Alyssa Healy accepts she has “huge footwear” to fill as captain on the T20 World Cup following the top of the peerless reign of Meg Lanning — however she is decided to do the job her method as she makes an attempt to steer Australia to a fifth straight world title within the UAE.
Underneath Lanning’s Midas contact, the Australian girls have gained the previous three T20 titles and the 2022 crown within the 50-over format. That is seven lengthy years since they final didn’t win a World Cup.
But when Lanning’s retirement in December has transferred large strain onto one in all her trusty lieutenants Healy, you would not have identified it because the 34-year-old sounded relaxed however ultra-determined in Dubai on the eve-of-tournament captains’ press convention on Wednesday.
Requested what the key of Australia’s continued success was, Healy simply grinned: “The key was written down on a bit of paper from Meg and handed on to me — so I can not give that to you.”
Quizzed additional about having to observe in Lanning’s footsteps at a event the place the opposition fancy Australia’s domination would possibly simply be on the wane, Healy added: “Everybody on this room is conscious of the legacy Meg Lanning has left within the recreation, so there’s fairly huge footwear to fill.
“However I am not Meg, I am Alyssa Healy, and I’ve introduced that strategy into this Australian crew.
“I will do the job the best way that I understand how to do it and to one of the best of my capability, and hopefully that does the job for Australia.
“In the mean time, I am simply actually having fun with the problem of that.”
To date it has been so good for Healy in her full-time captaincy reign, after often filling in for Lanning beforehand.
The crew has continued largely the place her predecessor left off, with wins over Bangladesh, India and New Zealand setting them up once more as those to beat in Dubai.
Healy has gained her previous 13 Australia matches in all codecs.
However the occasional losses happen extra continuously as of late, with even Healy suggesting that at this World Cup, performed on wickets within the Center East that few of the groups have a lot of a really feel for but, all of Australia’s opponents have “a red-hot crack” at profitable the title.
However she does not like the concept Australia are “defending” a title. To her, that sounds too unfavourable.
“You do not come right here to defend the title — that is not what the World Cup is about — you come right here to win it,” she mentioned.
An aggressive strategy to taking the title below Healy might be taken as learn.
“It seems like, with out being disrespectful, we’ve been hunted for a protracted time period,” she mentioned.
“We’re continually being requested about that, and we’re used to it now. Groups are coming actually laborious at us to place us below the pump, which we love.
“We all know what the opposite 9 are going to throw at us given the chance. We see it as a problem and a chance to showcase a model of cricket we like taking part in.”
As they stay up for opening their newest bid towards Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday, it is clear Healy’s Australia nonetheless really feel as if they’re the hunters, not the hunted.