Alyssa Healy, a stalwart of Australia’s dominant women’s cricket team for the past 15 years and most recently captain, has announced she will retire from the game after the upcoming multi-format series against India.
The 35-year-old keeper-batsman was part of two one-day international World Cup triumphs and six successful T20 World Cup campaigns before taking over as skipper following Meg Lanning’s retirement at the end of 2023.
“It is with mixed emotions that the upcoming India series will be my last for Australia,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I’m still passionate about playing for Australia, but I’ve somewhat lost that competitive edge that kept me motivated all along, so now seems like the right time to call it a day.
“I will really miss my teammates singing the team song and coming out to open the score for Australia.”
Healy made his debut for Australia in 2010 and has scored 3,563 runs with seven centuries in one-day internationals and 3,054 with a single century in Twenty20 for his country, as well as making 275 dismissals behind the stumps.
“Alyssa is one of the greatest players of all time and has made an invaluable contribution on and off the field during her 15-year career,” Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
As a mark of her status in Australia, Healy was never defined by her relationship with her uncle, the great Australian wicketkeeper Ian, nor by her husband, the test pilot Mitchell Starc.
She had already announced her retirement from T20 internationals and will play her final matches for Australia in three ODIs and a single Test against India in February and March.
Women’s cricket has progressed by leaps and bounds during Healy’s career but, although she has only missed two for Australia since her debut in January 2011, her final match will be only her 11th Test.
