Alyssa Healy appointed Australia's vice-captain

The wicketkeeper-batter replaces the recently-retired Rachael Haynes as Meg Lanning's deputy

Alyssa Healy has been appointed vice-captain of Australia Women.

The wicketkeeper-batter replaces Rachael Haynes as Meg Lanning's deputy following the 35-year-old's retirement from international cricket in September 2022.

Healy, who has previously filled in as vice-captain, has made 232 appearances for Australia across all formats since making her debut in February 2010.

The 32-year-old is currently one of only two players – the other being Lanning – to score more than 2,000 runs in women's T20Is for Australia. She has also amassed over 2,500 ODI runs and 236 Test runs as well as completing 126 catches and 85 stumpings across the formats.

Commenting on her appointment, Healy addressed Lanning's ongoing absence from cricket, stating she would be ready to fill in as captain if necessary. Lanning stepped away from the sport after leading Australia to gold at the Commonwealth Games and has put no timeline on her return.

^{Healy is replacing Rachael Haynes (right) as Meg Lanning's deputy [Hannah Peters/Getty Images]}

"I am positive she will be back around Australian cricket [but] in what role I am not 100 per cent certain," Healy said. "That is a decision for Meg and one that me in particular I am really supportive of her making.

"Whatever role I play in the summer I am happy with. If she comes back and says this is my team and I want to play and captain, it's a great thing for Australian cricket. But if it's the flip-side of that and there is a conversation about me having to take over then that is really exciting for me.

Healy's rise to vice-captain isn't the only change in the Australia camp, with Shelly Nitschke recently joining the set-up as head coach and Dan Marsh and Scott Prestwidge coming in as her assistants, and the opener is "excited" to have a senior role as the team enters its "next chapter".

"To have an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of this group, it's really exciting for me," she said. "If and when called upon [to captain] I would be absolutely chuffed to do that and call on some experience I have had with the NSW Breakers in the past couple of years."

"It probably re-energises and re-focuses too. There have been little moments and cool opportunities along the way that have reinvigorated me and the way I want to play the game. This is another one of those moments that makes you sit back and think, go: actually, [this] is a really cool time to want to be involved."

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