Since losing the T20 World Cup crown to West Indies in India in 2016, Australia have gone on a bull run to win three titles back-to-back. As they return to Asia to try to hunt down a fourth straight title, questions have been raised about their invincibility.
They whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series at home last month, razed down Bangladesh on some tough wickets in Mirpur in April and overturned a ten-wicket hammering to beat India 2-1 at the start of the year. Upon arrival in Dubai for the T20 World Cup, they beat West Indies and England in the warm-ups.
But there have been occasional blips too, like the T20I series loss to England, a defeat each against South Africa and West Indies on away tours on either side of the women’s Ashes.
On Wednesday, at the captains’ pre-tournament media session, Alyssa Healy, the Australia captain, wasn’t going to understate their achievements but also gave a peek into the way the players have trained themselves to think.
“You don’t come here to defend the title, that’s not what the World Cup is about, you come here to win it,” she said. “So we are here with that approach. Our pool [Group A with India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] is quite a tricky one. We’ve got to get past these teams to have a chance of lifting the trophy. So it’s a challenge I’m very excited for.”
That no team has played a lot of cricket in the UAE – they will all be playing in Dubai for the first time – adds to the allure of what could be the closest-ever women’s T20 World Cup. Healy stressed adaptability, even though it has not all been about training and matches. While Healy had to accommodate media commitments, the rest of the Australian team spent a day at the water park to cool off in conditions that would test the players’ fitness.
“The whole tournament, in general, is about adapting the quickest,” Healy said. “That seems to be the way. If you look at the warm-up games, [it showed] you’ve got to adapt pretty quickly to what you’re given. Probably the team that does the best throughout the tournament will get the job done. We feel like we’re well placed to do that and hopefully, we can do it.”
This will be Healy’s first T20 World Cup as full-time captain; she was given the role last December after Meg Lanning announced her international retirement. This was preceded by a small period where Healy had filled in for Lanning, including at last year’s Ashes, without fully knowing if Lanning would return.
Did that make her feel like she didn’t have full control as captain?
“I wouldn’t say I still have full control,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. “I think I approached it like I do every day in life. You take each day as it comes. Obviously, when she [Lanning] decided to step away from the game officially, there was a process in place. I put up my hand for it and got the job, and it’s been really enjoyable so far.
“We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing”
“I’m very grateful at this point in my career to have an opportunity to learn more about myself and probably more my team-mates, and as a squad on the whole as well, So it’s been good.”
Healy wasn’t perturbed by the prospect of teams coming at Australia either.
“It feels like, without being disrespectful, we have been hunted for a long period of time,” she said. “We’re constantly being asked about that, and we’re used to it now. Teams are coming really hard at us to put us under the pump which we love.
“This World Cup is going to be no different. We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing.”
Australia open their campaign on October 6 with an afternoon game against Sri Lanka in Sharjah. They next play New Zealand before meeting Pakistan in Dubai. They round off their league engagements with a high-voltage clash against India in Sharjah on October 13.
