Australian captain Alyssa Healy ruled out any chance of experimenting for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the three-match series against New Zealand – starts tonight 7pm AEST – adamant that after a long time apart it’s crucial to work on the “vibe” that has made them successful for so long.
Healy’s team will be pursuing an unprecedented fourth consecutive T20 World Cup in October and the series against the Kiwis in Mackay marks the start of the lead-in.
The Aussies haven’t played an international series since their tour of Bangladesh in March when they cruised to a 3-0 victory as part of a World Cup reconnaissance mission made redundant when the tournament was moved to the United Arab Emirates due to political unrest.
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But the lengthy break has given players used to full schedules the chance to address any and all “niggles” according to Healy who said having a “fairly settled” line-up meant giving those first-choice players as much game time as possible.
“We’ve obviously had a little bit of a rough winter, a few niggles floating around and managing some people coming back from injury, but we’re still looking to pick our best 11 in every fixture who are available at the time,” she said on Wednesday.
“I think when you look at our side as a whole, we’ve been pretty settled in the T20 game for a long period of time and I guess Bangladesh was a good opportunity for us to try a few things just in case, what-if scenarios, if some of our key players go down, you know, who can fill those roles?
“But I think for us now having some consistency around our 11 leading into a World Cup, you still use all 15 players I find in a World Cup to win it, but everyone knows their roles and you know who will come in place of one another, so I think we’re in a good place in that regard.”
The only possible adjustment to what has been a stable T20 line-up could be pairing speedsters Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck together in the same line-up.
Brown has recovered from a foot injury, while Vlaeminck is back and firing after dealing with myriad injury issues and it’s a prospect that excites Healy.
“Hugely excited to have Darcy and Tay in the same squad at the same time and available to play,” she said.
“It creates some dilemmas for us but at the same time it’s really exciting and you know the thought that whether we play them at the same time as well having that option is huge for us.
“So it’s great to see Darce, she’s a ball of energy around our group and I think she’s excited to be here, which makes it even better.”
While the Aussies are coming off a long break, New Zealand hit the series having lost 11 of their last 13 T20 matches and are confronting the World Cup favourites in a series for the first time since 2021.
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck
New Zealand squad: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu
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