Australia’s skipper, Alyssa Healy, said that the team would focus on continuity in their playing eleven for the forthcoming Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, which begins on Thursday at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, rather than experimenting.

Australia’s preparation for winning a historic fourth straight Women’s T20 World Cup championship when the competition takes place in the UAE from October 3–20 starts with the series against New Zealand. Additionally, it will be Australia’s first time playing in an international cricket match since their March trip to Bangladesh, when they won the T20I series 3-0.

“I believe that as a team, we’ve been quite consistent in the T20 game for a considerable amount of time. Bangladesh, I suppose, provided us with an excellent chance to test a few what-if situations, i.e., who would step in if any of our key players were to suffer an injury or illness.

“However, I believe that with some stability around our starting lineup going into a World Cup, we can still win with all 15 individuals I find in the competition—as long as they all understand their respective duties. In that sense, I believe we’re in a good situation.

“We’re going to get very different conditions here to what we’re going to get in Dubai so it’s just about us playing our best XI at every opportunity and putting some things in place, knowing that we do have a World Cup at the back of our minds,” Alyssa told the press.

Speaking on the challenge posed by New Zealand, who are grouped with Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup, Alyssa said, “It’s nice to actually play a home-and-away series against these guys again. We’ve had some really great battles against New Zealand in the past.”

“That spice will definitely ramp up again tomorrow night, in my opinion. Although they haven’t quite put on the shows they’ve wanted to over the last six months, they are still a very dangerous side, and we know exactly what they are capable of.”

She concluded by stating that Australia is inclined to start Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck, two explosive pacers, together in the playing eleven, but she acknowledged that this would provide selection issues for the team’s think tank.

“Very happy that Tay and Darcie are eligible to play and on the same team at the same time. It presents us with certain challenges, but it’s also quite thrilling. And the idea that we have that choice is very important to us, regardless of whether we play them simultaneously. It is wonderful to have Darc back. I believe she’s eager to be here, which makes it even better, Alyssa said. She’s a bundle of energy around our group.