Georgia Voll is putting her own spin on opening the batting for Australia as she aims to fill the enormous shoes left by retiring skipper Alyssa Healy.
Voll produced her best knock in T20Is at Manuka Oval on Thursday evening, hitting a 57-ball 88 under pressure as Australia looked to get themselves back into the multi-format series.
It was the 22-year-old Queensland’s first T20I fifty on home soil, and bettered the career-high 75 she struck in Wellington last March.
“I was chunking them a lot for the first couple of overs and then Moons (Beth Mooney) just gave me a quiet word, (telling me) just to keep looking down the ground and the shots will come,” Voll reflected following the match.
“We were able to get (on top) of them in the last couple of overs in that Powerplay, which set us up a little bit and it opened up when those four fielders went out.”
When Voll made her T20I debut against England in Sydney in January last year, it was on a temporary basis, filling in for an injured Healy.
That substitute assignment followed onto the tour of New Zealand that followed two months later, and when Australia didn’t play another T20I for the remainder of 2025 and Healy subsequently retired from the format, Voll’s temp job became an ongoing role.
It is a daunting task for anyone to tackle, given Healy walked away from the game as Australia’s third-highest run scorer in T20Is and had been a formidable presence at the top of the order for a decade.
Voll has made a promising start, however, averaging 39.50 with a strike rate of 149 eight innings into her T20I career.
“I love the opportunity to open the batting for Australia – whenever that opportunity comes, I try and take it with both hands,” Voll said.
“It’s a massive role at the top and to try and fill (Healy’s) shoes, someone that’s been incredible for such a long period of time.
“Just seeing how she goes about the game, and being a fan of the game and watching her over a long period of time, and (now) just being able to put my own little spin on it as well has been super fun.
“Trying to come in there and play the way that I want to play, and get our team off to a really good start, is probably the biggest thing for me.
“And growing up and batting and training alongside Moons, to be able to go out there and open the batting for Australia with her … is pretty special. I’m just enjoying every moment.”
Voll and Mooney laid the flatform for Australia with a 128-run opening stand, a record against India in T20Is that bettered the famous stand Mooney and Healy shared in the 2020 T20 World Cup final.
For Voll, Thursday was about standing up and taking ownership of the innings following Australia’s disappointing display in the opening T20I, which saw them bowled out for 133 in 18 overs.
“We were pretty disappointed with the result the other night – just the way we went about our batting innings was pretty disappointing,” she said.
“A lot of us got starts, but just weren’t able to capitalise on that.
“The difference tonight was just trying to build some partnerships, and it was nice to get out there with Moons and build that up the top, and then get ourselves to a total that was enough.
“We probably would have liked a little bit more at the end there, but it proved to be enough tonight.”
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
The multi-format series is tied at 2-2
Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil
February 15: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
February 19: Australia won by 19 runs
February 21: Third T20, Adelaide Oval, 7:15pm AEDT
Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal
February 24: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT
February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
