Healy — a match-winner who produced her best on the big occasions

A range of emotions hovered around the hallowed Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) Ground in Perth on Sunday as Alyssa Healy bid adieu after a decorated 16-year international career. When the one-off women’s Test between Australia and India entered day three, it was clear that a win for the host was a matter of formality. With Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. bundled out for 149 from an overnight score of 105 for six in its second innings, Australia knocked off the target of 25 with all 10 wickets intact.

Once that was out of the way, it was time for her Australian teammates and the 2,000-odd spectators, which included husband and left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, to doff their proverbial hats to Healy. Having announced in January that the multi-format home series against India would be her swansong, it was altogether apt that the 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batter would sign off with a win. Success, after all, was the central motif of her exemplary career: she triumphed in 109 out of 126 ODIs, 111 out of 162 T20Is, and six out of 11 Tests, besides winning eight World Cups across the two white-ball formats.

Healy, who inherited her penchant for wicketkeeping from her famous uncle Ian, walks into the sunset with noteworthy numbers: she piled up 3,777 runs in ODIs at a strike rate of 100.69 and 3,054 runs in T20Is at 129.79. The anomaly was her record in whites — she scored just 502 runs in 11 Tests at an average under 30. She also held 173 catches and effected 103 stumpings across formats in international cricket.

More than the volume of runs, however, it was her ability to produce her best on the big occasions that defined her greatness.

It is a poignant coincidence that her farewell fell on March 8. It was six years ago to the day that she established herself as a bona fide match-winner, smashing a 39-ball 75 against India in the T20 World Cup final at a raucous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Two years later, in the summit clash of the 2022 ODI World Cup, Healy again flourished when it mattered most — she walloped 170 off just 138 balls to help Australia amass 356 for five and set up a 71-run win over England.

“There’s a little bit of sadness. Just sitting in the change room and realising that I don’t really get to come back,” Healy told the media at the end.

That emotion will resonate with her admirers, for they will never get to watch Healy don the Australian jersey again.