Follow UsWith Meg Lanning out of the Ashes due to a medical situation at home, wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy was named captain of the Australian Women's side for the upcoming tour of England. Healy, as a result, will become Australia Women's 20th Test skipper, when she leads her side out in the one-off Test against England on June 22 at Trent Bridge.
While admitting she will miss Lanning's presence on the field, Healy says she is excited about her new role. "My heart really hurts for Meg and what she's going through," Healy told Cricket.com.au.
"That side of it is what we're grappling with. But on the flip side, it's also switching into gear to know that you're captaining in an Ashes series and that really excites me. I'm highly emotional, but at the same time, excited nonetheless, for the next few months."
Healy also acknowledged that she does not love leading the side, but it's a role she really enjoys doing. "I wouldn't say I love doing it," Healy admitted.
"I enjoy it. I love being vice-captain. It's not a cushy role, don't get me wrong. But being a wicketkeeper, you're involved in every aspect of the game, and you get a great feel for the game.
"It's really easy to turn to Meg and go, 'Oh, what about this?' or 'what do you think about this?'
"Now having to do all that yourself and knowing that you're making the final decision is a little uncomfortable. But it's a challenge and one that I really do enjoy, and hopefully can have some success at it."
Healy had a successful stint as a first-time Australian captain when she led her side in the T20I series against India last year. Australia won the series 4-1, but Healy missed the final game due to an injury. While her leading the side looked like a one-off occurrence at that point, Healy believes that the experience will undoubtedly benefit her going into the England tour.
"I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I'm really lucky that (India tour) happened to give me an opportunity to get a taste of it and to also leave a little bit of a mark on the group," Healy said.
"I'm obviously very different to Meg, I'm not her, I'm a very different style of leader as well. So for the group to get a little taste of that before heading into what is a really big Ashes series is probably really important for everyone.
"Meg is really good at leading from the front and really pulling everyone along with her.
"I tend to lead from within and really give everyone the confidence that they are good enough, and what they're bringing is going to do the job. And that's something I really enjoy doing." Her batting has seen a drastic improvement when she has led in T20s. She averages 33.84 and strikes at close to 150 as captain, and in matches she does is not entrused with leading her side, she averages close to 26 along with a strike-rate of 132.
Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke believes that Healy can take confidence from her excellent show as player and captain during the Indian tour going into the Ashes.
"The fact that she captained the team in India last year and did a fantastic job, the girls got around her and they played some really good cricket, she should take a lot of confidence out of that," Nitschke said.
The Ashes will kickstart on June 22 with the one-off Test, followed by three T20Is and three ODIs, starting July 1.