Alyssa Healy still keen to keep and open in Tests
Cricket
Alyssa Healy said I look forward to that challenge and test my body, physically and mentally.
CANBERRA (Web Desk) - Keeping wicket and opening the batting in Test cricket has been, arguably, the toughest juggling act in the history of the game, but Alyssa Healy is adamant that she wants to do the job again in the women s Ashes Test starting on Thursday in Canberra.
Healy has opened in her last two Test matches, but her returns across the four innings have given a clear indication of how difficult the task of opening and keeping is in the longest format. She made 58 in her first Test innings as an opener in the 2019 Ashes but it was the first innings of the match, giving her the chance to start fresh. She then kept 107 overs before walking straight back out to bat, and made 13 in the second innings.
In her last Test, against India earlier this summer, Australia fielded first and Healy kept for 145 overs before walking out to bat under lights against the pink ball. She made 29 from 66 deliveries and then made just 6 in the fourth innings after keeping for 37 more overs in the third innings of the match.
"There s obviously ongoing chats about it," Healy said. "I think the approach we took in that last Test match we played was we ll see how we go. I mean, if things don t quite go to plan, we re out in the field for an extended period of time and I am feeling fatigued then we make that call on the fly and maybe I don t open the batting. But I m always going to stick my hand up and say I m ready to go and ready to contribute whether that be at the top of the order or with the gloves, so I m sure it will be okay.
"Hopefully, we get the full four days in and I m out there for all four days. I look forward to that challenge and test my body, physically and mentally. The chats are being had but at this point in time, considering it s such a one-off event for us, I want to be involved as much as I can."
Only five wicketkeepers in the history of women s Test cricket have averaged more than 30 while opening the batting, with England s Betty Snowball the only one to average more than 40. Snowball is the only women s player to make 400 runs in the dual role, averaging 66.57 with one century and three half-centuries.
