Captain Healy to retire from all cricket at end of the summer

Australia have lost their captain months out from the T20 World Cup with Alyssa Healy to draw curtains on an almost two-decade top-flight career at the end of the home summer.

Healy today announced she will retire from all formats of cricket following the multi-format NRMA Insurance series against India, which concludes with the Test match at Perth's WACA Ground from March 6.

The 35-year-old, who already has a significant media presence having been part of Fox Cricket's coverage since 2018, revealed the news on the Willow Talk podcast she co-hosts with Adam Peacock and former Australian men's wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.

Healy's retirement from the shortest format is immediate; she won't take part in the three T20 internationals that kick off India's multi-format tour in February. It means she will miss the chance of a hometown farewell with the first T20I the only match of the series to be played in Sydney.

The decision to skip the T20s selflessly gives coach Shelley Nitschke and Healy's captaincy successor the maximum opportunity to prepare for the T20 World Cup with just six games remaining (three v India followed by three away v West Indies) before their tournament opener against South Africa in Manchester on June 13.

Should Healy play all three one-dayers against India (Brisbane followed by two in Hobart), the WACA Test will be her 299th and final international for Australia, calling time just shy of her 36th birthday.

The right-hander will bow out as the most prolific 'keeper in the women's international game with 269 dismissals to date across the three formats (24 in 10 Tests, 119 in 123 ODIs and 126 in 162 T20Is).

She has also been one of her country's most productive all-format run-scorers with her 7,106 at 30 behind only Meg Lanning (8,352) and Ellyse Perry (7,607) for Australian women.

Alyssa Healy career numbers

Tests 10* | Runs 489 | Ave 30.56 | HS 99 | 50s 3 | Ct 22 | St 2

 

ODIs 123* | Runs 3563 | Ave 35.98 | SR 99.72 | HS 170 | 100s 7 | 50s 18 | Ct 85 | St 38

 

T20Is 162 | Runs 3054 | Ave 25.45 | SR 129.79 | HS 148no | 100s 1 | 50s 17 | Ct 65 | St 63

 

WBBL 129 matches | Runs 3125 | Ave 25.82 | SR 133.71 | HS 112no | 100s 5 | 50s 15 | Ct 60 | St 45

"It's with mixed emotions that the upcoming India series will be my last for Australia," Healy said in a statement.

"I'm still passionate about playing for Australia, but I've somewhat lost that competitive edge that's kept me driven since the start, so the time feels right to call it a day.

"Knowing I won't be going to the T20 World Cup this year and the limited preparation time the team has, I won't be part of the T20s against India, but I'm excited to have the opportunity to finish my career and captain the ODI and Test side at home against India – one of the biggest series on the calendar for us.

"I'll genuinely miss my teammates, singing the team song and walking out to open the batting for Australia. Representing my country has been an incredible honour and I'm grateful for one last series in the green and gold."

Healy's retirement had felt on the cards ever since she confirmed following the side's ODI World Cup semi-final elimination last October that she wouldn't attempt to be part of next 50-over tournament in 2029.

She's also had frequent battles with injury in the twilight of her career, most recently a fractured thumb that sidelined her at the start of the WBBL season, while she also missed Australia's final two ODI World Cup group games with a calf strain. The previous summer she began WBBL|10 in a moonboot after injuring her foot at the 2024 T20 World Cup, which saw her miss the T20 leg of the Ashes that followed and not be able to keep wicket in the Test at the MCG.

"The last few years have been probably more mentally draining than anything else," Healy added on the podcast episode released this morning.

"A few injuries, (I had) to dive into the well a couple of times and that well was getting less and less full of water, so it was getting harder to dive back in there.

"I've always felt like I've had a competitive edge in that I want to compete, I want to win and I want to challenge myself on the park. I've felt as I've got a little bit older, I've not necessarily lost all of it, but I've lost some of that.

"I think the WBBL (last year) was probably a bit of a wake-up call. Not being able to hold the bat with two hands didn't help either but waking up and going, 'just another day of cricket', really surprised myself because I still thought I loved playing the game.

"I never really wanted to do it like this; I never wanted to announce it. I just wanted to get to the end of the Test match and hang up my boots and celebrate.

"But with me not going to the T20 World Cup, it's forced a little bit of change – there's not a lot of T20 cricket leading into that for the girls, so it's probably been placed on me to make a decision in that format and give the opportunity for the girls to prepare for that World Cup in the best possible way, knowing that I'm not going to be there.

"It's forced an announcement of sorts but at the end of the day, it's given me a little peace as well because I've known that's (been) at the back of my mind for probably the past six months."

In addition to calling time on her international career, Healy will also finish up in domestic and franchise cricket. She wasn't picked up in this season's Women's Premier League auction and missed last year with the stress injury in her right foot.

Healy is set to represent NSW in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) across the next month for the final time to prepare for the India series, but she has played her last match for the Sixers.

A founding Sydney Sixers player and a two-time Big Bash champion, Healy was named in the WBBL Team of the Decade during celebrations marking the league's 10th season in 2024. She finishes her WBBL career as one of six batters to pass 3,000 runs, with her five centuries the equal most for an individual in the competition alongside Lizelle Lee.

Healy has also been part of a remarkable 11 WNCL titles with NSW and claimed the Belinda Clark Award in 2019 as Australia's best player for the year.

On the global stage she has been part of seven World Cup wins (one ODI, six T20I) and a Commonwealth Games gold medal since making her debut in both white-ball formats in February 2010. She nominated her epic 170 – the highest individual score in a World Cup final (men's or women's) – to beat England in the 2022 ODI decider as her best knock.

Healy produced her sixth and seventh one-day international centuries during the tournament's most recent edition last October, with her T20I best of 148 not out a women's benchmark for ICC full member nations. She'll have a chance to eclipse her Test top score of 99 (a mark she shares with her husband Mitchell Starc) in her final game.

As captain, first standing in for Meg Lanning and then as her full-time successor following her surprise retirement in 2023, Healy won almost 80 per cent of matches and famously led Australia to a historic Ashes whitewash last summer.

"Alyssa is one of the all-time greats of the game and has made an immeasurable contribution both on and off the field over her 15-year career," Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said.

"On behalf of Australian cricket, I'd like to thank Alyssa and congratulate her on an incredible career that has inspired so many and changed the game for the better.

"We look forward to celebrating her achievements throughout the series against India."

Filling the void left by a player of Healy's calibre will be no easy task, but Australia are blessed to have the WBBL's most prolific wicketkeeper, Beth Mooney (124 dismissals), ready to slot in behind the stumps full-time. Young guns Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll have also both made strong starts to their Australian careers at the top of the order.

But appointing Australia's next captain is less straightforward. Tahlia McGrath will be in the mix as current vice-captain, while Sixers skipper Ashleigh Gardner and Sydney Thunder counterpart Litchfield have been endorsed as potential candidates in recent days.

"I've still got some passion and some fight left in me to beat India; there's a little bit of extra incentive on the line," Healy said. "Fortunately, I still get an opportunity to wear the Baggy Green (again), which is special."

Australia v India multi-format series 2025-26

February 15: First T20 v India, SCG, 7:15pm AEDT

February 19: Second T20 v India, Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7:15pm AEDT

February 21: Third T20 v India, Adelaide Oval, 7:15pm AEDT

February 24: First ODI v India, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT

February 27: Second ODI v India, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 1: Third ODI v India, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 6-9: Test match v India, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)