Voll had 21 international caps by the time Healy retired but she was clear on the secret to cementing her own place in the Australia side with “massive shoes to fill”.
“Just being backed right from the start,” Voll said, “knowing my role within this team.”
“I was in a little bit, out a little bit with Midge still going about her business and just being able to learn off her and the other the senior players in the group, being able to train in different conditions even though I wasn’t playing, just getting ready for that opportunity. That’s probably helped me go out there when I get that opportunity and back myself.”
“That’s my role at the top, to put pressure back on the bowlers and try and get our team off to a really good start,” Voll, who has already risen to the top of the T20I batting rankings, said. “With the depth of our team, I get that licence to go out there and see the ball and hit the ball, and that’s probably my role up the top.”
And while the approach might be similar to Healy’s, Voll has been keen to play her own style.
“Since I’ve come in, it was to go about it just how I wanted to go about it,” she said. “That is the aggressive approach, and that’s how Healy played the game as well. So to have it said you play like her is pretty cool, but I just want to make sure that I’m going about it how I want to go about it, and making sure I’m getting the team in the best position possible so they can play their roles.”
Voll’s innings followed a duck in Australia’s opening game against South Africa, 45 not out against Bangladesh and 17 against Netherlands in Southampton. It was there that she also took the wicketkeeping gloves for Mooney with the latter suffering back soreness and first-choice back-up keeper Phoebe Litchfield out with a quad injury.
She thought she might have to reprise the role against Pakistan when Mooney twice dislocated her finger while keeping, but Mooney stayed on after being treated on the field and is expected to play Australia’s final group-stage match against India after being cleared of any further damage.
“I quite enjoyed it the other day,” Voll said of taking the gloves. “It’s something that I’ve not really done before.”
The ease with which Voll takes to whatever is asked of her has also stood her in good stead at the top of the batting line-up, and impressed her team-mates, including Perry, whose 71 off 48 was the highlight of Australia’s 113-run win over Pakistan.
“Most definitely seamlessly is the word,” Perry said of Voll’s ability to establish herself in the Australian team. “She looks so comfortable at this level.
“She’s such a powerful player, particularly down the ground, but then off the back foot as well if you drop too short, so it’s really hard from a length perspective in the powerplay to bowl to her.
“Her disposition as well, she’s got a level of confidence and belief in her ability, which is completely warranted and the fact that she’s just so calm and stable at the crease all the time. It’s been such an easy transition for her into the side.”
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women’s cricket, at Cricinfo
