McGrath and Gardner lead race to replace Healy as Australia captain

Australia's selectors have a key decision to make in the coming weeks over who will replace Alyssa Healy as captain, following her announcement that she will retire after the series against India. Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner are the frontrunners.

With Healy having made the T20 element of her retirement immediate to allow planning for the World Cup in England later this year, the new captain will take charge for the T20Is against India next month before moving across formats for the tour of the West Indies later in March, with Healy expected to remain captain for her swansong ODIs and the one-off Test against India.

Whoever gets the role will have just six T20Is to put their stamp on the team ahead of the World Cup where Australia will look to regain the title they lost in the UAE in 2024 when South Africa bundled them out in the semi-finals.

It is a fascinating and critical call for the selectors, with some added complications. McGrath has been Healy's vice-captain since she took charge and has led Australia 15 times across T20Is and ODIs. She has won 14 of those matches, including overseeing the Ashes retention last season when Healy missed the T20Is, with her only defeat being the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final.

However, McGrath is currently in the midst of a battle to regain her form. She has not passed 26 in her last six ODIs, having taken on a new finisher role lower down the order, and had endured a tough WBBL for Adelaide Strikers.

It may be that McGrath is leapfrogged by Gardner, who took over as Sydney Sixers' captain this season. Gardner has been McGrath's vice-captain in the Australia side when Healy has been absent with injury, and is highly-regarded for her leadership qualities. She also captains Gujarat Giants in the WPL.

If the job did go to Gardner, she would be the first Indigenous captain of Australia across the women's and men's national teams.

"It's probably not something that I've thought about too much," Gardner told AAP recently, prior to Healy's announcement. "But if the opportunity came, I would certainly say that I would want to do it and make sure that I was doing all the right things to be given the opportunity.

"It's not something that I ever had ambitions to do, but if the opportunities come up, absolutely, I'd be happy to do that. So, whatever the team needs, I'll try to perform for whatever that looks like."

Healy would not be drawn on her successor but praised McGrath's ability to step into the captaincy during her tenure.

"T-Mac's greatest quality, outside of her tactical nous, is how cool, calm and collected she is under pressure," Healy said. "I think she's showcased that over the last 12 to 18 months when I've missed games here and there. Her ability to just step in and take charge and do it her own way has been really impressive.

"She's been vice-captain so it obviously might look a natural choice, but she's done an outstanding job and I think her confidence has continued to grow in that space and hopefully if given an opportunity she'll do a fantastic job."

While it's likely a race between two, there are other captaincy candidates within the current squad, most notably Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield, who lead Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder respectively in the WBBL.

Meg Lanning was named Australia captain aged 21, so 24-year-old Sutherland and 22-year-old Litchfield can't be completely discounted, although they are likelier to be considered in the next cycle.

Former Australia captain Alex Blackwell recently said that selectors didn't have to plan for too far into the future. "You don't always have to pick for a decade. Short-term captaincy is an option. There could be players to just get us through a couple of years and a World Cup, rather than rushing captains."

Healy's retirement will leave Australia needing to replace three roles: captain, batter and wicketkeeper. The latter two positions have probably been seen in recent times with Georgia Voll now likely to become a regular opener and Beth Mooney the wicketkeeper, although Healy joked that she was "such a reluctant keeper"

"It'll be interesting to watch her go about things… we'll wait and see what unfolds, but hopefully she wears them," Healy said.

Nicole Faltum, the Victoria and Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper, has been around squads over the last 12 months while Tahlia Wilson has been a consistent domestic performer

The squad for the India series is expected to be named in early February.