McGrath crossing fingers over Healy’s World Cup fitness

Like the rest of her Australian teammates, Tahlia McGrath is crossing her fingers that injured captain Alyssa Healy will be back to steer the champs to more T20 World Cup glory this week.

But sidelined or not, Healy is proving the rock for McGrath as the stand-in captain swears her skipper’s off-field inspiration still played a big part in Australia beating India by nine runs on Sunday to seal their semi-final spot.

“Great question,” said McGrath, when asked for a medical update on Healy, who suffered an “acute right foot injury” in Friday’s win over Pakistan.

“We’ve got a couple of days now. I’m going to leave that in the hands of our doctors to get to work on her.

“I’ll have fingers crossed that she can be available, but we’ll know more in the next couple of days how that plays out.”

Even if she can’t make it, McGrath, who proved such an able deputy in her absence in Sunday’s marquee group match in Sharjah, was keen to reveal just how much the 34-year-old wicketkeeper-batter-skipper was still driving the team from off the pitch.

“She’s been great,” McGrath said. “She’s such a passionate cricketer that she wanted to be involved in every single aspect, and she sent me a message straight away asking me what I needed, and how she could help.

“She was in our meeting today when we were working out match-ups, and from all reports she was a very painful watcher, who just wanted to be out there and wanted to be involved.

“She’s huge for this team and well and truly part of it. Whether she’s on the field or off the field, she helps out enormously and we all love getting around her at the moment.”

It was a difficult moment for McGrath to take the reins, with much gloom in the camp too about the World Cup-ending injury for pace bowler Tayla Vlaeminck, who has had to be replaced by Heather Graham.

“But I felt a lot more prepared today, a lot more calm taking on the captaincy,” McGrath said.

“I’ve been in the vice-captain role for an extended period now and really like the way that Midge (Healy) and I work together. We think very similarly.”

When things were getting tight in Sunday’s clash as India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was threatening to pull victory out of the fire with a fine unbeaten half-century, McGrath was also grateful for the calming influence of the experienced Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner.

“Today I had really good support around me, especially ‘Pez’ and Ash,” McGrath said.

“They helped me out a lot and were just really good to bounce some ideas around, so I’ve got plenty of support in this team. We’re great at getting around each other and just stepping up into whatever role is needed.”