Alyssa Healy: “We’re in a great spot as a team”
Media Release
• This column by Australia captain Alyssa Healy is for editorial use giving credit to the ICC
We couldn’t be more excited to be over here in India finalising our preparations for the World Cup. It’s a great place to play and somewhere we’re all reasonably familiar with.
I think we’re in a great spot as a team; we’ve had some valuable time together as a group across multiple camps over the winter and I think everyone has enjoyed the chance to tailor their preparation through the Australia A series and domestic cricket in England.
We know we’ve put in the time both on and off the field, so we come in confident with that body of work behind us and are ready to play some ODI Cricket.
For me personally, having the opportunity to play that ‘A’ series at home was huge, getting through six games of cricket in a short space of time was a big tick for me after coming back from injury.
Our group is incredibly well balanced with plenty of youth to compliment the more experienced players and while for some it’ll be their first ODI World Cup, they’ve all had exposure to major tournaments and high-pressure series.
We’re especially thrilled to have Sophie Molineux back in the squad having overcome knee surgery earlier this year. She’s had a rough run with injuries, so it’ll be great to see her back in the green and gold throughout the World Cup.
India and Sri Lanka present different challenges as venues but exciting ones that we as a team are really embracing.
The three ODIs against India in the lead-up will give us the chance to acclimatise and put the finishing touches on our preparation. We’re lucky enough to have great depth in our squad so it will be a fantastic opportunity to see different players rotate through the series to get an opportunity. Our bowling depth will be key with the warm conditions we will no doubt face.
As a team we’ve not played in Sri Lanka since 2016, but plenty of our group have had experience there over the years with various development tours. It’ll be nice to get back there and hopefully have some success in our matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
It’s going to be a cracking tournament this year but what I love most about ODI World Cups is being able to play every side, knowing that you have to beat every team in the World to lift that trophy makes them tough to win. We know we have to play consistently throughout and each and every game is important. Our group is looking forward to that challenge and can’t wait to get going!