Emotional but excited Alyssa Healy gears up for Ashes challenge

New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) Alyssa Healy, who has taken over the role of Australia's captain in the absence of Meg Lanning, vowed to lead Australia her way during the multi-format Ashes series, which begins on 22 June.

Healy has been thrust into the main role for the upcoming tour of the United Kingdom after it was announced that Lanning would miss the series to deal with a "medical issue" at home.

Although the wicketkeeper-batter is concerned about Lanning, she is also excited to 'switch gears' and prepare to face their arch-rivals.

"My heart really hurts for Meg and what she's going through. But on the flip side, it's also switching into gear to know that you're captaining 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 told cricket.com.au.

Healy will make her Test captaincy debut at Trent Bridge on June 22 in the Ashes opener against England. Although it's not something she is particularly fond of but she fancies the challenge that comes with it.

"I wouldn't say I love doing it. 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," she said.

"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 is not new to captaincy, she made her Australian captaincy debut in India late last year when Lanning was absent on a mental health break, an experience which has proved invaluable in her opinion to showcase her style of captaincy.

"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.

"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 that what they're bringing is going to do the job. And that's something I really enjoy doing," she added.

The multi-format Ashes series begins on June 22 with a one-off Test, followed by three T20Is and as many ODIs, before concluding on July 18.

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