Australia Women will take in lessons from last week’s one-off Test between India and England while getting ready for the “unknown”, ahead of their sole Test starting here on Thursday, vice-captain Tahlia McGrath said on Tuesday.
Australia begin their all-format series against India with a four-day one-off Test from December 21 followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is. The team has had a few training sessions at the Wankhede, including a trial match last Sunday, with the conditions and behaviour of the surface being a special area of focus.
From what they saw of the India-England Test, which Harmanpreet Kaur and team won by 347 runs, McGrath believes Australia are “really well prepared”.
“We were able to catch bits and pieces (of India’s match against England). A lot of it was (about having) big training days for us, but certainly kept an eye on that game and how it panned out,” she told the media after Australia’s training session on Tuesday.
“We learnt a lot from that, seeing how both teams attacked the game, seeing how they played the conditions. While we are not entirely sure how these conditions are going to play, we have got a lot of plans in place. We feel like we are really well-prepared going into the game.”
McGrath said both teams have “phenomenal” bowling attacks, which will force the batters to be at the top of their game.
“Test match cricket is all about taking 20 wickets and they were able to do that. For us, it is about trying to combat that,” she said.
“The biggest key about batting in India is: you have got to be really clear on the plan, and you’ve got to stick to your strengths individually asa batter.”
With Alyssa Healy being appointed as full-time Australia captain after Meg Lanning’s retirement, McGrath also said it was time for the new leaders to take their side ahead.
“You cannot replace Meg Lanning. Her stats, captaincy, just speaks for itself but the fact that now Midge (Healy) and I are in full-time role we are really excited about the challenge and leading this team forward,” McGrath said.
