“I won’t be fielding in this series… but there’s not a lot of cricket going on before we get to the Ashes, so for me it’s a chance to try and get back on the park, as a batsman, and try to find some runs. More importantly,” Healy said Wednesday.
“I feel like I haven’t played much cricket for the last eight or nine months and there’s a good opportunity to do so. The knee is adapting well, it’s just a day-to-day thing, and we’ll assess it as we go.”
“We’ve been transitioning for a while, bringing in some youth,” Healy said. “But we’ve obviously been forced to deal with some injuries at the moment. I think we’re in a great space, the depth in Australian cricket is really strong.”
“And everyone who keeps coming in, to fill my job in particular, seems to make my runs or take wickets, so we’re in a good space at the moment.”
“I’m just reminding them that we cheered them on in the home and away game, but they’re fine if they take the trophy,” Healy said. “There is an air of disappointment in our group after the World Cup, I don’t think there is a way to overcome that.
“I think the discussions that have arisen afterwards have been really promising, and where we want to take our cricket going forward and how we want to play our style of game, as sad as that may seem.”
New Zealand are in danger of missing out on direct qualification for next year’s ODI World Cup with this three-match series, the last of the current Women’s Championship. They currently sit sixth in the table with two automatic places to claim alongside hosts India and already qualified Australia, England and South Africa. Bangladesh and the West Indies, who are below them, still have matches to play.
A crowd of 4,000 is expected at the Cuenca Reserve on Thursday, although the forecast is poor before becoming more promising for matches on Saturday and Monday.
