Latest / The Follow-On / Aussie captain Alyssa Healy previews the Ashes & opens up on her move into the commentary box

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Aussie captain Alyssa Healy previews the Ashes & opens up on her move into the commentary box · The Follow-On

0:00
Speaker 1: Well, hello and welcome to another episode of Fox Crickets podcast,
0:03
Speaker 1: The follow On. I'm absolutely delighted to be joined today
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Speaker 1: by Australian cricket captain Alyssa Heay, ahead of what shapes
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Speaker 1: as a fantastic month of cricket to come, the old
0:13
Speaker 1: enemy England, the Ashes all on the line in Sydney,
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Speaker 1: matches in Earth and finishing off with what will be
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Speaker 1: the historic day night match at the MCG, a Test
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Speaker 1: match at the MCG. Thanks so much for joining us, Alssa,
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Speaker 1: pleasure to have you on. Thanks having me, It's really
0:34
Speaker 1: quite something to look forward to. We'll touch on sort
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Speaker 1: of what's happened the last couple of series against New
0:40
Speaker 1: Zealand and India, England coming out, but a couple of
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Speaker 1: just quick things. I was at a press conference a
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Speaker 1: couple of days ago and at the front of the
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Speaker 1: MCG you were speaking that the Australian squat had just
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Speaker 1: been announced, a really good mix of new and old
0:54
Speaker 1: and some exciting talent across all levels. But you were
0:58
Speaker 1: standing in front of a gigantic pink balloon. Can you
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Speaker 1: tell me about that and what that symbolized and had
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Speaker 1: you ever been in a gigantic, big pink balloon before.
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Speaker 2: I can totally say I've never been in a giant
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Speaker 2: pink hot air balloon before. I have been in a
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Speaker 2: hot air balloon, however, and it was an amazing experience.
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Speaker 2: But I guess to see a giant cricker ball promoting
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Speaker 2: the Women's Ashes sitting outside here outside the MCG for
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Speaker 2: everyone to see. Kerry O'Keefe actually has told me that
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Speaker 2: the last two mornings at five point thirty they've been
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Speaker 2: up in the air and he's been blown away by it.
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Speaker 2: So it's pretty cool. It's obviously a really unique marketing ploy,
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Speaker 2: but I think it's sort of done the trick to
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Speaker 2: make sure that everybody knows that we're going to be
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Speaker 2: here at the MCG at January thirty for an Ashes
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Speaker 2: test match, so it's it's exciting.
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Speaker 1: I was on a hot air balloon across the Atenent
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Speaker 1: table land so far North Queensland. Magnificent. But I remember
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Speaker 1: having a couple of ups and down said early morning
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Speaker 1: bumpy ride. How did you handle it? Where was yours?
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Speaker 1: And how did you handle that? I suppose that initial
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Speaker 1: surge when you take off.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually I can't even remember where that hot
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Speaker 2: balloon experience was but for those that haven't been online,
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Speaker 2: it is a surreal experience where you kind of just
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Speaker 2: like take off and then all of a sudden you're
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Speaker 2: just floating and you look down over the basket and
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Speaker 2: it feels like you're just on top of like a
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Speaker 2: balcony somewhere, Like there's not really a heap of noise,
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Speaker 2: it's quiet, it's still it's a surreal experience. So I
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Speaker 2: can highly recommend it to people. And if it's a
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Speaker 2: giant cricket ball even better.
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Speaker 1: Now we see that and obviously the reason for the
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Speaker 1: giant pick balloon is that it's the day night Test
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Speaker 1: that the MCG that's never been happened before. Symbolized is
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Speaker 1: an anniversary of ninety years since the first Australia England
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Speaker 1: Women's Test series. It's nineteen forty nine was the last
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Speaker 1: time a Test match was played at the MCG for
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Speaker 1: the Australian women. So it's a really bigger I suppose,
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Speaker 1: a big occasion. There's been amazing attendances through the boxing
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Speaker 1: day Test. At the moment against India, we're expecting a
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Speaker 1: really really good crowd again for that day night Test.
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Speaker 1: I think it starts on the Thurst A and it
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Speaker 1: goes all the way through to the some of the
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Speaker 1: tail end of the Austrain open. But listening do you
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Speaker 1: speak the other day you talked about how great an
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Speaker 1: event city Melbun was. You played that amazing World Cup
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Speaker 1: final here a few years ago. I was sitting in
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Speaker 1: the stands in the eighty six and a half thousand people.
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Speaker 1: It was just a fantastic mention.
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Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, what.
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Speaker 1: Is it that makes the MCG a special place for
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Speaker 1: it and how much are you looking forward to that
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Speaker 1: day night test? Yeah?
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Speaker 2: I think obviously the way that our Ashes series has
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Speaker 2: set up, there's white ball games beforehand and it could
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Speaker 2: eventuate it or come down to the test much to
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Speaker 2: try and retain for us retaining the trophy, or for
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Speaker 2: England to win the Ashes trophy off us. So that
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Speaker 2: kind of adds a little extra excitement to it, a
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Speaker 2: little extra spice as well. But I feel like at
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Speaker 2: the MCG it sort of seems like, as much as
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Speaker 2: I love Sydney, it just seems like the sporting mecca
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Speaker 2: down here. I mean, it feels like when you're in town,
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Speaker 2: all the roads seem to lead to the mcg you
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Speaker 2: walk past the tennis center, you've got the footy codes
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Speaker 2: just across the road. This whole precinct in general is
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Speaker 2: where people come to watch sport, and I think the
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Speaker 2: Melbourne fans in particular absolutely love their sport. They don't
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Speaker 2: really care who's playing and what sport it is. They
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Speaker 2: come here and they turn out in droves to watch,
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Speaker 2: so we're kind of banking on that. Obviously, last time
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Speaker 2: we were in England playing the Ashes series over there,
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Speaker 2: the crowds are quite hostile. Obviously we're playing alongside the
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Speaker 2: man at that stage as well, and it got even
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Speaker 2: more spicy towards the back end. So for us, it's
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Speaker 2: kind of a cool opportunity, as I was he sporting
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Speaker 2: fans to come out and support our teams and kind
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Speaker 2: of reassure them that they've got our back as well, knowing,
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Speaker 2: you know, some of the things that the circumstances we're
4:55
Speaker 2: playing around the world. But yeah, Melbourne fans turn out.
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Speaker 2: They turn up week after week at the footy ground
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Speaker 2: here and hopefully we've seen this boxing day test, we've
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Speaker 2: seen over two hundred and fifty thousand people already through
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Speaker 2: the gates over four days, so for us, it's just
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Speaker 2: a cool opportunity to play in front of through sporting
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Speaker 2: fans and hopefully they enjoyed the event as well, because
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Speaker 2: yes it's about the cricket, Yes it's about the ashes,
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Speaker 2: but it's also an event in general, which is cool.
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Speaker 1: You touched on that in that conference when it's the
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Speaker 1: team that what you love about coming down is you
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Speaker 1: can play some golf courses as well. Now it's the
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Speaker 1: tail end of the Australian Open, it's on the Saturday
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Speaker 1: and Sunday. It's three years since Ashparti, who was a
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Speaker 1: very keen cricketer as well and loves us for I'm
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Speaker 1: sure should be tuning in from at Loungerom and Brisbane
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Speaker 1: at the tail end for the Tests of the day
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Speaker 1: night Test. But being able to get down here, fans
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Speaker 1: can probably get along and watch them tennis lab at
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Speaker 1: the tournament, get to a couple of great golf courses,
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Speaker 1: go to the place some golf in the morning, get
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Speaker 1: to the tests in the afternoon. There's also I think
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Speaker 1: a really important match Afghanistan planning against a team of
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Speaker 1: refugees without teams without borders at the Junction Oval as well,
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Speaker 1: so it's a real celebration of women's cricket through those
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Speaker 1: four or five days. But to the golf, what's your
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Speaker 1: favorite course? Where have you mastered and what sort of
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Speaker 1: had it sunken steep into your game? What course has
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Speaker 1: proven too good for you? And where do you reckon
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Speaker 1: you've had the upper hand.
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Speaker 2: Well, it's funny you say that, because I feel like
6:24
Speaker 2: I should be running a tour company, because that's how
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Speaker 2: I've been selling it at to run back in Sydney,
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Speaker 2: come down and watch the last week of the Aussie Open,
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Speaker 2: stay the week in between, play all the beautiful courses
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Speaker 2: along the sand belt, or go even further further south
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Speaker 2: and play down on the Peninsula and then come to
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Speaker 2: the Test match. So Alica Hilly Tour Company will be
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Speaker 2: up and running shortly, I think, after selling a few
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Speaker 2: tickets that way. But I think you can't go past
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Speaker 2: the stand belt that you have been lucky enough to
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Speaker 2: play a heap of them. Peninsula Kingswood North Course is
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Speaker 2: still by far the top of my list. Royal Melbourne
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Speaker 2: I found really tough, probably influenced me to not enjoy
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Speaker 2: it as much. But yeah, every time we come down
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Speaker 2: we try and play PK as much as we possibly can,
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Speaker 2: because we absolutely love it. The crew there as well.
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Speaker 2: I love their cricket and love hosting us, which makes
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Speaker 2: it even better. But that North Course is something really
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Speaker 2: special down here in Melbourne.
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Speaker 1: Just having had the fortune of I remember watching Tiger
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Speaker 1: Woods and a couple of presidents Cups down here and
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Speaker 1: the way he dissected Royal Melbourne. It just that it's
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Speaker 1: almost like you're watching someone and say a day for picture. Hopefully,
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Speaker 1: hopefully it's very valuable when you come to play here,
7:34
Speaker 1: but you know with the different the cracks or the
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Speaker 1: scenes or what's actually moving on the moments outside the
7:39
Speaker 1: rough Royal moment has its own tricks like that as well,
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Speaker 1: in terms of which way you have to approach the
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Speaker 1: pins and the side of the fair way you need
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Speaker 1: to go to. It's be a challenging game, a very
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Speaker 1: technical game, yeah it is.
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Speaker 2: And I think I summed it up earlier as Funnily enough,
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Speaker 2: I think every crehater is crazy and instead of enjoying
7:59
Speaker 2: our days off sitting by Paul or doing something fun
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Speaker 2: with families, we choose to test ourselves on a golf
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Speaker 2: course instead, And I think that just doubles down the
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Speaker 2: fact that we are all a little bit mad up
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Speaker 2: top and enjoy the competition outside of actually just playing
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Speaker 2: cricket every other day. But yeah, Royal Melbourne's lovely and
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Speaker 2: like you said, I came down for the President's Cup
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Speaker 2: and watched the pros go about it and obviously playing
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Speaker 2: the composite course, but having the opportunity then to play
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Speaker 2: to play the course. After that, I was thinking about,
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Speaker 2: you know, where they were landing it and where I
8:29
Speaker 2: was landing it, and how their balls were staying on
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Speaker 2: the ground of mine. We're kissing off the back. So
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Speaker 2: it's just a whole new challenge and something that I
8:37
Speaker 2: enjoy doing away from the game of cricket. It's just
8:40
Speaker 2: staying active, getting out in the sunshine and sort of
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Speaker 2: testing yourself at another skill, which is fun.
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Speaker 1: Who's at the upper hand your mitch on the golf course.
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Speaker 2: It's t for tat at the moment. Actually, I think
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Speaker 2: this has been the closest year of the Steely Cup
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Speaker 2: that we play through a trophy every year, and I
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Speaker 2: think this has been the closest one and I don't
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Speaker 2: think we'll get another game before the end of the year,
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Speaker 2: which means I think my five points ahead might mean
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Speaker 2: that I retained the cup, so I'm pretty happy about that,
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Speaker 2: but actually very evenly matched combination. I think if he
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Speaker 2: gets it together on the greens, he's hard to beat.
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Speaker 1: That's a superb So that's something we're celebrating absolutely at
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Speaker 1: the end of the year. Now you've you've been in Melbourne,
9:20
Speaker 1: you've been part of the Fox Cricket commentary team over
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Speaker 1: the last week. A couple of queries just about that.
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Speaker 1: How hard is it to keep a straight face alongside
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Speaker 1: Garry O'Keeffe.
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Speaker 2: It's very hard, and I think you're just better off
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Speaker 2: rolling with it and enjoying the laughter with him. I
9:37
Speaker 2: think once it hits sort of two o'clock in the
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Speaker 2: day he's been sitting there watching all day, he goes
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Speaker 2: even more loopy and he comes out with some unreal stuff.
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Speaker 2: But I think his knowledge of the game, more so
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Speaker 2: than anything else, is just something really admirable. And I
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Speaker 2: find myself sitting there just listening to the amazing voices
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Speaker 2: that Fox have got in the commentary box. I'm very
9:57
Speaker 2: lucky to be given some opportunities to learn and sort
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Speaker 2: of get an opportunity to sit there and most importantly
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Speaker 2: and watch and talk about the game itself, but to
10:06
Speaker 2: learn off some of the brains in that commentary box
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Speaker 2: is something really cool. But yeah, Kerry is by far
10:13
Speaker 2: one in a million, and I hope, I hope he
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Speaker 2: continues it right throughout the summer.
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Speaker 1: And just I had to check to Alan Board at
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Speaker 1: the start of the summer and he talked about technology
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Speaker 1: and the advances in technology and how much you know
10:29
Speaker 1: when he was captain in the Australian teams, you would
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Speaker 1: make decisions based on some gut feel and you know
10:35
Speaker 1: or your prior knowledge of coming up against players and
10:37
Speaker 1: what you thought might work in terms of field placements.
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Speaker 1: Even this year the phenomenal I suppose increase in terms
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Speaker 1: of the technology available. You see the fox alo, when
10:45
Speaker 1: you see the different methods, even this week a couple
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Speaker 1: of new sort of I suppose more detailed examinations of
10:53
Speaker 1: deliveries and how bold is like jasper formeran there's a
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Speaker 1: fantastic feature at the moment. As a captain, as a
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Speaker 1: broadcaster and also a cap how has that changed your
11:03
Speaker 1: I suppose your view of the game. Do you delve
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Speaker 1: into the stats? Are you someone that really likes to
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Speaker 1: delve in and get that information or having played I
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Speaker 1: supposely first I think ODII and Frustrabers in twenty ten.
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Speaker 1: You played a debut testing as England in twenty eleven.
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Speaker 1: Are you someone that relies on your own instinct as
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Speaker 1: much as a statistical thing or has it just changed
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Speaker 1: a bit over the years.
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Speaker 2: I think with so much cricket happening around the world,
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Speaker 2: and so much war analysis and statistics available to individuals
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Speaker 2: but also teams as well in every format, I think
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Speaker 2: you'd be mad not to incorporate it in some way
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Speaker 2: into your tactics or your planning. I think for me,
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Speaker 2: having that level of detail available is always really cool,
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Speaker 2: and you can really dive into matchups. You know who
11:50
Speaker 2: bowls best against a certain batterer, who we can sort
11:54
Speaker 2: of target potentially from a batting lineup. You know what
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Speaker 2: our strengths are compared to the opposition, So I think
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Speaker 2: you'd be bad, mad not to look at those and
12:01
Speaker 2: individually as well, look at you know where your worst
12:04
Speaker 2: maptop is as well, who's the biggest threat to you
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Speaker 2: and how you can counter that. But I think there's
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Speaker 2: still a huge element of gut feel out there on
12:11
Speaker 2: the field, especially in Test cricket. You can get a
12:14
Speaker 2: sense of exactly where the games at, how it's flowing,
12:17
Speaker 2: and what we need to do to change the tone
12:20
Speaker 2: of the game or the swing the momentum back in
12:22
Speaker 2: our favor. So there's still, I think, a really nice
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Speaker 2: balance in that regard. But I definitely think you're crazy
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Speaker 2: if you're not, you know, even just looking at those
12:30
Speaker 2: statistics and the analytics behind the game, because there are
12:33
Speaker 2: there are so many and they have been for a
12:35
Speaker 2: long period of time. But I think with the technology
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Speaker 2: available now you can dive even deeper and work out
12:41
Speaker 2: some plans and some ways to target opposition players, which
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Speaker 2: is important.
12:46
Speaker 1: How did you handle not playing in that three test,
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Speaker 1: sorry three three mad series inas India at the start
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Speaker 1: of the month. Was it frustrating, was it difficult for
12:54
Speaker 1: you to sit there or was there an acceptance because
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Speaker 1: it's been a really busy three months already for our
13:02
Speaker 1: top crickets with obviously the World Cup and then into
13:05
Speaker 1: the WBBL League which was sort of amazing sort of deeds,
13:10
Speaker 1: individual deeds and some great team performances through there, but
13:12
Speaker 1: into India, across the New Zealand and now back and
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Speaker 1: preparing for the pinnacle of the summer and Ashes series.
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Speaker 1: How did you handle firstly sidelines and what have you've
13:23
Speaker 1: done to get yourself right for the summer ahead.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think traditionally I've not had to miss a
13:31
Speaker 2: lot of cricket throughout my career due to injuries. So
13:34
Speaker 2: it was a bit of a weird couple of months
13:36
Speaker 2: sort of watching that unfold. Obviously watching the semi final
13:39
Speaker 2: unfold in the World Cup, not being able to be
13:41
Speaker 2: out there with your mates trying to help in any way,
13:43
Speaker 2: shape or form. Not suggesting that I would have helped
13:45
Speaker 2: at any point, but just the fact that you feel
13:47
Speaker 2: like you're a little helpless. They kind of shifted in
13:50
Speaker 2: the India series. Obviously knew that that was going to
13:54
Speaker 2: be a really tough stretch to get back on the
13:56
Speaker 2: park for that series, and was just even New Zealand
13:58
Speaker 2: was a little bit of a stretch, so to be
14:00
Speaker 2: to get there and partake was cool. But yeah, I
14:02
Speaker 2: actually didn't mind watching in Brisbane. I think this whole
14:06
Speaker 2: summer has felt almost just like a changing of the guard.
14:09
Speaker 2: I mean, the WBBL just felt like not that it
14:12
Speaker 2: had passed us, but it was almost so much more
14:15
Speaker 2: about the young the young players on show and what
14:17
Speaker 2: they were doing, you know, the likes of Georgia Vole
14:20
Speaker 2: having an amazing season, febe Lydgefield captaining the Thunder, Annabelle
14:24
Speaker 2: Southerland captaining the Stars. It was almost like the next
14:26
Speaker 2: generation we're taking over. And as a as an older
14:30
Speaker 2: player and at the back end of my career, that
14:32
Speaker 2: was just an amazing thing to watch unfold and be
14:34
Speaker 2: a part of and kind of just accept that and
14:36
Speaker 2: enjoy it. So that was the same in the Indian series.
14:40
Speaker 2: I was almost like a proud auntie, just like watching
14:42
Speaker 2: the next gen go out there do their thing and
14:44
Speaker 2: do it better than what I what I could if
14:46
Speaker 2: I came back into the side. So yeah, thoroughly enjoyable
14:50
Speaker 2: and it just it just screams to me that the
14:52
Speaker 2: depth in Australian cricket we've we've got it. It's there.
14:55
Speaker 2: We just need to keep trying to get give opportunities
14:57
Speaker 2: to these young players to get out there and show
14:59
Speaker 2: what they can do and make sure that a strain
15:01
Speaker 2: and crickets strong for another ten years.
15:04
Speaker 1: Well, we saw Sam Conscious debut here with great distinction
15:08
Speaker 1: towards Georgia Bowl in those matches in Queensland, and she
15:13
Speaker 1: didn't play in New Zealand because you were back. But
15:15
Speaker 1: I had a chuckle the other day when you said,
15:18
Speaker 1: these young people are keeping you on your toes. You've
15:20
Speaker 1: got to perform as a captain to make sure you
15:22
Speaker 1: keep your spoke. But someone like the Georgia what is she?
15:25
Speaker 1: What is she brought to the team and does she
15:28
Speaker 1: have her is Sam concious and next Georgia ball or
15:31
Speaker 1: from people? Isn't that the way you say them? What
15:34
Speaker 1: does she do?
15:37
Speaker 2: Very different people? I will start I will start off that.
15:40
Speaker 2: But she just brings some real stability and consistency, it feels.
15:48
Speaker 2: And that's exactly why the WBBL is such an amazing
15:53
Speaker 2: breeding ground for our young players, is that we've picked
15:55
Speaker 2: her on the back of some form in the WBBL.
15:58
Speaker 2: She was comfortable with the way she was hitting the ball,
16:01
Speaker 2: the way she could contribute, and you get her into
16:03
Speaker 2: the site and you hope that we've got an accepting
16:07
Speaker 2: culture within our group that will encourage her to just
16:09
Speaker 2: be Georgia vol when she goes out there and players,
16:11
Speaker 2: we're not asking her to be anybody else. So, yeah,
16:15
Speaker 2: that's been really exciting to see. She's obviously been on
16:17
Speaker 2: the radar for a long period of time and we
16:20
Speaker 2: knew one day that she would play for Australia. It
16:21
Speaker 2: was just a matter of, you know, when we felt
16:23
Speaker 2: Ada was opportunity, but also when she was ready and
16:27
Speaker 2: to be able to pick her off the back of
16:28
Speaker 2: form I think was not only great for us but
16:31
Speaker 2: great for her to have that confidence.
16:32
Speaker 1: Coming in in New Zealand, we sign a bell suddenly
16:36
Speaker 1: do make a couple of extraordinary performances with the bat.
16:41
Speaker 1: What does she bring it? And also you talk about
16:43
Speaker 1: a couple of the newcomers, she's not so much a newcomer,
16:45
Speaker 1: but well Number feeding for example, who's been playing great cricket.
16:51
Speaker 1: It's almost like a beautiful balance of champion cricketers and
16:54
Speaker 1: the next generation coming through it. You've got to it
16:57
Speaker 1: seems like you've got a really nice mix at the moment.
17:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, we do. And that's kind of our role as
17:02
Speaker 2: senior players within the group is the nurture that a
17:05
Speaker 2: little bit. And I think I guess the benefit of
17:08
Speaker 2: having experience at the international level for as long as
17:10
Speaker 2: a couple of us have, it's the ability to talk
17:13
Speaker 2: through problems and help them problem solve in what they're
17:15
Speaker 2: going through. You know, early in their careers. But with
17:19
Speaker 2: regards to Belsie, I think, well, no, unbelievable talent. It's
17:22
Speaker 2: been touted for a while. I think at least Perry
17:24
Speaker 2: maybe said that about ten years ago that you know,
17:26
Speaker 2: Annabelle Sutherland was going to be the next big thing,
17:29
Speaker 2: and we've already seen it. I think she's got the
17:31
Speaker 2: same amount of international centuries at twenty three as the
17:34
Speaker 2: great Elise Perry will go down as one of the
17:36
Speaker 2: greatest two have ever played the game. So that's scary.
17:40
Speaker 2: But also I think the maturity on such a young
17:43
Speaker 2: on a young head and the commitment to wanting to
17:46
Speaker 2: get better every day and be, you know, the best
17:49
Speaker 2: player in the world, I think is really admirable. And
17:53
Speaker 2: like I said, it's just for us to be able
17:54
Speaker 2: to create that culture for them to come in feel
17:56
Speaker 2: comfortable first and foremost, but then know that they're they're
17:59
Speaker 2: valued and that they can contribute. And Belzy just continues
18:02
Speaker 2: to push her case to keep batting up the order,
18:05
Speaker 2: keep bowling as many os as what she can, and
18:07
Speaker 2: I think balancing that for her moving forward will be important.
18:10
Speaker 2: But she's in a great place and hopefully we can
18:13
Speaker 2: maintain that throughout the summer.
18:16
Speaker 1: The challenge to come. England went to South Africa, performed
18:20
Speaker 1: well of play the test. You had that great test.
18:24
Speaker 1: It's back to twenty twenty three, which is almost you know,
18:27
Speaker 1: we can almost say two years, but you know, quite
18:29
Speaker 1: it feels like quite a while ago that that test happened.
18:33
Speaker 1: What have you seen from them? What sort of threat?
18:35
Speaker 1: And I suppose the other part of the question is
18:38
Speaker 1: I spoke to Mel Jones on this podcast, a former
18:41
Speaker 1: Australian cricketer, a Fox Cricket broadcaster as well, about the
18:46
Speaker 1: Australia India versus Australia and the Ashes and in the
18:49
Speaker 1: means you see, you know, it seems very much almost similar.
18:52
Speaker 1: But Mel was absolutely adamant that the Ashes is still
18:54
Speaker 1: the number one in the women's hope. She can see
18:57
Speaker 1: things changing in terms of Australia in your in terms
19:00
Speaker 1: of growing and growing and growing, but it's clearly still
19:03
Speaker 1: the plinnical look the cricket for yourself and the team, Yeah.
19:07
Speaker 2: It is and I think it's probably got a special
19:09
Speaker 2: place in our heart in that, you know, it was
19:13
Speaker 2: the only opportunity we got to play test cricket. So
19:15
Speaker 2: now we're getting more and more opportunities, but the Ashes
19:17
Speaker 2: still holds that place in our heart to go, yes,
19:19
Speaker 2: this is still this is where we want to be
19:21
Speaker 2: and this is what we want to We want to
19:23
Speaker 2: win more than anything else. But yeah, with regards to
19:26
Speaker 2: the England team, obviously they've had a really busy schedule
19:28
Speaker 2: as well, which you know, I think gives them some
19:32
Speaker 2: confidence coming into this series. And I think the real
19:36
Speaker 2: threat in my eyes for them is, you know, their
19:38
Speaker 2: inconsistency and their consistency. I think you know what you're
19:41
Speaker 2: going to get from the heather Nights, the Natsuma, Bronts,
19:44
Speaker 2: Sophie Ecleston's, you know they're going to be, you know,
19:46
Speaker 2: world class match winners, but it's sort of it's the
19:50
Speaker 2: players around them at the moment that are really exciting,
19:53
Speaker 2: really damaging and sort of play inconsistent roles at times
19:59
Speaker 2: but can take the game away from you at any point.
20:01
Speaker 2: And I think that's really dangerous in the white ball formats,
20:03
Speaker 2: and we know we're going to have to be on
20:04
Speaker 2: from that first game January twelve to get on top
20:08
Speaker 2: and then hopefully swing the momentum in our favor early.
20:10
Speaker 2: But they're a really exciting young cricket team with some
20:15
Speaker 2: with some old stages, sort of like we've got that
20:17
Speaker 2: have been consistent in the international game for a long
20:19
Speaker 2: period of time. And so I think I mentioned it
20:22
Speaker 2: last time we played over in England. I think it
20:24
Speaker 2: rings true this summer as well. Is it it's almost
20:28
Speaker 2: the young players that are going to win the Ashes
20:31
Speaker 2: series for either side because you know what you're going
20:34
Speaker 2: to get from the consistent players within both sides.
20:39
Speaker 1: It starts with we've got nod I series January twelve.
20:43
Speaker 1: It starts there's three matches that week that we've got
20:45
Speaker 1: a T twenty series and correct me if I'm wrong,
20:47
Speaker 1: but just T twenty series and other three matches into
20:51
Speaker 1: that pink ball Testim I think we've got great entertainment
20:55
Speaker 1: Thursday night and the Fronday night g Flip, Sam and
20:58
Speaker 1: Magic did again, So there should be lots of fans.
21:02
Speaker 1: But you talked about the formats being able to play
21:05
Speaker 1: white ball cricket leading into a pinball test. It's important
21:09
Speaker 1: in terms of I suppose finding form, finding your feet,
21:12
Speaker 1: feeling comfortable and getting good rhythm.
21:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I mentioned that I didn't mind the
21:18
Speaker 2: Test match being at the end of this series in
21:20
Speaker 2: particular because you know, I think you get the two
21:24
Speaker 2: company formats out of the way first, and I say, compy,
21:26
Speaker 2: it's just because we play more of the white ball
21:28
Speaker 2: game than what we do the test match. So last
21:31
Speaker 2: time we played the series, we had the Test match
21:33
Speaker 2: first and I think, you know, we got the four
21:35
Speaker 2: points in that one. We put a lot of time
21:36
Speaker 2: and effort into, you know, playing the Duke's ball and
21:39
Speaker 2: trying to get the results to go our way in
21:40
Speaker 2: that game. That we sort of just assumed we'd be
21:43
Speaker 2: right in the white ball format because we were really
21:45
Speaker 2: good at it. But I think over the last of
21:47
Speaker 2: the twelve to eighteen months we've worked really hard on
21:49
Speaker 2: our white ball game and the style of cricket we
21:51
Speaker 2: want to play in both ODI and the T twenty formats.
21:53
Speaker 2: So to be able to put that on show first,
21:56
Speaker 2: hopefully put England on the back foot nice and early
21:59
Speaker 2: in those two is separately, and get some points on
22:02
Speaker 2: the board heading into that Test match. I think it'll
22:05
Speaker 2: make the pig ball Test even more exciting and hopefully
22:08
Speaker 2: it comes down to that and we get a result
22:11
Speaker 2: at the MCG one way or the other. I think
22:14
Speaker 2: that's what both sides want to see. But the white
22:16
Speaker 2: ball formatce is what we play a lot of and
22:19
Speaker 2: obviously with the sorry A One Day World Cup in
22:22
Speaker 2: October next year, it's going to be a good opportunity
22:26
Speaker 2: for both sides to go yep, this is these are
22:28
Speaker 2: those things we want to put in players heading into
22:30
Speaker 2: that and.
22:32
Speaker 1: This is who went down. You can watch every ball
22:34
Speaker 1: live on Fox Cricket through the summer of the Ashes.
22:38
Speaker 1: And more importantly though, you should be trying to get
22:40
Speaker 1: along to the MCG and trying to get along to
22:42
Speaker 1: the Major since Sydney and Hobart and and Adelaide, I
22:45
Speaker 1: think Brisbane as well, just make sure you get there.
22:49
Speaker 1: Great initiatives on site. Crick in Australia put in a
22:52
Speaker 1: lot of investment. The Victorian government is really invested in
22:55
Speaker 1: the pink ball test. But most importantly I think probably
22:58
Speaker 1: the players and the chance to win the Biggie Green
23:01
Speaker 1: could be a couple that'll be putting their hands up.
23:03
Speaker 1: How special is it to when you get that chance
23:06
Speaker 1: where the baggy green and what can you see when
23:08
Speaker 1: we look when we walk out to the MCG pinkball
23:12
Speaker 1: historic match. It would be a pretty special moment in
23:15
Speaker 1: your career.
23:15
Speaker 2: I'm sure yeah, it will be, and I think I
23:20
Speaker 2: just reflect on you know, Mitch and I have both
23:22
Speaker 2: been playing international cricket the same amount of time, and
23:25
Speaker 2: our two baggy greens sit next to one another in
23:27
Speaker 2: the house and it's got ninety three Test matches under
23:30
Speaker 2: it and mine's got nine, so we just kind of
23:33
Speaker 2: reflect on it almost feels like the Test match cricket
23:37
Speaker 2: for us is even more special because it has has
23:40
Speaker 2: been a bit of a rarity throughout my career so far.
23:43
Speaker 2: So yeah, it is really special. And the atmosphere here
23:46
Speaker 2: at the MCG is obviously second to none, and having
23:50
Speaker 2: the opportunity to play pink ball here as well under lights,
23:53
Speaker 2: it's going to be an amazing opportunity for the eleven,
23:57
Speaker 2: not just the eleven, but probably the whole squad and
23:59
Speaker 2: the support stuff and everybody that comes along to watch
24:01
Speaker 2: as well. They're the amazing event that's going to take place.
24:04
Speaker 2: So yeah, we're really excited for that. Obviously six games
24:06
Speaker 2: of white ball credit leading into that, but I think
24:08
Speaker 2: there is one eye on that for everyone in the
24:10
Speaker 2: squad to put their hand up and say, yep, I
24:12
Speaker 2: want to play in that. I want to be a
24:13
Speaker 2: part of that, and hopefully we get a pit and
24:17
Speaker 2: strong eleven players out on the park that can take
24:20
Speaker 2: twenty weekitts and Winter Test match.
24:23
Speaker 1: Look, thank you so much for your time listen. It's
24:25
Speaker 1: a really busy period. I know you've got a lot
24:26
Speaker 1: of matches going to ED and you've probably got another
24:28
Speaker 1: broadcast in coming up as well, but it's been a
24:30
Speaker 1: real thrill to have you on the follow on podcast.
24:34
Speaker 1: I'm Courtney Welsh, but Lisa Australian captain. Good luck for
24:37
Speaker 1: the summer. Let's hope the Ausies can and pull it
24:40
Speaker 1: through against England.
24:42
Speaker 2: Thank you very much for having me