“We just see Nic slightly ahead of the others, particularly for the T20 format,” Australia chief selector Shawn Flegler told reporters. “It’s really unlikely that she will play. Obviously, Beth will take the gloves for this tour and she did a really good job during the Ashes replacing Alyssa.
“But we just thought it was a great opportunity for Nicole to come in and be around the group, train with them and get to see the environment first hand.”
Healy, who turns 35 in March, was not named in the squad due to the stress fracture in her right foot. She missed the T20I portion of the Women’s Ashes and had to prove her fitness for the MCG Test before playing as a specialist middle-order batter.
Healy had ruptured her plantar fascia in her foot at the T20 World Cup in October last year which saw her miss Australia’s final group match and the semi-final against South Africa. She also suffered a knee injury in the early stages of the WBBL which meant she missed the remainder of the season and the subsequent ODI series against India.
Healy had to skip the ongoing Women’s Premier League, but a return to the field could take place at the women’s Hundred ahead of an ODI series in India in September that runs straight into the World Cup.
“My understanding is that there’s no doubt that she’ll get through to the World Cup, that’s for sure,” Flegler said. “She’s had a complicated last couple of years with some different injuries that’s been related to foot…some Achilles and stuff.
“We certainly don’t want to rush it. As far as I’m aware, there’s no risk that she’ll miss out on that World Cup.”
“When she came back into the team, she played a really good role for us across all formats. We’re not going to rush her back. It’s a bit of a complex injury, but we want to make sure that she’s good to go in September.”
Australia will enter the T20 series against New Zealand in high spirits after their historic 16-0 Ashes triumph. But Australia should feel extra motivated facing the reigning world champions on their turf in what will be rare matches in the format ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in England.
“We were really disappointed with how the T20 World Cup ended for us, and New Zealand did extremely well to win that World Cup,” Flegler said. “It’s a great chance for us to go up against them. There’s always a great rivalry against New Zealand and I’m sure they’ll be keen to play well against us.
“We don’t have that many T20s leading into the next T20 World Cup, so every opportunity we get is really important to keep trying those different combinations and getting players used to those positions that they are now in.”
Australia squad for New Zealand tour
Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (capt), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
