Ahead of the Australian women’s tour of India, Cricket Australia has announced Alyssa Healy as full-time captain across all formats.
Alyssa Healy named as Australia Women’s captain
After Meg Lanning’s retirement announcement last month, the management has officially handed the captaincy to 33-year-old Alyssa Healy.
Alyssa Healy was named as the interim captain for the side and led the side since June for the series against England, Ireland, and West Indies where their side won the series against Ireland and West Indies. Healy has been playing in international career for almost 14 years.
She will take over the captaincy after Meg Lanning who led Australia to five World Cup titles and Commonwealth Games gold. Lanning has been one of the most successful captains and her retirement has left an opening on the national side.
Adelaide Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath will serve as vice-captain for the side. McGrath has led the international side twice during the absence of Healy in the past 12 months.
On this occasion, Alyssa Healy said she was looking forward to leading the team through a period of transition.
“I am honored to accept the role of captain and am grateful for the opportunity to lead our team,” Healy said. “I’ve enjoyed the support of the players over the past few months and their encouragement to continue to be who I am and lead the group like I normally would from within.
“My approach will remain consistent with what it has been previously, but I’ll make my mark on the role and be sure that I’m doing the best I possibly can for this group to maintain the success that we’ve had.”
“It’s an exciting time to be involved with this team, we’re seeing the emergence of incredible young talent and are challenging ourselves to continually evolve as a group.”
Healy has captained NSW in the Women’s National Cricket League since 2018 and was the Sydney Sixers vice-captain for the first seven WBBL seasons.
Appointed as Australia’s vice-captain in October 2022 after the retirement of Rachael Haynes, the destructive keeper-batter was soon thrust into the role of stand-in skipper when Lanning remained on personal leave for a tour of India just two months later.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I’m really lucky that (India tour) happened to give me an opportunity to get a taste of it and to also leave a little bit of a mark on the group,” Healy told Cricket Australia.
Under the captaincy of Healy, Australia retained the Ashes this year, however, lost both the T20I and ODI series 2-1 against England.
“I’m obviously very different to Meg, I’m not her, I’m a very different style of leader as well … Meg is really good at leading from the front and really pulling everyone along with her.
“I tend to lead from within and really give everyone the confidence that they are good enough, and what they’re bringing is going to do the job. And that’s something I really enjoy doing,” she concluded.
On the other hand, McGrath said that she is looking forward to working alongside her teammate.
“Alyssa and I have played together for a long time, we know our respective leadership styles well and I look forward to helping her lead our group as we embark on a busy, but exciting international schedule,” she said.
Healy who plays for UP Warriorz has been retained by the franchise for the WPL 2024. With the auction for the 2024 edition set to be held on December 09, the WPL 2024 Auction live streaming will be available on Jio Cinema and Sports 18 from 2 PM IST onwards.
Healy’s first assignment will be against India on the Australia Women’s tour of India starting on December 21. Australia and India will be facing off in a test match at Wankhede Stadium.
