'Time to re-evolve': Drawn Ashes spurs Aussies

Alyssa Healy says Australia’s drawn Ashes campaign will spur the world’s top-ranked team to new heights following a period of reflection in the wake of the series in the United Kingdom. 

Australia took four points with their win in the sole Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, but lost both the T20I and ODI legs 2-1 to a resurgent England as the points-based series ended 8-8.

It was enough to maintain Australia’s eight-year hold on the Ashes trophy, but left a bittersweet taste in the mouths of the tourists.

The Australian squad came together for the first time since their winter tours of England and Ireland earlier this month, with Healy telling the Scoop Podcast she was excited by some of the conversations that had taken place.

"It's given us a great opportunity to come home and reflect and find some little areas that we can improve on, which I think is only going to make our team and us as individuals even better moving forward," Healy said.

"Which I think is a fantastic outcome, that we can come home with the trophy and also come home with some learnings.

"Everyone was in Sydney for some filming and we got together as a group ... and I've heard a lot of different conversations over the last few weeks with different people, just chatting about some things that they're looking to bring into their game or improve on or whatever it might be."

Australia begin a six-game white-ball series against West Indies on Sunday, with the first of three T20Is to be played at North Sydney Oval.

The Weber WBBL|09 will follow before the Australians head to India for a multi-format tour – including their first Test in India since 1984 – that will run across Christmas and New Year.

From there, they return home for a multi-format series against South Africa, before ending a long summer with their first visit to Bangladesh in a decade, and their first for a bilateral series.

"I think the fact that we came together as a group and had a chat about it, and then with a series against West Indies coming up, we've got a trip to India, and then another home series, there's a couple of months worth of opportunity to put a few things in place and try a few things that's going to make us better," Healy continued.

"It's exciting, I think it's a new little time for our group to almost re-evolve.

"We did a great job of that (after the 2017 World Cup) but I think it's a great opportunity now to reset some goals and work out how we can continue to raise the bar for ourselves and to just keep improving the standard."

Australia have never lost a bilateral series to West Indies, and their only ODI defeat to the Caribbean team came during the 2013 World Cup. Their sole T20I loss notably came in the 2016 T20 World Cup final.

But Healy said her team would take nothing for granted, pointing to recent results that include Sri Lanka’s first ODI series win over New Zealand and their first T20I series win over England, and Bangladesh’s first ODI victory over India. 

"Everyone's beating everyone in international cricket at the moment, which is super exciting for our game," Healy said.

"And I think the West Indies can beat anybody on any day, given the firepower that they have in their line-up. 

"I'm expecting a tight contest, especially in the T20 format, I think that's really where their strength lies.

"They've got one of the best players in the world in Hayley Matthews leading the side as well. 

"They're not short on talent, we're expecting them to come out really hot, hit lots of bombs and bowl really fast and with some skill as well."

CommBank T20s v West Indies 2023

First T20: October 1, North Sydney Oval, 12pm AEDT

Second T20: October 2, North Sydney Oval, 7.05pm AEDT

Third T20: October 5, Allan Border Field, 7.05pm AEDT

CommBank ODIs v West Indies 2023

First ODI: October 8, Allan Border Field, 10.35am AEDT

Second ODI: October 12, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

First ODI: October 14, Junction Oval, 10.05am AEDT

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20Is only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King (ODIs only), Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

West Indies squad: Hayley Matthews (c), Shemaine Campbelle (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams