed "Jimmy" by her Stars teammates after a brand of bourbon, took a lot of heart from the West Indies series, when she was pitted against two of the most aggressive batters in women's international cricket: Deandra Dottin​ and Stafanie Taylor.

She was proud to maintain the loopy trajectory that brought her domestic success, rather than bowl quicker and flatter in a bid to reduce the chances of getting tonked.

"It takes a bit of bravery at that point," she said. "I keep it pretty simple. I bowl mostly leg-breaks. I don't mess around too much.If that's not good enough for me to be at this level then so be it."

Beams' naturally aggressive mindset is in keeping with the Stars' coaches bowling plans for England, based on their scouting of the reigning Ashes champions.

"We've looked at their recent cricket history and there's been a lot of LBWs. They lost a Test match against India recently and there were an extraordinary number of LBWs, so our plan with our quicks and our spinners is to really attack the stumps," Coyle explained.

"That's what she [Beams] is really doing well at, trying to hit the stumps and hit them on the pads."

In the lead-up to Australia's departure for England Beams and Coyle fittingly went back to the indoor cricket centre at which their paths crossed when the former was 11 and her hitting the top net when bowling was a common occurrence due her loopy trajectory.

While Beams wants to be a three-format player for Australia – her performances so far suggest she will be – Coyle said he will have a particular sense of pride if she is chosen in the one-off Test, because he witnessed both the start and end of her journey to get there.

"She's just pinching herself that she's actually here, something that when she was 28, 29 years of age thinking 'Where's this going to take me?' [seemed improbable] . . . and all of a sudden Australian selectors come knocking on the door," he said. "If she gets that Test cap I reckon it will be a big moment in her career."

Jesse Hogan is covering the Women's Ashes with the support of Cricket Australia