Alyssa Healy hoping women’s cricket can surge in Australia on the back of Matildas success

The Matildas have quickly become the hottest ticket in the country. But Australian women’s cricket captain Alyssa Healy hopes this summer it will be her side’s turn to pack out grounds.

Australian captain Alyssa Healy believes it’s time for the national women’s cricket team to “cash in” on their sustained success and become one of the hottest tickets in town.

Having seen first-hand the Matildas’ ability in recent years to sell out stadiums, Healy hopes that passion will flow onto other women’s sports around the country.

They’ve got the perfect opportunity to put that to the test in next year’s stand-alone Ashes series, with games returning to some of the biggest grounds in Australia.

“We can talk about it for hours about how well the Matildas have been going and setting that standard of getting people to come to the games,” Healy said.

“I’m sick of opening my Facebook or Instagram after they’ve played because everybody I know has gone to the game. I just ask them if they’re coming to our games during the summer.

“I think that’s kind of the worry over the last few seasons. Going back to the MCG or SCG, are we going to see people show up?

“But I think looking at the schedule this year, there’s a lot of clean air for our series. It’s important we see people here, but I think that will come naturally.

“I think it’s just the next step for cricket to push the fans back to the game and come and be involved with it.”

Healy admits there is a touch of professional envy in seeing the Matildas attract large crowds on a consistent basis. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

The Australian women’s cricket team has been one of the country’s most successful sporting sides this century, winning nine World Cup titles since 2005. Healy admits that aura has potentially contributed to a feeling of inevitability that they will win whenever they step onto the field.

However, the last Ashes series in England was the perfect showcase of how international cricket is becoming more balanced. While Australia retained the urn, England dominated the white-ball series to eventually end the tour 8-8.

Both teams will be highly motivated to win the series in their own right, and that’s an added incentive for fans to get to the grounds to provide the contest with the atmosphere they deserve.

“Yes, we’ve been successful and yes, everyone just assumes we’re gonna win everything,” Healy said. “But it’s not necessarily the case in international cricket anymore. It’s a fight for us.

“The more fans we get to cheer us on, I think that’s going to drive our standards and the evolution of our group.

“It’s the evolution for our game to go, ‘You know what, we’re ready to take the games back to these stadiums to give people more opportunity to watch us’.

“Cricket has been building for a little while and now is the opportunity to cash in. There’s obviously a lot leading in (this summer), but an Ashes series finally split from the guys is a huge opportunity for us to capitalise on.”

The 2023 women’s Ashes series in England drew unprecedented crowds. Picture: Steve Bardens/Getty Images

While getting one back on England on the field will be the focus for Healy and her side, she admits they’re also eager to show the visitors that they can draw crowds to be envious of.

Approximately 110,000 people attended the 2023 women’s Ashes series in England, with the T20 matches all going close to, or in some cases exceeding 20,000 fans.

In comparison, the highest single day of attendance during the recent home series against South Africa was 2,362 for a one-day match at North Sydney Oval.

Taking the game back to bigger venues is not only a chance for the players to compete at the facilities they deserve to be playing at, but to also set new records for women’s cricket attendance in Australia.

The match at the SCG will be the first at the ground since the dramatic T20 World Cup semi-final win over South Africa in 2020. It will also be just the fourth women’s T20 game Australia has played at the venue.

Healy hopes the drawcard of a stand-alone Ashes attracts bigger crowds this summer. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“I think when everyone saw the schedule initially, they thought maybe there were multiple typos,” Healy said. “But for us to play at the grounds that we grew up watching Aussie teams run around on … and where we used to play at quite frequently, is huge.

“I remember winning my first-ever WNCL title here and I have fond memories whether it’s WNCL, WBBL or the T20 World Cup semi-final, I don’t think anything will top that.

“It also opens up the game to a whole new base of fans potentially, which I think is really exciting and means a lot to the group.

“I think it’s now on us. (England) has kind of pointed the finger and gone, it’s your turn to show us what you can do.

“We’ve got a really young, exciting group of players that are chomping at the bit for more opportunities. We came away from that Ashes a little bit disappointed … we put a lot of work into that Test match and we just assumed the white-ball stuff would go our way.

“England threw a few things at us we hadn’t seen before and we didn’t adapt quickly enough. But 18 months on, we’re ready to throw the next punch and take our game to the next level.”

Tickets for the women’s Ashes, including the first T20I at the SCG, and the entire international summer of cricket are now on sale.

Originally published as Alyssa Healy hoping women’s cricket can surge in Australia on the back of Matildas success