By Anna Harrington in Melbourne

ALYSSA Healy has been appointed Australia’s new women’s cricket captain across all three formats, replacing Meg Lanning at the helm of the all-conquering team.

Gun wicket-keeper batter Healy filled in for Lanning as captain for extended spells over the past two years, including this year’s Ashes.

Now the 33-year-old will step into the role full-time after Lanning’s shock international retirement last month.

Allrounder Tahlia McGrath has been named vice-captain.

“I am honoured to accept the role of captain and am grateful for the opportunity to lead our team,” Healy said in a statement.

“I’ve really enjoyed the support of the players over the past few months and their encouragement to continue to be who I am and lead the group like I normally would from within.

“My approach will remain consistent to what it has been previously, but I’ll make my own mark on the role and be sure that I’m doing the best I possibly can for this group to maintain the success that we’ve had.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved with this team, we’re seeing the emergence of incredible young talent and are challenging ourselves to continually evolve as a group.”

Healy’s reign will begin in earnest later this month after she declared herself a near-certain starter for the red-ball Test against India at the famous Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 21.

The star wicketkeeper-batter missed the entire Women’s Big Bash League after badly hurting her finger while trying to break up a fight between her two dogs, but has returned to training.

The decision to appoint Healy and McGrath was ratified at a Cricket Australia (CA) board meeting on Friday.

“Alyssa is an outstanding player and leader who has earned enormous respect both on and off the field,” CA general manager of high-performance and national teams Ben Oliver said in a statement.

“Alyssa brings a wealth of experience to the role, and we have great confidence in her ability to successfully lead the Australian women’s team in tandem with Tahlia as vice-captain.”