Alyssa Healy is all set to make a comeback as she gears up to feature for Australia A against India A, starting next week. However, she has made some technical changes to her wicketkeeping technique, which she is looking to use as she prepares for the upcoming World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Healy has been out of competitive cricket for a long time. Her last appearance came during the day-night Ashes Test at the MCG against England, where she played as a specialist batter.
After that, at one stage, the Aussie skipper was even concerned that she might give up wicketkeeping to avoid further injuries. But after making some adjustments to her technique in the past few months, she has renewed her confidence and is now all set to resume wicketkeeping duties.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Thursday, 31 July, during the unveiling of Cricket Australia’s new four-year partnership with Westpac, Healy said: “I haven’t actually kept in a competitive game since January and that’s given me a little bit of time to tinker with a few things and make it a little bit easier on my body.”
“We’ve been taught how to wicketkeep a certain way in this country for an extended period of time, and at the end of the day it’s not overly efficient on our bodies and doing it at 35, it’s not ideal,” she added.
However, Healy believes the changes she made won’t be visible but will help her recover and stay in the game longer. “You won’t notice anything different, just not getting as low as what I used to, to hopefully help the knee, help the foot and keep me out there a little bit longer,” she mentioned.
Healy will be seen in action in the T20 and one-day matches of the ‘A’ series in Queensland. “I’ll get a red hot crack at it in the ODI fixtures in that A series, so I’ll get a better look at how things are working. But my goal is to be there and playing in the World Cup as a wicketkeeper, so hopefully that pans out,” she said.
Australia are hoping to become the first-ever side to win back-to-back ODI Women’s World Cups, but their biggest challenge could come from India. The Indian side has been in dominant form, winning the T20I series in England 3-2 and the ODI series 2-1. Healy also warned not to write off England despite their recent home series loss.
“I wouldn’t write England off just yet, I think they will find a groove under Lottie (Charlotte Edwards). But I think the way that India are playing, at home in those conditions, they are going to be really tough to beat,” she concluded.
For more exciting articles, follow RevSportz.