16 February - Gqeberha - Australia player Alyssa Healy post-match press conference
[Reporter]
It was good for Beth to be in the runs again today as well, just to kind of get her campaign rolling. How important do you think it is for her and what are the dynamics of your sort of opening partnership?
[Alyssa Healy]
Yeah, I think it was good for her to spend some time at the crease, probably more for her own mental health than anything else. I think she's been hitting the ball really well in the nets and yeah, just hasn't quite been clicking on the field. So yeah, just nice for her to spend some time out in the middle and for me to be there at the other end and sort of support that as best I can by just trying to accumulate runs at my end. I think the better. So yeah, I thought she played really well today and hopefully that gives her confidence moving forward.
[Reporter]
This is your first time playing in South Africa. What have you made of both keeping and batting on the pitches so far? Have they surprised you a little bit?
[Alyssa Healy]
Look, I wasn't really 100% certain what to expect coming over here. I mean, traditionally, when we watched the test matches back at home, they got a lot of bounce and carry and a little bit of pace, so we weren't too sure, but knowing it's the back end of the summer and watching a bit of their SA League as well, seeing how tired the wickets were, we thought they might stay a little bit low and take a little bit of spin. So look, we just try and adapt to any condition that we get and I thought the wickets have played pretty well. It hasn't been easy and free-flowing scoring conditions, but in saying that, teams are still putting good scores on the board and teams are chasing well as well. So yeah, I think they've been pretty fair and I've seen that green seamer that's lingering out there on that field, hopefully for Saturday night, so it should be a good showdown with the quicks.
[Reporter]
Good evening. You guys have now won three on the trot, basically one foot in the semi-finals almost. Are there any areas that you feel that you can improve looking ahead to the splash against South Africa on Saturday?
[Alyssa Healy]
Yeah, I think we can always improve in little bits and pieces throughout a game. Look, I thought we've played really well the last couple of games. Our fielding's been a little bit hit and miss at times, but I thought today we were pretty outstanding. So look, I'm not going to pinpoint one for you right now, but we'll have a look at South Africa and see what we might need to tighten up on, especially from a bowling aspect and also as a batting group, we know how potent they are with that new ball. So just a few areas we might need to tighten up. And you spoke about the low and slow nature of the wickets, could you speak about how important it is to build partnerships up front and also rotate the strike fairly regularly?
[Reporter]
Just when you've mentioned the fact that the centre is very spin-friendly wicket, are you guys wary of the South African spinners who are on top form right now, especially someone that you're going to level up, do you guys have any concern and worry for her at some moment?
[Alyssa Healy]
Yeah, I think so. She's in great form and she's full of confidence. I mean, I saw what she was able to do against the Kiwis the other night. Obviously, we speak a lot about their new ball attack when they've got two of the best team bowlers in the world. But Alana's come along incredibly well over the last 12 months in particular and taken a lot of wickets. So we'll do our homework like we always do and prepare as best we can for that attack and hopefully we can put it all together as a batting unit.
[Reporter]
And where does that catch from Grace Harris, rank, amongst catches you've seen?
[Alyssa Healy]
So much Mayo on that. I'm actually pretty sure it was Tahlia McGrath's catch. And Grace called her out of it and wanted to take a hang of it. Full credit to her for hanging on to it. I think that's sort of a key moment to get a key batter in that instance. So yeah, she was loving us to help stick out there in the field watching the replay, but it's nice to have a character like that on the field.
[Reporter]
And what does it say about Australia's bowling depth that someone like Grace can come in and bowl the way she did today, having barely done it recently?
[Alyssa Healy]
Yeah, well, we know exactly what she can do. I mean, she's been around our group for a long time. We've played against her a lot in domestic cricket, so we know what she can do with the ball and I guess be able to call on her when we need her, yeah, it's awesome. And like I said, there's 15 players in this group that could step on the park and perform and we've got a world-class spinner in Jess Jonassen sitting on the bench at the moment and our spin attack did a great job today, so yeah, it's pretty impressive and to stand behind the stumps and try and do your best for them because they're creating chances left, right and centre.
[Reporter]
Just one more on Grace from me, what does it say about her character that she had that really long absence out of the game and she came back and she just, you know, can pull out performances, you know, like she does from time to time?
[Alyssa Healy]
Yeah, I think unbelievably resilient, Grace is, and I think, you know, our group's changed a lot as well and I'm really proud of Grace coming back into our group and everyone just embracing who Grace is and letting Grace be Grace out there on the field and also off the park as well. She's an unbelievable character and if you haven't had the chance of sitting at brekky with her or going to have a drink with her of an evening, do that because it's an absolute laugh a minute. So yeah, she's a great person to have around our side, not just for the personality but for her skills on the park as well. She's unbelievably damaging with the bat in hand so we haven't quite seen that just yet but I guess that's something exciting probably heading into the back end of this tournament.
[Reporter]
Speaking of Grace Harris's personality, if you could tell us what is it like having a Grace in the dressing room? What is she like as a teammate because on TV, at the press box, we do know that, you know, she's a bit of a character as you said but if you could give us the inside details, please.
[Alyssa Healy]
It's just loud. I mean, if you can't, if you can't hear that out there or the press box, if you can't hear in the change room, I mean, you're not listening but look, she's just a laugh a minute and probably just relaxes the change room to an extent. I mean, she switches on, don't get me wrong, she switches on and she knows her game inside out and she knows what she wants to achieve when she steps out on the park which I think is really impressive but she's also really laid back about her game and about the game in general and I think, you know, that laid back attitude and just the fact she loves being out there and enjoys herself, I think rubs off on everybody out there and so it's great to have someone like that in the side.
[Reporter]
And while her bowling took centre stage today, if you could share your thoughts on the power she brings to her batting because it's unlike anybody else's, you're a power hitter yourself as is, as are so many of them, Ashleigh Gardner, but how different is Grace Harris's power game than to the other Australian stalwarts?
[Alyssa Healy]
I just think she can, she has the ability to hit any length over the boundary and I think that is super impressive in our game and I think the women's games come along quite a lot over the last few years and it's become more dynamic, it's become more athletic, it's become more powerful but a player like Grace has been around for a long time and I think the way that she just trusts her game now and she thinks about the game a lot more and knows the shots that she wants to play and the shots that, you know, she's going to be able to clear the boundary with to certain bowlers, I think that work that she's done behind the scenes has allowed her to come out and be this incredibly powerful player but she's that type of player in our middle order that, you know, when we're a little bit behind or, you know, we need, you know, we need to open over, she's a perfect person to step out there and break the game wide open which is exactly what you want so she's a true asset to our group.
[Reporter]
Final one from me, when you opened the chase with the four, the DJ at the ground started playing Katy Perry's Firework, do you think this tournament is also likely to take the shape that the 2020 edition took for you personally in Australia?
[Alyssa Healy]
I'm not too sure, I can't really answer that, look, we're sort of just approaching every game as it comes and I'm sorry that's a cliche but it kind of is, we haven't really played in these conditions a lot and we're just sort of adapting to them as we go and the opposition that we get so, look, at the top of the order we're doing our best to either get our team off to a really good start chasing or setting and if we can kick on and make a big total or get a good partnership it's double job done so we're happy with today.
[Reporter]
Just on the power hitting in the women's game that you were talking about just now, what sort of things do you do personally to sort of work on that and what have you sort of seen as an evolution of that through your career?
[Alyssa Healy]
To be completely honest with you I don't do a lot that focuses on power hitting as such, I mean I feel like I'm a little bit more of a timer of the ball, I mean there's the brute force batters in sort of a Grace Harris, Ash Gardner that really sort of muscle the ball over the boundary but for me it's more just about my bat swing and getting my body in the right position to hit the ball where I want it to go and if I middle it it might go for six and if not that's completely fine, it might be in the gap for four so I don't put too much of a focus on it but at the same time I mean I think all the work we do off the park in the gym will naturally help that side of the game as well.
[Reporter]
Cool, thanks very much everyone, we'll leave it there for tonight but appreciate your time.
[Alyssa Healy]
Thank you. Thank you.
