Ellyse Perry says she expects long-time teammate Alyssa Healy to take over as Australia’s new women’s cricket captain, backing the wicketkeeper to keep the success coming in Meg Lanning’s wake.

Cricket Australia is yet to appoint a successor to Lanning after the Victorian’s snap retirement from international cricket last month.

A new captain is expected to be announced next month following a Cricket Australia board meeting before the squad flies to India for a multi-format series, starting with a Test on December 21.

Healy is the frontrunner for the role ahead of Tahlia McGrath, having confirmed her interest a fortnight ago.

The 33-year-old Healy led Australia in the most recent Ashes series with Lanning sidelined through illness, as well during Lanning’s personal leave last summer, while McGrath stepped in on the team’s last trip to India when Healy injured her calf.

One of Australia’s most famous and decorated cricketers, Perry has no interest in vying for the job, happy to leave it for Healy or any other candidate.

“Obviously Midge [Healy] has done that job a number of times across the last 18 months and she’s done a great job with that,” Perry said of her long-time Sydney Sixers, New South Wales and Australia teammate.

“We have a strong leadership group with some really experienced players in our team.

“So my assumption would be that Midge will carry on doing it, but I don’t have any further insight than that.”

The next captain will take over at a crucial time, with the gap closing at the top of international cricket and Australia’s women’s team having not played a Test in India since 1984.

“The landscape has changed quite rapidly because we’ve got some really great challenges from quite a few countries,” Perry said.

“So the way we want to take our game forward has coincided with Midge leading the ship.

“I think that’s presented a great opportunity for her and the group to look at things freshly and almost have a blank canvas to start working off.”

Sydney Sixers' Ellyse Perry, Erin Burns and Ash Gardner sign autographs for fans in the crowd at a Women's Big Bash League game.

The WBBL is about to make the move to bigger stadiums for the pointy end of the season.(Getty Images: Mike Owens)

Perry’s comments come during a crucial weekend for the women’s game in Australia, with the last round of the WBBL moving to bigger stadiums for the first time in the stand-alone era.

Perry is adamant the competition must outgrow suburban grounds, with crowds at Adelaide Oval, MCG and SCG likely to determine how quickly that shift happens.

Questions also remain around the future structure of the competition, which could drop from 56 regular-season games to 40 next year.

There is also a push from some quarters for a return to some double-headers with the men, amid a debate around whether the competition would be better served in a school-holiday period.

“The transition for this competition is to move into big stadiums on a regular basis, to attract big crowds and have a really avid fan base that wants to come out to these games,” Perry said.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of deliberation on a few different facets of the comp at the end of this season.

“There’s going to be an opportunity to tinker with the comp to keep it moving forward.

“People across the board, from players to administrators are really open to that.”

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AAP

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