Aussie coach unfazed by Healy form slump
CRICKET: Australia’s coach Matthew Mott has no intention of telling explosive opener Alyssa Healy to keep her powder dry in a bid to find form in the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Healy made just five runs from three digs in the recent tri-series, but Mott is backing the prolific run-scorer to rediscover her game-breaking best.
“She plays a game that is high risk and it’s not going to come off all the time,” Mott said yesterday.
“If you want us to be fearless and all the things that we bang on about all the time, when you get out a couple of times you can’t try and reinvent the wheel.”
Australia play South Africa in Adelaide today, their last practice match before their cup opener against India in Sydney on Friday.
Healy dominated when Australia won the 2018 T20 World Cup, averaging 56.25 at a strike rate of 144.23.
“She is not out there struggling at the moment,” Mott said.
“Normally when she has made a mistake she has paid a heavy price. So the good thing is, the main tournament is coming up, she delivered in the last World Cup just about every game, so with quality players like that you have got to keep backing them because they can win you matches.”
Mott said all-rounder Erin Burns was likely to be available for the cup opener after recovering from knee surgery.
Burns hasn’t played any international cricket since September but Mott was bullish about the 31-yearold’s capacity to perform.
“She has still got a niggle, we have still got some return-to-play protocols to get through,” he said.
“But she should be available for the first game in Sydney which is what we have been planning for.”