Alyssa Healy has welcomed criticism of her form heading into the Twenty20 World Cup, claiming it shows people seriously care about Australia's women's results more than ever.
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Healy will enter Friday's World Cup opener against India with just 24 runs in her last six innings, and she is yet to reach double figures for Australia this year.
The opener is insistent she is hitting the ball as well as ever, acknowledging her aggressive approach will at times lead to low scores.
But what is undeniable is the scrutiny on Healy's form is as intense as any faced by a female Australian cricketer headed into arguably the team's biggest ever tournament.
The Aussies - led by calls from Ellyse Perry - have long pushed for more critical analysis of their performances.
They believe it is a crucial step forward for the women's game to be treated the same as their male counterparts.
"People genuinely care about this team and they want them to do well," Healy said.
"And when there are players not doing well the media are the first to write about it.
"The scrutiny from the media means they genuinely care and are taking it seriously.
"From that point of view hopefully we can have some good things to be written about going forward."
Healy was instrumental in Australia's T20 success in 2018, hitting 225 runs at 55.25 and claiming the player of the tournament accolade.
She has also been the ICC's Twenty20 player of the year for the past two years, and will form a crucial part in Australia's campaign.
Meanwhile, she hasn't been the only player to be put under the microscope in the top-ranked team.
Australia have had a tough lead in to the tournament, with their batting faltering in losses to India and England in a tri-series before they eventually won the final.
"We actually remarked on it (this week) ... the amount of interest in how the squad is tracking from a form point of view is a little unprecedented," Perry said.
"I have been quite vocal about this, pushing for people to take more interest in how the team is playing and being more critical because that shows people are really interested and they care how the squad is going.
"It's Midge's (Healy's) turn in the spotlight at the moment but, from a team point of view, she is hitting the ball really well.
"She's been playing some really good cricket for the last 24 months. And that doesn't flip on its head in a few weeks."
Australian Associated Press
