Baxter Holt benefits from Alyssa Healy's guidance

When Alyssa Healy, Australia Women’s top-notch wicket-keeping batswoman debuted for international duties, Baxter Holt, a key member of the men’s Under-19 squad was barely a six year old. Today, as Alyssa Healy readies herself to contest in the upcoming Women’s World T20, a tournament of epic proportions, her protégé, 14-year-old Baxter Holt finds himself in perhaps the most important contest of his formative cricketing years: the Under-19 50 over World Cup.



 



But it is the key mentor-student equation that binds the two cricketers and produces an incredibly interesting story that breaches a rarity in cricketing terms. That inspiration needn’t be sought alone in the men’s game. And that if one remains cognizant of the incredible talents etched at the heart of the women’s game, then a raw talent can go the long mile to harness one’s true potential.



 



Luckily, for Australian Men’s Under-19 wicket-keeping batsman Baxter Holt, that his family friends got him acquainted to train with Healy, a fiery talent and an agile keeper right when the need for seeking guidance was paramount. So what initially began as a single day’s session with the experienced Alyssa Healy- 55 ODIs, 4 fifties, 91 strike rate- turned into multiple training sessions for Holt where the wicket-keeping technique was at the heart of the discussion and imparting key international playing experience laid foundation to an absorbing association that continues today.



 



So much so that it has hugely benefitted Baxter Holt, who credits Healy for giving shape to his talent that has ultimately helped him go undergo the onerous contest of playing in a world cup in New Zealand. Right from providing knowledge about technique to encouraging this enterprising youngster to stick to the basics of the game; forgoing the needless urge to constantly manoeuver his game, Alyssa Healy’s guidance has allowed Baxter Holt to express himself in a sport that is constantly unfurling mind-boggling talents.



 



But Holt, who considers Adam Gilchrist as an inspiration, feels that having not made the cut for his school’s junior cricket team and subsequently the age group sides in Sydney, regards the testing period in his cricketing journey as being vital to his interaction with Healy, who worked hard to get across her points into a young, receptive mind, ready to tackle the lofty hurdles that lay ahead. One of the things, according to Holt, that has hugely impacted his growth as a young talent is Healy’s advice on him to focus as much on his batting as his abilities as an agile, alert keeper behind the stumps.