Alyssa Healy has admitted she has a big act to follow after Meg Lanning’s retirement ended her reign as cricket’s most dominant white-ball captain ever. Lanning guided Australia through one of the most dominant runs the sport has ever seen.

Under Lanning, Australia won the past three T20 titles as well as the 2022 crown in the 50-over format. Australia’s dominance is so strong it’s been seven years since they last failed to win a World Cup.

Although Lanning made the huge decision to retire at the end of last year, which prompted Healy to captaincy. The 34-year-old has admitted she isn’t the all-conquering Aussie captain that came before her.

However, Healy has been under her tutelage for years and is ready to put her own spin on things as Australia prepares for the 2024 T20 World Cup in UAE. “Everyone in this room is aware of the legacy Meg Lanning has left in the game, so there’s pretty big shoes to fill,” she said.

“But I’m not Meg, I’m Alyssa Healy, and I’ve brought that approach into this Australian team,” she said ahead of the I’m going to do the job the way that I know how to do it and to the best of my ability, and hopefully that does the job for Australia.

“At the moment, I’m just really enjoying the challenge of that.” When asked about what advice was past down to her from Lanning when she took over the captaincy role, Healy enjoyed the moment. “The secret was written down on a piece of paper from Meg and passed on to me – so I can’t give that to you,” she added.

Australia enter the tournament as favourites once again off the back of sweeping New Zealand 3-0 in the warm-up matches. And Healy has sent a warning to Australia’s rivals heading into the tournament. “You don’t come here to defend the title – that’s not what the World Cup is about – you come here to win it,” she said in a nod to Australia’s aggressive approach to the tournament.

Alyssa Healy dismisses doubts ahead of T20 World Cup

Australia are once again the team to beat heading into the UAE World Cup tournament. They most recently defeated the West Indies and England in warm-up matches, before a series sweep of New Zealand. They defeated Bangladesh 3-0 in April on some tricky wickets.

Earlier this year, Australia recovered from a horror setback in the first match to defeat India 2-1 in a blockbuster series. And Healy warned Australia are not just defending the title, but looking to make a statement to cement their place as arguably the most dominant Australian and cricket team of all-time.

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“It feels like, without being disrespectful, we have been hunted for a long period of time,” she said. “We’re constantly being asked about that, and we’re used to it now. Teams are coming really hard at us to put us under the pump, which we love.

“We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing.” Australia will start their campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday.