Healy gets good workout before World Cup challenge

Alyssa Healy showed fine form in the ‘A’ series against Australia and India, ahead of her expected international return next month in India, scoring 124 runs in three T20s before upping the ante with 242 runs from three one-day games. She was the top-scorer in both the series.

The Australia skipper, who has struggled with injuries since late 2024, was last seen in Australia colours in February 2025 against England.

While none of the games had international status, Healy would take heart from the fact that she thrived against a competitive India A team featuring Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, and Yastika Bhatia.

The Australia ‘A’ coach Dan Marsh certainly felt that Healy had a good outing in the middle, believing that her performances place her well ahead of the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India.

“Alyssa batted well today. All pre-season she's been looking good and it was just nice to see her get some match practice and put that into place heading into India,” Marsh was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au, in the aftermath of her match-winning 137* in the third one-day game.

“She'll be really happy with her two weeks (with Australia A), will have a nice little rest at home now and be ready to go to India.”

Healy had herself backed the notion after the second one-day game, where she had scored 91.

“They've (India A) got a really spin-heavy attack and we're going to have to play a lot of that throughout the World Cup as well, a lot of the middle overs will be spin-biased,” Healy had been quoted as saying by cricket.com.au after the game, which Australia A had lost in the last over.

While Australia A had won the T20s 3-0, they lost the One day series 1-2.

But it proved to be a good practising ground for the likes of Healy, Tahlia McGrath and Darcie Brown, with Healy also keeping the wickets in the one-day segment.

Australia will feature in a three-game ODI series in India ahead of the World Cup, ensuring that their skipper gets more games to be at her very best before the global tournament.