How Healy’s injury will affect her summer

Australian captain Alyssa Healy concedes there’s a chance she doesn’t play every game this summer after she returned from a “frustrating” foot injury on Friday night that ended her T20 World Cup campaign in the group stage.

The veteran wicketkeeper made just four in her first game back for the Sixers after she was sidelined for the opening two matches of the WBBL, but she was just happy to be back after the injury kept her out of Australia’s semi-final loss to South Africa.

Healy retired hurt against Pakistan with a plantar fascia injury in her right foot last month and was ruled out of the semi-final, but there were faint hopes she’d be cleared for the big one if the Aussies advanced that far.

“I can’t answer. We’ll never know,” she replied when asked if she would’ve played.

“The semi-final was going to be a really, really hard thing for me to get up for, and it was going to be a rather large risk.

“It could have gone one of two ways – it could have been fine and if we won then I’d play a final, or it could have gone horrifically wrong and I go down in the first over and leave the team short.

“I tried to make the team decision and disrupt the team as little as I could. You take three people’s roles that you’re affecting with me coming in and out … we’ll never know the answer to that question.”

The injury kept her out for three weeks, with Healy returning last Friday against the Stars having missed most of last year’s WBBL because of a finger injury.

The question now is how many games she’ll play for the Sixers as she manages the injury, with three WBBL matches coming up this week, including the Sydney derby on Sunday.

“Probably a lack of preparation has been the most frustrating part,” the aggressive opener said after the game.

“I always wanted to come back and play this game and be right for the rest of the season, but hopefully all things run relatively smoothly and we can keep building for what is a huge summer.

“I was no chance for the first two games. I had to tick everything off (last Thursday) just to get back (for the Stars game). That was probably pushing it because we were looking at Wednesday (as a return date).

“It’s going to be managing this throughout the whole summer and managing the pain, function and what I can and can’t do. How I pull up from games is going to be really important as well.

“We’ve got a plan in place, but we’re playing it by ear to see how it all unfolds. Fingers crossed it goes all right.

“I want to be available for every game that I possibly can, but the reality is that might not be the case. I might need to take a rest here and there, but that’s not my intention. My intention is to play as much as I possibly can.”

While her priority right now is the WBBL, Healy and the Australian medical team also have to worry about the multi-format Ashes series starting in January.

“There’s a higher power sitting above that are quite vocal in what can and can’t happen, which I completely understand,” she said.

“Being skipper as well is a fairly big role for me. I want to be available for as much of the summer as I can. I’ve hardly played a game for the Sixers for the past two seasons, and it’s a place I really enjoy playing cricket, and hopefully I can play a role for us this year moving forward.”

The early World Cup exit has sparked calls for change in the Australian side that has dominated international cricket for so long, and selectors have been given a glimpse into the future with a number of young stars firing in the WBBL.

“If you look at international cricket at the moment – and I look at WBBL in isolation – and it feels like a bit of a changing of the guard at the moment,” Healy said, with Sixers teammate Caoimhe Bray making her debut at 15.

“There are so many young players coming out and showing everyone how good they are, and that’s awesome. Naturally that’s going to filter into the Australian environment at some point as well.

“The next T20 World Cup is a couple of years away and there are a lot of us well over the age of 30. What that looks like, I’m not too sure. I think the WBBL is a great breeding ground for the next group of Australian players to say ‘I’m ready’.”