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AAP
Jasper Bruce

Healy excited by cricket-NRL grand final double header

Australia's T20 is the perfect way to kick off a bumper day of sport on Sunday, Alyssa Healy says. (Jeremy Ward/AAP PHOTOS)

Captain Alyssa Healy insists it is a positive for Australia's women's cricket team that their first match of the summer is scheduled on the same day and in the same city as rugby league's grand finals.

Australia's six-match white-ball series against West Indies begins with a Twenty20 international (T20I) at North Sydney Oval on Sunday afternoon.

The match, the first of three T20Is, will be the world-beating Australia team's first on home soil in nine months.

But as the cricket gets under way, the preamble to the men's NRL grand final between Penrith and Brisbane will be cranking up at Sydney's Accor Stadium, beginning with a state championship match at 1.20pm AEDT.

Fans will struggle to attend the entirety of the women's cricket match and the NRLW grand final, which begins at 3.55pm in Homebush 22km away.

The 80,000 sellout men's final does not kick off until 7.30pm, by which time the cricket will be over.

As of Saturday morning, Cricket Australia (CA) had sold roughly 2000 tickets to their match.

CA have defended the scheduling decision, and on Saturday Healy insisted the rugby league bonanza would not draw attention away from the cricket.

"It's a huge day of sport in the state, kicking off with us," Healy said.

"You've got us, the NRLW grand final and the NRL grand final. 

"People are going to be sitting on the couch, maybe even in the pub knowing it's a long weekend, watching a huge day of women's sport and the NRL at the back-end of it. 

"It's a really positive thing."

The home summer presents a chance for the Australia team to prove there is enough fan support for games to be played at bigger grounds.

Interest in women's sport is higher than ever off the back of the Matildas' soccer World Cup campaign, but matches for the upcoming summer of cricket are still mostly scheduled for smaller venues.

The final round of this year's Women's Big Bash League is a notable exception, with games taking place at the SCG, MCG and Adelaide Oval.

But the West Indies series will be held across North Sydney Oval, Brisbane's Allan Border Field and Junction Oval in Melbourne, none of which has capacity for more than 10,000 fans.

Fixtures return to North Sydney Oval later in the summer for the series against South Africa.

Healy, who on Sunday will play her 250th match for Australia, has only twice represented her country at the SCG.

"People can catch the balls on the hill (at North Sydney Oval) and feel really close to the game. I absolutely love that feeling," she said.

"But there's a part of me that thinks, 'How good would this game be at the SCG?'.

"There's room for both. The fans are really getting around women's sport in particular, and if they continue to keep showing up and watching, then no doubt that conversation will take place."

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