Skipper Alyssa Healy is set to return behind the stumps for Australia in Sunday’s series-opening clash against England as she declared the team’s intent to “throw the first punch” and continue their decade-long dominance of the women’s Ashes.
The extent of Healy’s involvement in the initial part of the series was in doubt due to an injury to the lateral meniscus in her knee, which ruled her out of most of the Women’s Big Bash League and prevented her from keeping in last month’s tour of New Zealand, where Beth Mooney took the gloves.
Alyssa Healy’s Australians retained the Ashes in England with a drawn series in 2023.Credit: Getty Images
But in a huge boost for the home side, the 34-year-old had the gloves on for about half an hour of Saturday’s final training run at North Sydney Oval, where the two teams will return on Sunday for the first of three ODI matches in the mixed-format series.
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t any doubt … but everything’s progressed just as well as we would have hoped,” Healy said.
“I’m feeling really good. More importantly, I’m feeling really confident on it to be able to get out there and do that job. I wouldn’t be doing it if I felt like I was going to let the team down.”
Healy said she wasn’t sure if she will need Mooney to give her a break at some stage during the series due to the strain that the squatting and crouching motions of a wicketkeeper will put on her knee, which she admitted still flared up at “random” moments during day-to-day tasks.
Alyssa Healy and Alana King celebrate the wicket of England’s Tammy Beaumont.Credit: Getty Images
She also said team physios had taken a “long-term” view of the injury, mindful that she still wanted to play at international level for some time yet.
Her fitness means Australia will take a settled team into the series, with in-form opener Georgia Voll expected to be left out again after filling in for Healy against India last month. The only other selection question is whether quick Darcie Brown or spinner Georgia Wareham will be picked to round out Australia’s bowling attack.
The women’s Ashes is being played separately from the men for the first time since the points-based system was introduced, with the last edition in 2023 considered the high-water mark in terms of on-field quality and off-field support from fans in England.
Early forecasts suggested a wash-out for Sunday’s clash, but the likelihood of rain in Sydney has lowered significantly, which should help attract a big crowd as the Australian and English teams battle it out for the first two points on offer.
The last series ended in a draw, with the points split 8-8, after Australia won the first and only Test match before losing two of three games in both the ODI and T20 components – something England captain Heather Knight said she suspected had “scarred” their opponents.
The anti-climactic feeling at the end of it, as Australia celebrated retaining the Ashes despite falling short of an outright victory, was something Healy said the team was keen to avoid – particularly on home soil.
“I don’t want to annoy anyone and talk about moral victories,” she joked.
“The way it petered out at the end [hurt]. We put a lot of work into that Test match … but England threw a few things at us [in the ODIs and T20s] we hadn’t seen before and probably took the game on a bit more and put us on the back foot.
“We’re well-prepared for that now. Leaving England, I think the girls were like, ‘We don’t want that to happen again.’ [A drawn series] is not a great feeling for both sides … we’ll hopefully get the job done outright this time.
“They are a big team, a big emotional team in that regard, and if you let them get in front, then they’re really good at staying out in front. We’re hopefully coming tomorrow throwing the first punch and saying good luck catching us. If we can just manage our emotions and manage our bodies in particular, I think we’ll go a long way to winning this.”
Healy is one of Australia’s most-decorated cricketers, and has won seven World Cups across all formats, but has not captained her country to a series victory in the Ashes.
With another 50-over World Cup to come in October, this year is shaping as a huge and potentially legacy-defining period for her and the team.
“It wouldn’t bother me if I was captain or not, I’d just like to win both of those things,” Healy said. “It’s obviously a big 12 months for our group … but you look at this series in isolation and it is a big one for us.”
