It was on the cards for a long time as Cricket Australia finally announced Alyssa Healy as the full-time captain of the national team. After Meg Lanning stepped down, Healy’s appointment was just a matter of time as the stumper-batter led the team multiple times in extended spells including in the Women’s Ashes earlier in the year. On the other hand, Tahlia McGrath has been named as the vice-captain of the team.
Healy thanked CA for trusting her with the responsibility and stated that she has enjoyed support from her teammates so far. The 33-year-old added that her goal is to remain consistent in international cricket and leave a mark on the role. She also expressed her excitement to work with a lot of talented individuals and upcoming cricketers.
“I am honoured to accept the role of captain and am grateful for the opportunity to lead our team. I've really 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 to what it has been previously, but I'll make my own 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 was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Healy’s reign will commence with the upcoming tour to India in which the visiting team will play a Test in Wankhede Stadium and a three-match ODI and T20I series. Notably, she missed the entire Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) due to an injury but has regained fitness once again and declared herself a near-certain starter for the upcoming matches. On the other hand, she has been retained by Gujarat Giants for the upcoming edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).