‘Finally biting me’: Injured Alyssa Healy confident she’ll be fit for India but concedes workload management is becoming key

Alyssa Healy is confident she will be fit to take on India next month, but with one eye on the Ashes, the Australia captain knows she may have a difficult decision to make.

Australian captain Alyssa Healy is confident she will be fit to take on India next month but could miss national games to ensure she is ready to go for the Ashes in January.

Healy aggravated a slight knee injury during the Sixers’ game last weekend against the Thunder. However, the 34-year-old was given the all-clear to play their next game against Brisbane last Thursday, just not as a wicketkeeper to ensure the knee could be managed.

The decision has since been made that Healy will miss the rest of the WBBL10 season with her focus now turning to international cricket.

While Healy wouldn’t confirm the exact nature of the injury, she suggested it was something she might have been dealing with for some time.

“It’s just really angry at the moment,” Healy said. “Whether it’s old or whether it’s new, it doesn’t really matter. We’re trying to settle it as quickly as we can.

“It’s why I didn’t keep the other night, it was a little bit niggly and I couldn’t really squat.

“I’m probably going to take these next couple of weeks off and try and get it right for the internationals, which is disappointing because I want to be part of the WBBL. But cricket for Australia comes first.”

Healy did not keep against the Heat at North Sydney Oval to manage the knee injury. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Healy said it was “low risk” to continue playing for the Sixers but she had been hoping to find some momentum ahead of three international series against India, New Zealand and then England in the Ashes.

The first of three one-day internationals against India commences on December 5 in Brisbane, giving Healy 17 days to prove her fitness. Asked whether there is a scenario where she would captain Australia but not take the gloves, Healy suggested that was unlikely.

“I’ve had a really disjointed pre-season leading into the World Cup and trying to play cricket’s been really hard, so I just want to be out there as much as I can,” Healy said.

“I don’t like the idea of me running around in the field in an international game. I don’t want it to feel like we’re taking the piss to an extent. I’d rather … if I can do my job properly, that’s keeping.

“If that does happen, we’ve got a pretty handy backup in Beth Mooney. But at this point in time, it’s to be right to keep and bat, and hopefully captain. We’ll know more in the next 10 days to see how it responds to everything that we’re trying.”

The Australian captain confirmed she could miss games against either India or New Zealand to ensure she is fit for the Ashes. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The skipper was already dealing with a ruptured plantar fascia from the T20 World Cup that she was going to manage throughout the summer. However, Healy conceded that this latest injury was likely to see her workload decrease particularly with a Test match on the horizon in January.

“(Missing games is) probably coming more into play in the women’s game, knowing the schedule that we’ve got,” Healy said. “Being skipper, that’s going to be hard to do, to pull me out of fixtures.

“The reality is the Ashes is really important, and there’s obviously a Test match in there as well, so the word workload management keeps jumping up

“I still feel like I’m 21 and running around, but it’s not the case, my body’s suggesting otherwise. Maybe (my good run with injuries is) finally biting me in the bum at 34, getting over the hill to an extent.

“Maybe it was time to take a little break anyway and refresh for what is going to be a big summer, but those decisions will have to come into play at some point.”

Originally published as ‘Finally biting me’: Injured Alyssa Healy confident she’ll be fit for India but concedes workload management is becoming key