Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes departing hit me like a tonne of bricks, reveals captaincy prospect Alyssa Healy
Alyssa Healy has expressed her shock at the sudden departure of Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes from the Australia squad. The batter stated she had gained quite some experience from her domestic captaincy stints and will be willing to apply those skills on the international stage as well.
The Australian women's team's domination in recent times has been historical, reminiscent of their male counterparts in the early years of the ongoing century. Under the leadership of Meg Lanning, the side has pretty much been unbeatable across all three formats of the game, racking up trophies for fun. Since Rachael Haynes became Lanning's deputy in 2018, Australia have already won three world titles, two in T20s and one in the 50-over format. Earlier this year, the duo capped off their time at the helm with a gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, defeating India in a thrilling final.
After the event, Lanning announced an indefinite break from the sport, which was confirmed to continue for the time being by her Women's Big Bash League franchise Melbourne Stars. Meanwhile, Haynes declared her time with the national team was done and will now only feature in T20 tournaments. This has left the Australian team without any obvious picks for the captaincy spot.
At the moment, Alyssa Healy looks the favorite to take the reins, given her experience of 232 international games and over 5,000 runs. The 32-year-old wicket-keeper batsman is already the New South Wales' skipper in the domestic circuit, currently leading them in the Women's National Cricket League.
"Meg taking a break and Rach retiring, it hit me like a tonne of bricks," she was quoted saying by India Today.
"I've taken a lot out of captaining NSW. The beauty of our squad over the last few years is leading a really young, inexperienced team. That's been a really enjoyable job for me: Being able to talk cricket with young players. So I guess in a sense, it correlates across to the Aussie team. We're in a similar sort of boat at the moment. I'll take a lot of confidence and some experience out of that if it comes my way," Healy added.
Australia's next assignment is a five-match T20I series in India in December, four years after their last visit to the subcontinent nation. They'll visit India again towards the end of next year for a comprehensive all-format tour.
"We haven't really toured India that much over the little period of time. So the fact that we're going there twice in the space of 12 months is exciting," Healy said at the Men's T20 World Cup event in Sydney.
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