Georgia Voll knows the scale of the job in front of her. Replacing Alyssa Healy at the top of Australia’s order is a big task – “massive shoes to fill” as she admits – yet the 22-year-old has almost glided into the vacancy.
Healy’s knee injury kept her out of the home ODIs against India late in 2024, so Voll opened on debut, finished 46 not out and then reached three figures in only her second match. When Healy retired in March this year, the transition was already half done; Australia simply slid a name across on the team sheet.
Key facts first
• 21 caps by the time Healy quit
• Now Australia’s regular T20 opener, occasional stand-in keeper
• Top of the T20I batting rankings after only four tournament knocks
“Just being backed right from the start, knowing my role within this team,” Voll said when asked how she had made the switch look routine. Time on the fringes, she explained, was used wisely. “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.”
Tuesday at Headingley offered another nudge that she belongs. After Beth Mooney fell first ball, Voll and Ellyse Perry put on 104, with Voll’s 39 from 28 balls tilting the powerplay back towards Australia. “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,” she 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.”
Style points – but her own style
Comparisons with Healy were always coming, given the attacking brief, though Voll is not interested in impersonations. “Since I’ve come in, it was to go about it just how I wanted to go about it,” she stressed. “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.”
Numbers are helpful here. Across this World Cup her returns read: 0 v South Africa, 45* v Bangladesh, 17 v Netherlands and now 39 v Pakistan. Not perfect, yet the strike-rate sits above 135 – the sort of tempo Australia have come to expect from their opener since Healy first made the role her own.
The keeping curve-ball
Versatility has added another string. A sore back kept Mooney from the gloves against the Netherlands at Southampton, and with Phoebe Litchfield nursing a quad strain, Voll found herself behind the stumps for the very first time in senior cricket. She looked comfortable enough and almost repeated the trick at Headingley when Mooney twice dislocated a finger. Eventually Mooney soldiered on and scans later cleared her to face India in the final group game.
“I quite enjoyed it the other day,” Voll said of the keeping cameo. “It’s something that I’ve not really done before.” Worth remembering the next time Australia name a squad without a second keeper.
Expert view
Former Test opener Chris Rogers, now working on local radio, likes what he sees. “She’s uncomplicated – picks length early, hits straight, no fuss. When you’re following Healy that calmness is priceless.”
Squad balance and what next
Healy’s retirement has removed a security blanket, yet Australia look no less settled. The batting order remains left-right, experience wraps around youth, and Meg Lanning still keeps the dressing-room temperature low. Voll’s presence allows selectors to resist rushing Litchfield back, and gives scope to rest Mooney from the gloves if needed.
A tougher examination awaits against India’s spinners on Saturday. Voll has hardly batted against turn at this World Cup, so the match-up with Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav is worth tracking. Handle that and talk of a long-term successor to Healy may start feeling less like conjecture and more like fact.
For now, the story is simpler. A young opener was given trust and clarity; she has repaid both. The shoes may always seem “massive”, yet Voll appears happy running in them – even if she occasionally swaps them for wicketkeeping pads.
