Alyssa Healy will lead the Australian women’s cricket side across all three forms of the game, following long-term skipper Meg Lanning’s retirement last month.
Tahlia McGrath will be vice captain.
Healy had been Lanning’s vice captain for several years, and was interim captain at various points over the past 12 months in Lanning’s absences.
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“I am honoured to accept the role of captain and am grateful for the opportunity to lead our team,” she said in a statement.
“I’ve really enjoyed the support of the players over the past few months and their encouragement to continue to be who I am and lead the group like I normally would from within.
“My approach will remain consistent to what it has been previously, but I’ll make my own mark on the role and be sure that I’m doing the best I possibly can for this group to maintain the success that we’ve had.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved with this team, we’re seeing the emergence of incredible young talent and are challenging ourselves to continually evolve as a group.”
The 33-year-old Healy has 255 international caps to her name, and has captained NSW in the domestic competition since 2018 and the Sydney Sixers since the inception of the WBBL.
McGrath meanwhile made her international debut in the 2017 Women’s Ashes against England, and even got a chance to captain the national side against Ireland in July when both Lanning and Healy were unavailable.
“It’s a privilege to have been offered the vice-captaincy of the Australian women’s team and I’m excited to support Alyssa as she takes on the captaincy,” she said.
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“Alyssa and I have played together for a long time, we know our respective leadership styles well and I look forward to helping her lead our group as we embark on a busy, but exciting international schedule.”
Lanning was skipper for 13 years and took the side to seven world cup victories (five T20 and two ODI), three Women’s Ashes victories and a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2022.
She also won the Belinda Clark medal three times and retired as Australia’s greatest ever run-scorer across all women’s formats, belting 8352 runs from her 241 international appearances, including 17 centuries.
Her last international cap was in the T20 World Cup final in February, in which the Aussies beat South Africa by 19 runs.
Lanning was in tears when she announced her retirement to media in November. She had taken an indefinite break from the game earlier in the season, but said her decision to retire had only been made in the days prior.
“I wanted to say how lucky and privileged I’ve been to be able to represent Australia and play the game that I love for so long,” Lanning said.
“I grew up wanting to represent Australia… to be able to do it for 13 years has been an incredible opportunity for me, and I’m very thankful.
Cricket Australia high performance and national teams boss Ben Oliver said the pair had “enormous respect” from their teammates and opponents across the world both on and off the field.
“We are extremely fortunate to have a talented and experienced group of players who will provide great support to Alyssa and Tahlia as the team evolves and seeks to build on its outstanding performances.”
Healy will make her full-time captaincy debut in a one-off Test against India in Mumbai starting on December 21.
Her first appearance on Australian soil will come in a T20 against South Africa at Manuka Oval on January 27.
