Australia wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy has revealed that she wanted to quit the game because of dissatisfaction she had regarding her career. She seriously considered retiring from cricket before a remarkable turnaround in her fortunes.
Since October 2017, Healy has accumulated 1,143 runs at an outstanding average of 57.15, including three centuries in One-Day Internationals (ODI). When it comes to T20Is, she has amassed 1,000-plus runs at an average of 38.76.
These phenomenal achievements don’t leave a feeling that a few years down the line, Healy was looking to end her career.
“I remember having this discussion with (national selector) Shawn Flegler … it wasn’t necessarily that I felt like I was at a crossroads, but I could have easily walked away from the game and been happy with what I’d done and that I’d contributed to successful teams,” Healy said as quoted by cricket.com.au.
Healy, who is married to Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc, was named player of the tournament after Australia won the 2018 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
In October 2019, she smashed the highest individual score (61-ball 148) in women’s T20Is against Sri Lanka. The wicket-keeper batter was also named the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2019.
“I probably would have been 26, 27 at the time, so it wasn’t so long ago. I think I was probably just frustrated with my cricket and didn’t really know what more I could achieve or what more I could do to better myself or my cricket,” Healy added.
“You come in at such a young age, and you play for a long period of time, so you’re not sure where the end is, and you feel like you can walk away and do something else with your life while you’re still young,” Healy added further.
Healy made her international debut in 2010 against New Zealand. In 73 ODIs, she has scored 1,638 runs with three hundreds and ten half-centuries. She also has clubbed 1,819 runs in 103 T20Is with one century and nine fifties.
“I’m not sure (what convinced me to continue) to be fair, I think Flegs reassured me that I was doing the right thing for the team and I was doing my job and that if I kept doing that, then some more opportunities might open up,” Healy signed off.
