International Cricket is on its’ way back to the Australian shores when the Australian Women take on their trans-Tasman counterparts, New Zealand. The series kicks off this Saturday and will feature 3 T20Is followed by 3 ODIs, all to be played in Brisbane. This series will also see a return of cricket’s 12th man – the fans, back in the stadiums.
The much-anticipated return of cricket in Australia has already seen all the tickets of the 3 T20Is sold out. The stadiums will have a reduced capacity, and strict adherence to the COVID-19 safety regulations will be maintained.
In a first since the outbreak of novel #coronavirus, the upcoming limited-overs series between Australia Women and New Zealand Women will be played in the presence of fans inside the stadium.
3 ODIs and 3 T20Is to be played at Brisbane starting 26th Sept. #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/YgOnxAa4cL
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 14, 2020
Alyssa Healy expressed her excitement about this return in an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, “I don’t think any of my family even bought those tickets, usually there’s 50-odd Healys on the hill. It would have been amazing to have another series right after the World Cup but … it‘s almost like we’re kicking off right where we left off.”
The Australian keeper will have fond memories of her last match and coincidentally, the last cricket match in Australia. Healy’s 39-ball 75 at the finals of the T20 World Cup in Brisbane, helped Australia lift the World Cup in front of a record 86,174 in attendance at MCG.
The official crowd for the Women’s #T20WorldCup final here at the MCG is 86,174.
Happy International Women’s Day! #T20WorldCup #WorldCupFinal #WT20#INDvAUS #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/rPOOkoW72u
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 8, 2020
However, Healy is satisfied just yet and has added some new shots in her armory. “I did sit down after celebrating for a month with my batting coach and discussed a few things to work on. So you might see some new, different things in this series. The ultimate goal in cricket is to be able to play 360 (degrees),” said Alyssa, who is the spouse of Australian pace bowler, Mitchell Starc.
On being asked about the real possibility of spending months apart with Starc at a time due to COVID regulations in different countries, she emphasized, “cricket comes first. As long as I can see him on the TV doing his stuff, that’s OK.”
The 30-year old multiple World Cup winner went on to say, “I‘ve been trying a few things to see if I can get the ball there, so you will have to see if they come out. I don‘t want to give away too many secrets to the Kiwis, but I’ve been preparing for a few things in particular … so stay tuned.”
Source: Andrew McGlashan / ESPN Cricinfo
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