Women’s Ashes 2023: Nervous but excited at the same time, says Alyssa Healy ahead of debut as Test captain

Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy said she was both nervous and excited for the upcoming Test against England in the 2023 Women’s Ashes. Australia face England in a one-off Test at the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottingham starting Thursday and will be without their talismanic leader Meg Lanning, who has been ruled out of the trip to England with a "medical issue" with no timeline set on her return to the highest level of the sport. In Lanning’s absence, Healy gears up to lead the Southern Stars for the first time in the red-ball format. Healy’s leadership experience so far in the international arena is limited to four T20Is, all of which took place in the five-match series in India last December. The task of retaining the Ashes urn against a new-look English side with massive turnouts expected for the multi-format series though, will be an entirely different challenge for the 33-year-old. “A sense of nervousness, but I think at the same time, it’s mainly excitement,” Healy said on the eve of the Test at Nottingham, according to cricket.com.au. “This is probably one of the most hyped women’s Ashes series that I’ve been a part of over here … and on the back of what took place yesterday (at Edgbaston) it’s a really exciting time to be over here to play cricket. “We come here to win the big moments and win the big matches and to get four points up early as an Aussie side would be a nice building block,” Healy added.

Alyssa Healy: your 20th Australian women’s Test skipper.#Ashes pic.twitter.com/blSjG6d1rM

— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) June 22, 2023

England skipper Heather Knight, meanwhile, opened up on comparisons with the men’s team that has revolutionised Test cricket with their fast-paced ‘Bazball’ approach and the need to introduce something similar in the women’s team. “We are different teams (to the men’s), but there are some parallels in that we want to play entertaining cricket. “We want to entertain. We want to play cricket people want to watch,” Knight said. The one-off Test at Trent Bridge will be followed by three T20Is and as many ODIs. Unlike the men’s Ashes is competed over a five-match Test series, the Women’s Ashes is a multi-format affair in which the team with the most points at the end of the series is crowned winner. Four points are awarded to the side winning the one-off Test (two in case of a draw), while two points are awarded for a victory in the ODIs and T20Is. Australia have held on to the Women’s Ashes since 2015. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.