But despite declaring herself ready to play she could not confirm whether she was locked into the XI as the selectors are set to make the final decision tomorrow afternoon.
“I’m good to go,” Healy said with a smile. “The final XI hasn’t quite been decided upon just yet, but I’m standing here in front of you without a moon boot, saying I’m ready to go.”
Healy confirmed that the decision would be a joint one between the selectors and the medical staff as to her availability.
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“I think a bit of both. I think the medical staff have been really supportive of not necessarily what I’ve wanted to do, but just the opportunity to potentially even push to play in this Test match in particular. They’ve been awesome. We’ve done everything we possibly can to get myself in a position to put my hand up and say, I’m ready to go. There’s a little bit taken out of my hands in that regard and obviously we still want to do the best by the team. But I’m excited and I feel like, body wise, I’m ready to get out there and lead the side in a Test match which is cool”
Healy said she had pulled up well after running, fielding and batting at training on Tuesday and also confirmed she would not need much pain management throughout the game and there were very little fears of doing any more damage to the stress injury in her foot.
“it’s been surprising to me every single day that I’ve done some stuff, just how well it’s responded. So I was pushed pretty hard yesterday I think you all saw me. I was blowing a fair bit.
“Obviously we’ve done that on purpose to try and see what I can and can’t get through and I’ve pulled up really well. So I’m really positive moving forward.
“There’s a bit of unknown as to how the four days will pan out. But I think at the moment, I’m on as little medication as possible, which I think is a huge sign. The fact that I can get through what I can without any, always means you can add more, right? But we’ve sought a lot of advice, a lot of specialist advice as to what it might look like moving forward, and there’s no real evidence to suggest that it might go any further than what it currently is. So that’s positive signs for me, and probably gave me the mental nod as well to go, yep, I think I can push to try and play. So I’m confident getting through four days, and hopefully it can do just that.”
“Moons coming down the order is a bit of a shift, and we’re going to have to make a decision at the top,” Healy said. “I’m more than happy to bat anywhere for Australia. I think everybody knows that. So whether it’s me, great, if it’s not me, then obviously there’s a pretty obvious candidate.”
“We’ve got 12 at the moment, we’re just deciding on the final bowler,” Knight said. “Obviously, in the last Test match we went for an extra bowler because of the proximity to the Ashes. But in this Test match, we’re going to play the extra batter, so Sophia Dunkley will come in from that Test match. And then we’re just deciding between a seamer or a spinner for that final spot. We’ll have another look at the wicket tonight.”
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo