Australian captain Alyssa Healy nervous but excited ahead of the Trent Bridge Test

Alyssa Healy won’t admit to being nervous ahead of leading Australia in the women’s Ashes Test, but her overriding emotion on the eve of the match was excitement.

Australia enjoyed a fairly thorough training session outdoors at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, having been forced indoors due to rain the previous day, which Healy said had thrown their resolve into the final XI. Phoebe Litchfield is expected to start alongside Beth Mooney as Healy slides down the batting order to handle management duties during the five-day match and captain in the absence of Meg Lanning, but she relished the opportunity.

“Nervousness, but at the same time I think it’s mostly excitement,” Healy said. “This is probably one of the most hyped Women’s Ashes series I’ve been involved in here and especially since yesterday. [Australia Men’s Test victory at Edgbaston] it’s a really exciting time to be playing cricket here. With that in mind, me and the whole group are just ready to go and see what happens.”

Litchfield, 20 and uncapped in Tests, scored 68 and Annabel Sutherland 116 for Australia in their three-day warm-up match against England A in Leicester last week, and Healy pointed out that Australia have two leg-spinners – Litchfield and Alana King. the team that presented the biggest selection problem.

Kim Garth, who played 85 white-ball matches for Ireland before moving to Australia in 2019, could make his Test debut and lead the pace attack with Darcie Brown, having been the pick of Australia’s bowlers in the Leicester warm-up. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen made an unbeaten 173 for Australia A in a warm-up against England in Derby. A more detailed look at the field with patches of green grass on Tuesday weather permitting, but Healy was full of praise for Litchfield regardless.

“He did a fantastic job for us, he looked the stuff for sure in the three-day game against England A,” Healy said. “He’s a great option for us at the top. There’s been a lot of talk about the potential and he looks like a great international cricketer for Australia and I can’t wait to see what he can do.

“If you look at the composition of our team, we have two legs so naturally when we look at the balance of the team and possibly the conditions there will probably dictate where we lean on that. But other than that I think we’ve pretty much got there, it’s just a couple of calls here and there and how it probably looks from a lineup perspective as well.”

England revealed their squad a day before the match, which saw Danni Wyatt, one of the most attacking batsmen in the women’s game, make her Test debut after 245 white-ball games. She joins the likes of Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones in an aggressive middle order.

England also named uncapped quick Lauren Filer, along with seamers Lauren Bell, who made her international debut a year ago, and experienced Kate Cross, with one front-line spinner, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, as they set out to win the Women’s Ashes for the first time since. 2013-14 by taking the offered four points for a test victory in a varied series.

“I think for the first time there’s probably a sense of the unknown on both sides,” Healy said. “It’s kind of like the next generation knocking on the door and giving us a glimpse of what the Ashes could look like over the next 10 years going forward, which is really exciting.

“​​​​ Filer looked like he played really well in that three-day game and having Jess Jonassen in our squad gave us a good idea of ​​that. But he sounds like a really exciting prospect and we’re excited to take on that challenge. That bowling attack, but also had to resist especially the aggressive nature of the top six.”

By Tuesday, 14,500 tickets had been sold for the Test, played over five days for only the second time in the history of women’s cricket and the first time on English soil.

“Five days can eventually produce a result, but there are also draws in five-day men’s games,” Healy said. “I think over time, if women’s Test cricket becomes more popular on the calendar, there are certain nuances to our game that are a little bit different to the men’s game, and the way you prepare the yeast for a women’s Test match might be a little bit different and it will probably become more pronounced, and there will be more and more on the calendar crickets of what it might look like for a possible result.

“Obviously we’re not as big as the guys, we don’t score as many points at the door, so we might just think creatively about how we can make it happen. But five days here can be really interesting. It’s probably just a mental battle and sometimes it can be a bit of a grind , but I think we’re ready to see how it goes.”