Healy faces fitness test but fellow Australian star set to return for historic Ashes clash

Captain Alyssa Healy is in doubt but star all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner is expected to return for the historic day-night women’s Ashes Test at the MCG.

Healy stepped up her bid to return from mid-foot soreness for the pink-ball clash at training on Tuesday, when the veteran batter-wicketkeeper took to the MCG nets.

Speaking before a twilight training session when the Australians were presented with the ICC women’s championship, Australian coach Shelley Nitschke said Healy, who has had three injuries over the past four months, had work to do ahead of Thursday’s coin toss.

Hoping to return: Alyssa Healy has work to do to prove her fitness for the MCG Test.Credit: Getty Images

“She is going as well as can be expected … she has been out in a [moon] boot, taking some weight off that foot. She will have a test today, and we will see where that lands. There will be some discussions about that, where we think if she can get through a four-day Test,” Nitschke said.

“We don’t have to actually lock it in until the toss, but there are obviously repercussions around that, who is keeping and what our line up looks like. People will want to know their role coming in.”

When the squad was released on January 23, Healy was announced as a batter only. Beth Mooney will be wicketkeeper, should Healy not take the gloves in a bid to ease the pressure on her foot.

Gardner, who missed the Twenty20 series because of a calf issue, is expected to return.

“Ash is tracking really well. I would expect her to … be available for selection,” Nitschke said.

While the Ashes have been retained for yet another cycle – Australia have held the top prize since 2015 – Nitschke’s team is determined to finish the campaign with victory in the day-night Test, the first time a women’s Test has been held at the venue since 1949.

Welcome back: Ash Gardner is expected to return from a calf injury.Credit: Getty Images

Australia’s resolute manner has been on display all summer. They claimed 3-0 sweeps in the one-day international and Twenty20 components of the series, meaning they hold a 12-0 advantage in series points, with two points granted for a white-ball win. The final crusade will involve a quick turnaround for the one-off, four-day Test, where four points are awarded to the winner.

“That’s the challenge for all teams across multi-format series. We have had the pink ball in and around for a little while to use when they want. I think it’s something we are getting better at – we are starting to play a few more Tests now. But it’s certainly a quick turnaround,” Nitschke said when asked about the short break between white-ball matches and the Test.

Nitschke said her team would review how the drop-in wickets at the MCG had played throughout the first-class season and in the men’s Boxing Day Test against India, the latter culminating in a stunning Australian win in the final session of day five.

The pitch had a strong cushioning of grass on Tuesday, as it did leading into the men’s Test.

Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird said he expected strong crowd support through the Test.

“When you look across the world, what they have achieved stands up against any team in the world. In Australia, I think, genuinely, this is the best sporting team Australia has produced,” Baird said.

“If you go through the records, it speaks for itself. Whether it be, before Dubai [last year], three T20 World Cups in a row, they are holders of the ODI [World Cup] and today they get the ICC championship trophy which reflects over four years, success against the top 10 teams. They are No.1, and they are No.1 for a reason.”

The last time a women’s Ashes series featured a day-night Test was 2017, when Ellyse Perry stroked a double century at North Sydney Oval.

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