Mott wants ICC to allow substitutes

Australia women’s head coach Matthew Mott believes it’s time the International Cricket Council followed Cricket Australia’s lead on concussion substitutes following a nasty incident involving wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy at the World T20 in the Caribbean.

Healy was forced from the field after she collided with teammate Megan Schutt as both attempted to take a high catch off India batter Arundhati Reddy during Australia’s group match against India on Saturday.

With their vision obscured by the Indian batters running between the wickets, Healy collided with Schutt’s shoulder and fell to the ground.

The 28-year-old was found to have a mild concussion and took no further part in the match, with her top-order batting sorely missed by the Australians as they failed to chase India’s 7-167.

While Mott conceded his star-studded batting line-up should have been able to reach the target even without the in-form Healy, who was the tournament leading run-scorer heading into the game, he said his team would have benefitted from a concussion substitute.

Concussion substitutes are used in Australian domestic competitions – including the Women’s National Cricket League and the Rebel WBBL – and in English county cricket, which Cricket Australia hopes will convince the ICC to adopt the playing condition for international cricket.

“In Australia we’re leading the way with concussion in cricket and from our point of view it’s probably something the ICC needs to look at as well, whether they follow what we’re doing in Australia,” Mott said from Guyana following the match.

“Through no fault of our own we lost a key player and if we take head injuries seriously, that’s something we need to look at from a global point of view.”

Australia will take no chances with Healy, who must pass a series of tests to prove her fitness for Thursday’s semi-final at Antigua’s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Concussion substitutes have been in place in Australian domestic limited-overs cricket since 2016 and in the JLT Sheffield Shield since last summer, after the ICC approved a two-year trial of the substitutes in first-class cricket.

When the trial was given the green light in October 2017, CA's head of cricket operations Peter Roach said he believed it was only a matter of time before the rule was standard for all levels of cricket.

"We strongly believe that the rules we've got in place are good for the sport and the player," Roach told cricket.com.au at the time.

"We would be heavily surprised if we weren't reporting favourable things from the trial and other countries weren't desperate to follow suit.

"The prominence of concussions is growing and awareness should continue to grow. We do play a sport that, while far from a regular occurrence, does have instances of concussions.

"We are making every effort to protect the player and we make no apology for it."

The ICC have been contacted for comment on the issue.

2018 ICC Women's World T20  

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

November 9: Australia beat Pakistan by 52 runs

November 11: Australia beat Ireland by nine wickets

November 13: Australia beat New Zealand by 33 runs

November 17: Australia lost to India by 48 runs

November 22: Semi-finals, Sir Vivian Richards Ground, Antigua

November 24: Final, Sir Vivian Richards Ground