Will Alyssa Healy play in South Africa T20I series: The Australia women’s squad will have to take a late call for the return of the captain Alyssa Healy who was suffering from illness.
Will Alyssa Healy play in South Africa T20I series
Alyssa Healy was involved in less physical activity during Australia’s final training session on Friday. She underwent a test for Covid-19, but the result turned out to be negative. The team management will have to wait until Saturday morning to make a call on whether she plays.
Tahlia McGrath will be leading the side in the absence of Alyssa Healy. Meanwhile, Australia has many options to fill in the gap left by Healy. Ellse Perry, Grace Harris, and Phoebe Litchfield are the performers of the Big Bash League who would fit in the Healy’s spot.
“She’s certainly on the mend, she’s improving today,” McGrath told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
“She’s going to train lightly with us today and then a final decision will be made in the morning around her availability but we expect her to have fingers crossed to come up and be out there.
“We’re pretty lucky, we’re spoilt for choice in the fact that we’re not reliant on any one player, and if anyone goes down, we’ve got numerous options to cover with bat, captaincy, and gloves.
“Lots of players play different roles for their Big Bash franchises, and we’re a very team-first side, so whatever the team requires on the day, we feel as though we’ve got all options covered.”
During the Australian women’s tour of India, they did not make any major changes in the squad. Kim Garth’s inclusion in the squad for Darcie is the only change.
“As I said, we’re spoilt for choice – we’ve got the pace of Darce, and the way Kim bowled in India was fantastic and her ability to swing the ball and then our spinners are world-class,” McGrath said.
“(Healy) has got a very tough job when she’s often got eight or nine bowlers in her line-up and doesn’t really matter who she throws the ball to, they know how to get the job done … it’s a good problem to have when you have tough selection meetings.”
On the other hand, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt confirmed that Marizanne Kapp would be available for the Proteas after missing Wednesday’s tour game against the Governor-Genera’s Xl in Sydney.
Australia Women and South Africa Women will be playing their first T20I match on January 27 at Manuka Oval.
