Australia captain Alyssa Healy writes ahead of the ICC WCWC India 2025:
We couldn’t be more excited to be over here in India finalising our preparations for the World Cup. It’s a great place to play and somewhere we’re all reasonably familiar with.
I think we’re in a great spot as a team; we’ve had some valuable time together as a group across multiple camps over the winter and I think everyone has enjoyed the chance to tailor their preparation through the Australia A series and domestic cricket in England.
We know we’ve put in the time both on and off the field, so we come in confident with that body of work behind us and are ready to play some ODI Cricket.
For me personally, having the opportunity to play that ‘A’ series at home was huge, getting through six games of cricket in a short space of time was a big tick for me after coming back from injury.
Our group is incredibly well balanced with plenty of youth to compliment the more experienced players and while for some it’ll be their first ODI World Cup, they’ve all had exposure to major tournaments and high-pressure series.
We’re especially thrilled to have Sophie Molineux back in the squad having overcome knee surgery earlier this year. She’s had a rough run with injuries, so it’ll be great to see her back in the green and gold throughout the World Cup.
India and Sri Lanka present different challenges as venues but exciting ones that we as a team are really embracing.
The three ODIs against India in the lead-up will give us the chance to acclimatise and put the finishing touches on our preparation. We’re lucky enough to have great depth in our squad so it will be a fantastic opportunity to see different players rotate through the series to get an opportunity. Our bowling depth will be key with the warm conditions we will no doubt face.
As a team we’ve not played in Sri Lanka since 2016, but plenty of our group have had experience there over the years with various development tours. It’ll be nice to get back there and hopefully have some success in our matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
It’s going to be a cracking tournament this year but what I love most about ODI World Cups is being able to play every side, knowing that you have to beat every team in the World to lift that trophy makes them tough to win. We know we have to play consistently throughout and each and every game is important. Our group is looking forward to that challenge and can’t wait to get going!

fadey
Sport Trivia: Where did Naas Botha play his first test match for South Africa? Answer: Wanderers – Naas Botha was selected to play for South Africa at Rugby Union after playing for the SA Under 20 squad. He made his debut against South America on 26 April 1980 at the Wanderers Stadium, recognised as a cricket ground. This was due to the fact that Ellis Park had been demolished in 1979 to be rebuilt.
Feline Devil
In 1989, along with Sachin Tendulkar, 23 other cricketers made their International debuts. The last one to retire before Sachin, was New Zealand\’s Chris Cairns, who retired in 2004.