Alyssa Healy is set to retire as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and an incredible ambassador of the sport.
“Alyssa Healy is a legend.”
These were the first five of a reasonably long tribute by Anthony Albanese at a press conference, hours after Healy announced her impending retirement. A journalist had asked a two-part question: would Albanese appoint Scott Morrison (“good ties with the Trump Administration”) as the new US ambassador and what he felt about Healy’s career.
Healy’s retirement was indeed a matter of national importance in Australia at an event where questions included a mourning day for the Bondi victims and legislation of hate speech.
Healy will retire – after the India series – as a legend of the sport for her feats on the field and her voice beyond it.
The nonpareil champion
Healy’s trophy cabinet in global tournaments – two World Cups, six T20 World Cups, one Commonwealth Games medal – is matched by only Ellyse Perry. That silverware count is natural, given they were both part of arguably the greatest cricket team of all-time across genders.
What that statistic does not tell you is how Healy raised the bar in these tournaments. Her 1,008 runs are the third-most in the history of Women’s T20 World Cups. In the 19-member 500-run club (fewer than half her aggregate), Healy has the best strike rate (129). Take Deandra Dottin (128) away, and no one else has even 117. These are obviously accompanied by a record 33 dismissals behind the stumps.
Combine this with the Commonwealth Games and use the same 500-run cut-off, and Healy still stands firm at the top, with 1,056 runs at 126.
In T20 World Cup knockout matches alone, Healy’s 299 runs have come at 128 – yet again, the joint-most if you put a 150-run cut-off: she shares this with Beth Mooney, who has scored exactly the same number of runs while facing the same number of balls.
What about ODIs? Healy’s 906 runs are the sixth-most in the history of the World Cup. Of the five batters with an average more than hers (56.62), four had no overlap with her: they played in an era when women’s cricket was largely dominated by Australia and England. Laura Wolvaardt (1,328 at 63.23) is the only exception. In this group, Healy (114) is the only one to strike at over 100. Her four World Cup hundreds are the joint second-most as well.
Healy’s strike rate of 114 (to go with an average of 77.25) is the best with a 250-run cut-off in World Cup knockouts: they also included two of her four hundreds.
It is, thus, hardly surprising that in 2022, she was named the Player of the Match in the semi-final and the final of the same World Cup. These came two years after she lit up the grandest stage of all – in front of a record 86,174 audience at the MCG for the T20 World Cup final – by delivering a sucker punch of an innings from which India never recovered.
With Healy, it is not only about delivering only the grandest stage either: quick, heavy scoring spanned her entire career. No one in women’s cricket has scored more runs at a quicker rate in T20Is or ODIs. One cannot help but wonder what her Test record would have looked like had she played more than nine times.
More records? Healy’s 61-ball 148 not out against Sri Lanka in 2019/20 is the highest score by a Full Member batter in women’s T20Is. Her 138-ball 170 against England in 2022, on the other hand, is the highest score in a World Cup final across genders.
Yet, while all that leaves little doubt over Healy’s greatness on the field, her legacy transcends the 22 yards.
The grand ambassador
For years, Healy has advocated the growth of women’s cricket. During the global lockdown of 2020, she demanded contracts for female cricketers in Australia and more investment in the WBBL and the National Cricket League amidst calls for cost-cutting. That year, when the Women’s T20 Challenge clashed with the WBBL, she was an early voice in calling them out. At the same time, she assured that if there were an IPL-style women’s league, that she would be “standing right behind it and supporting wherever I can”.
Forthright stances had been a persistent characteristic. When touring male cricketers complained about the hardships they endured during the Covid-19 quarantine, she was quick to remind that the women had done it uncomplainingly.
As we have seen, Healy had advocated for the WPL before it was launched. When it was finally announced, she immediately predicted that it had the ability to make India “unbeatable” in ten years.
An early interview as UP Warriorz captain in 2023 reflected her refreshing, un-celebrity mindset: “It’s an Indian league, and for us as international players coming in, it’s our job to complement what these Indian players in these sides are and their roles. It’s not our job to make all the runs and take all the wickets. It’s how can I give them confidence in their own ability to go out there and do that themselves and showcase the skills they’ve got and become the biggest stars in India.”
When India beat Australia in a women’s Test for the first time later that year, thus, few were surprised at the defeated captain capturing the triumphant side on camera. There was nothing new in her characteristic matter-of-fact explanation: cricket had already heard her explain the hole she had cut in her sunhat to accommodate a ponytail.
Two years after her “unbeatable” prediction, during the 2025 World Cup, Healy reminded the world that India had been “almost a sleeping giant in the women’s game for a long period of time”. India duly lifted their maiden trophy.
Such insights have been in full flow in her stint as a commentator, where she has already left a mark. Given her success and stature in the sport, it is only natural that she leaves a mark behind the microphone as well.
