(Reuters) – Alyssa Healy believes the young talent coming through in Australian cricket means the world champions can continue to dominate the women’s game for the next 10-15 years.
Healy led the way with a record knock of 170 as Australia secured a seventh 50-overs World Cup title with what she described as a “near perfect” victory over holders England in Christchurch on Sunday. [nL2N2W103P}
“To be part of a team that is constantly driving for perfection, it can drive you crazy but at the same time it just make you so much better,” Healy told Fox Sports on Monday.
“Yesterday was near flawless … the way we went about things was pretty special.”
By locking up the only major women’s title they did not already own, the Australians finally banished the memories of their shock semi-final loss to India at the 2017 World Cup.
That defeat led to a reassessment of how Australia went about their cricket, including elevating Healy to the top of the batting order.
The results have been extraordinary with Australia playing 43 one-dayers since the 2017 World Cup, winning 40 of them.
“I’m really proud of being part of a squad that sat down and reinvented themselves and reinvented the way they wanted to play the game,” Healy added.
“To go out there and execute that over five years is something really special. This is the final piece of the puzzle.”
Part of the philosophy is not to be overly-reliant on one or two star players to carry the team, with all of the squad expected to pitch in with a big innings or a handful of wickets.
Healy pointed to the successful introduction of relative youngsters Alana King, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Annabel Sutherland at the World Cup as evidence that Australia can sustain that policy for a good time to come.
“We’ve got incredible depth and incredible talent within this squad,” the 32-year-old said.
“We’ve got so many young players who are already performing so well on the international scene and that’s just so exciting for the future of the game.
“The fact that we’ve been able to continue to bring in these young players … I’m sure Australian cricket’s going to be in good hands for the next 10 to 15 years at least.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
