Alyssa Healy Explained: Australia Women's Explosive Wicketkeeper-Batter
How a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter from New South Wales became Australia Women's most explosive opening batter — setting the World Cup final record score and captaining Australia Women to multiple ICC titles.
Alyssa Healy (born 24 March 1990 in Southport, Queensland) is a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter who plays for Australia Women and Sydney Sixers (WBBL). She is Australia Women's most explosive opening batter — a wicketkeeper who opens the batting with stunning aggression and whose record-breaking innings in ICC tournament finals have made her one of the most celebrated players in women's cricket history.
2023 ICC Women's ODI World Cup Final: 170 Off 138 Balls
Healy scored 170 runs off 138 balls in the 2023 ICC Women's ODI World Cup final — the highest score ever made in a Women's World Cup final. An innings of 170 in a one-day final, when wickets must be protected to post a competitive total, is one of the most dominant individual batting performances in the history of women's cricket. The innings powered Australia Women to a match-winning total and was recognised as the performance of the tournament globally.
Explosive Opening Batter
Healy bats left-handed at the top of the order with exceptional aggression — attacking the bowling from the first ball rather than waiting to play herself in. Her ability to hit boundaries and sixes from the opening overs puts opposing bowling teams under immediate pressure and forces them to change their plans. In T20I cricket especially, where every dot ball is wasted opportunity, Healy's aggressive opening approach puts Australia Women ahead of run-rate requirements from the earliest stages of an innings.
Australia Women's Captain
Healy has captained Australia Women — taking over the captaincy from Meg Lanning and leading the team in ICC tournaments. Captaining Australia Women is one of the most prestigious leadership roles in women's cricket: the team is consistently the best-ranked in the world and the expectation of success in every ICC tournament is enormous. Her leadership alongside her explosive batting makes her one of the most complete players in women's cricket history.
Sydney Sixers and WBBL
Healy plays for Sydney Sixers in the Women's Big Bash League — one of the WBBL's eight franchises and a consistently strong performing team in the competition. The WBBL has been central to Australia Women's dominance of world cricket: the competition provides domestic players with the most competitive women's franchise T20 environment in the world, and Sydney Sixers have been one of the premier franchises in that competition.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Alyssa Healy?
Alyssa Healy (born 24 March 1990, Southport, Queensland) is Australia Women's most explosive opening wicketkeeper-batter. She scored 170 off 138 balls in the 2023 Women's ODI World Cup final — the highest score in a Women's World Cup final — and has captained Australia Women. She is the niece of Ian Healy and is married to Mitchell Starc.
What is Alyssa Healy's most famous innings?
Her 170 off 138 balls in the 2023 ICC Women's ODI World Cup final — the highest individual score in a Women's World Cup final and one of the most dominant batting performances in women's cricket history. The innings powered Australia Women to a match-winning total.
Who is Alyssa Healy related to in cricket?
She is the niece of Ian Healy — Australia's legendary Test wicketkeeper from the 1990s. She is also married to Mitchell Starc, Australia's left-arm fast bowler, making the Healy-Starc coupling one of cricket's most prominent sporting families.