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Coach Shelley Nitschke of Australia acknowledges that
things are changing more quickly than she anticipated as officials are delaying
choosing Meg Lanning’s permanent replacement.
Less than a week after Lanning’s unexpected retirement
announcement, selectors will name a team on Tuesday for the multi-format tour
of India later this month.
It’s doubtful that a skipper will be announced until
closer to Australia’s departure on December 13, as the Cricket Australia board
must still make and ratify the choice.
The current front-runner is still Alyssa Healy, 33,
who announced her candidature after leading Australia over some of the previous
year when Lanning was away.
Tahlia McGrath is the other potential option if
officials prefer a longer-term replacement, given the 28-year-old has served as
Healy’s deputy on recent tours.
“There’s quite a few things to weigh up around
it,” Nitschke told AAP. “It’s just a matter of going through the
process.
“Sitting down with the selectors and people who
make those decisions and working out what’s the best thing moving
forward.”
“We always knew that the transition is coming,
but it probably hasn’t played out how you might have guessed,” Nitschke
said. “Rach we knew was probably coming at some point.
“But I probably didn’t expect to be at this point
and having Meg retire. We’ll certainly miss her. Even though she obviously
hasn’t been around the group for a little while now. I’d always thought she
would return. We’ll miss her presence and leadership and all the rest of
it.”