Australian cricket great Alyssa Healy has announced she’s retiring from the sport after a successful 15-year career.
The seven-time World Cup winner told the media on Tuesday that her decision stems from doing what is best for her mind and body after a series of injuries and burnout.
“I’d like to apologise to you for the last three months for lying to your faces every time I was asked about retirement,” Healy said at the media event, noting that she’s decided to step away from the game after losing a bit of her “competitive edge” and recognising that her body was starting to “let [her] down”.
“Been doing it for a long period of time, I’ve loved it. I feel like every contest I wanted to be a part of and I wanted to compete. It’s probably drained me a little bit over the years,” Healy said.
“I’ve noticed that having to come back from injury and dive pretty deep the last few seasons, it has taken it out of me quite a lot.
Throughout her career, Healy, 35, suffered several injuries, including an injury to her right thumb in late 2025, which was a “real blow” to her ability to play cricket.
Healy said she will cease her cricket career at the end of this summer, where she’lll play in the upcoming ODI and Test matches against India and forgo the T20s to allow the team maximum time to transition before the T20 World Cup.
The cricket captain ends her distinguished career with 10 Tests, 123 ODIs and 162 T20Is.
“The opportunity to finish at home was something that I really wanted to do and to be completely honest, if I had fought my way through to the World Cup that’s probably not doing the right thing by my teammates and the country as well to half-arse that opportunity,” Healy said.
“I think now is as good of a time as ever.”
Healy said retirement has been “at the back of her mind for a period of time” and now that she’s made the announcement, she can just enjoy the moment and “hopefully play with a smile on [her] face another couple of times”.
The most accomplished female wicketkeeper in history, Healy made her national debut in cricket in 2010 and was named full-time Australian captain in 2023. She’s participated in eight ICC World Cup titles and holds the record for highest individual score in a World Cup Final, as well as the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the T20 Internationals.
Highly decorated as well, Healy is the 2019 Belinda Clark Award winner, twice named the ICC Women’s T201 Cricketer of the Year and was a part of Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold medal winning side in 2022.
A trailblazer for women in cricket, Healy said that looking back, she’s proud of the direction women’s cricket is moving, especially now that female athletes are being paid full-time.
“I feel so lucky, lucky more than anything else. I use the word grateful but I feel really lucky to play in the generation I have,” Healy said.
“To be a part of a group and an organisation that has driven women’s sport in general forward throughout this decade has been a really pleasing part of my career.”