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Australian opener Alyssa Healy has gone full circle during the COVID-19 break in an effort to take her batting to another level.
Healy exploded out of a pre-tournament form slump to lead Australia to victory, blazing 75 from 39 balls in front of 86,174 fans at the Twenty20 World Cup final in March.
Now ranked No.5 in T20s and No.2 in ODIs, Healy said she’d used the rare extended break to become a 360-degree threat ahead of T20 and ODI series against New Zealand in Brisbane from Saturday.
“I did sit down after celebrating for a month with my batting coach and discussed a few things to work on,” she said.
“So you might see some new, different things in this series.
“I don’t want to give away too many secrets to the Kiwis, but I’ve been preparing for a few things in particular … so stay tuned.
“The ultimate goal in cricket is to be able to play 360 (degrees) and there’s some areas I’m not quite hitting.
“So I’ve been trying a few things to see if I can get the ball there, so you will have to see if they come out.”
Healy has been in Brisbane with the Victorian and NSW members of the national squad in a two-week quarantine, with the remainder joining the biosecure bubble on Monday night.
They had their first full session on Tuesday, Healy admitting Ellyse Perry’s recovery from the hamstring injury that saw her miss the World Cup final had impressed her.
“It was a surprise to most of us that she was here, knowing the severity of the injury and seeing the whopping scar she’s got on her hamstring,” Healy said.
“It just shows the ultimate professional that she is; fingers crossed we can see her out on the park but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Australia and New Zealand will play T20 games on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday before ODIs on October 3, 5, 7.
Small crowds will be allowed and tickets have been snapped up as the side attempts to make up for lost time after their World Cup triumph.
“It’s a nice feeling and I don’t think any of my family even bought those tickets, usually there’s 50-odd Healys on the hill,” she said.
“It would have been amazing to have another series right after the World Cup but … it’s almost like we’re kicking off right where we left off.
“A bit of downtime will hopefully do some good things for the Aussie women’s team.”
© AAP
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