'Injuries Made Me Realise...': Alyssa Healy Targeting 2026 ODI World Cup Comeback

Sports Cricket

Posted by AI on 2025-06-24 18:31:25 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-05-15 17:50:28

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Alyssa Healy vividly recalls the moment she wondered if her international cricket career might be over.

It was the aftermath of a grueling 2021 Ashes campaign, in which a troubled knee limited the prolific wicketkeeper-batter to just two appearances, and a debilitating calf injury looked set to haunt her even as Australia squared off against New Zealand in the subsequent ODI series.

"I remember sitting in the change rooms after the fifth ODI in Christchurch, and all I could think was 'I don't know if I can keep going,'" Healy told news.com.au. "I was pretty sick of rehabilitating, sick of training and sick of not seeing results."

Those moments of self-doubt, however, have given way to optimism as Healy eyes a return to action in August for the Australia A team, with her sights set on a comeback at the ODI World Cup slated for late 2025, or early 2026.

"I'm confident I'll be playing in the next World Cup," Healy said. "But the main drive for me is loving what I do every day. I still love training, still love playing, and still love being around the team."

Healy, who celebrated her 33rd birthday last week, has been a mainstay of Australian cricket since making her international debut as a dynamic teenager in 2013, amassing nearly 7,000 runs across the formats.

Yet reflection on a punishing schedule that has included a Australian Cricket Workers' Association-regulated break to start 2023, has led Healy to consider the role her batting occupies within the national team.

"I pride myself on being one of the toughest bats in the team, and I think I offer something different to the top order," she said. "I enjoy being that hitter towards the end of the innings, but I also bowl now, and that gives me a greater sense of purpose and longevity in my career."

Healy's utility is likely to be particularly valuable come the ODI World Cup, with Australia's next priority assignment in the format taking place in mid-2023, shortly after her expected return to action with Australia A against India A in Queensland.

And despite a lack of recent ODI cricket for Australia aside from a solitary innings at No. 3 against Pakistan last November Healy remains upbeat about her side's chances of defending their maiden title.

"We've built a really good squad," she said. "And there's a lot of flexibility in that group. Any one of them could play that anchor role bat-wise, and we've got a good mix of spinners and seamers."

For now, though, Healy is content to bask in a career that, despite recent setbacks, she says has exceeded her wildest dreams.

"When you're 13 and you first start playing, you don't imagine that you'll ever make it to the international stage.

"I never thought I'd be here for nine years, let alone the three or four that I think I have left in me."

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