Australian captain Alyssa Healy ready for T20s despite two broken fingers

After a quick trip to London to watch her husband at Lord’s, Australian captain Alyssa Healy returned to training keen to play on with two fractured fingers.

Australian captain Alyssa Healy is a “trooper” but is yet to be cleared to play in Saturday‘s first Ashes T20 against England as she manages two broken fingers.

The skipper hit the nets at Edgbaston on Thursday, having travelled to Lord’s on Wednesday to watch her husband Mitchell Starc return to action for the men’s Test team, nursing the injuries that hampered her during her team’s own Test victory at Trent Bridge.

Healy played with fractures in her left index and right ring fingers, gobbling painkillers as she stood behind the stumps for more than 170 overs as well as adding a match-defining half century in the second innings.

She’s likely to take her place at the top of the order, and behind the stumps, in the first of three T20s that could define the multi-format series Australia leads four points to nil.

“She’s tracking along really well,” Australia coach Shelley Nitschke said before the training session.

“She’ll be assessed over the next couple of days, and we’ve got training so we can see where that lands, and hopefully, she’ll be out there for us come Saturday night.

And we're back in Birmingham with some very fond memories from Edgbaston 🏅

First T20I coming up on Saturday! #Ashespic.twitter.com/e9ssgixP70

— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) June 29, 2023

“She‘s a trooper. I thought she kept really well (in the Test), and her batting in the second innings was pivotal for us, to come out and make that 50 and have a really important partnership for us when our backs were probably against the wall a little bit in that second innings.

“She captained brilliantly for someone in their first Test match.

“She‘s a big part of this group, so hopefully that she proves OK to keep going in the white-ball formats.”

The Australians are returning to Edgbaston for the first time since securing the first Commonwealth Games gold medal at the venue in 2022.

Of Australia’s 14-player squad, skipper Meg Lanning is the only one missing from that victorious outfit.

Her place in the side is likely to be taken by Annabel Sutherland, who made a maiden Test century last week in a powerhouse display batting down the order, having also reached three figures in a warm-up game.

“We’re still working through a few things after the Test match and working out our options and having a look at the conditions today,” Nitschke said.

“The good thing about this group (is) everyone‘s always pushing for their spots.”

The second of the three T20s will be at Lord’s where the Australians last played in an ODI in 2013, a team that featured current squad members Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen.

Australia needs only to win two matches to draw the series and retain the Ashes, and England needs to win five of the remaining six matches, with three ODIs to follow the T20s, to win the trophy.

Originally published as Australian captain Alyssa Healy ready for T20s despite two broken fingers