Melbourne : Australian skipper Alyssa Healy said that the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup in the UAE will be an exciting one as the team has some youngsters raring to go and named some young faces to watch out for in the competition. The tournament will be starting from October 3 onwards.
The defending champion Aussies will kickstart the tournament against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on October 5.
Healy believes the younger members of Australia's all-conquering women's team can continue the team's legacy as one of the best in sport.
Leading the side in a major tournament for the first time having taken over legend Meg Lanning, who retired from international cricket last year, Healy leads a group ready to defend the crown they have held in their clutches since 2018 and kept across three tournaments.
In 159 T20Is, Healy has scored 2,987 runs at an average of 25.31 and a strike rate of 129.47, with a century and 17 fifties. Her best score in the format is 148*.
Australia's challenges this time around, gunning for a seventh T20 World Cup title and a fourth in a row, are twofold. A new tournament location with different conditions in UAE will pose its own questions, while the side must press on and evolve with a younger group shouldering more responsibility.
Australia have seemingly always been a step ahead, however. Five members of the 14-player squad are 25 years of age or younger, though all boast extensive international experience, a testament to a group always willing to improve on what had already been a world champion group.
Looking ahead to the challenges, Healy says there are "no real expectations" on the group, but feel prepared for the other nine sides, ready to knock them off their perch.
"All 10 teams have a shot to win it and with some foreign conditions for a lot of the teams, it will be really interesting to watch unfold," said Healy, as quoted by the ICC.
"Playing in the UAE is a new experience for our group. Only a few of us have gone over and trained or played practice games over there, so it is a new place to see, which is exciting."
"The conditions are slightly unknown; however, I feel we are well equipped to handle whatever is thrown our way," she concluded.
Boasting a batting order of admirable quality and depth, there will be no respite for opposition across the 20 overs of Australia's innings, with the likes of all-rounders Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, and Sophie Molineux potentially batting as low down as number seven to number nine.
Sutherland already boasts 34 T20I caps for her country, and Healy earmarked both the 22-year-old and 21-year-old batting phenomenon Phoebe Litchfield as players to watch in UAE.
"I am looking forward to our group now coming together for this competition, and an exciting thing about our squad this tournament is our young players," said Healy.
"They are super exciting to watch and have had some experience on the international stage over the past few seasons so are ready to go. It obviously helps having some old, experienced heads around them to steer us in the right direction, but watching the next generation play the game is pretty fun to watch."
"I would suggest keeping an eye on Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield, in particular, during this tournament," she concluded.
Healy reflected on tournament highlights, underlining her pride in representing her country on the big stage.
"Representing your country in (a World Cup) means a lot, and we have created some treasured memories in this competition," said Healy, as quoted by the ICC.
"In particular, winning the T20 World Cup at home in 2020 was a huge highlight for a lot of our group. To have the final at the MCG in front of 86,174 spectators was an amazing experience.
"T20 World Cups are really hard to win--it is the best against the best, and whoever can be most consistent or win those little moments along the way can get the job done," she concluded.
Sharpening up ahead of the tournament with a 3-0 lead-in series win against New Zealand on home soil, Healy had given herself some downtime in the winter, watching on as several teammates competed in various domestic T20 leagues held overseas during the Australian winter.
Reflecting on the progress of the women's game since her international debut in 2010, the wicket-keeper/batter says the freedom to
"The opportunities to now play cricket all year round, or choose not to, is amazing and allows players to individually prepare how they want," said the wicketkeeper-batter.
"It is great to see so many of our players enjoying their cricket and primed for the World Cup. We go into this World Cup with a really well-rounded group and strong squad of players. I cannot wait to be a part of it," she signed off.