Alyssa Jean Healy (born 24 March 1990) is an Australian former cricketer who played for and captained the Australian women's national team. She also played for New South Wales in domestic cricket, as well as the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. She made her international debut in February 2010 and retired in March 2026.
A right-handed batter and wicket-keeper, Healy first came to prominence in late 2006 when she became the first girl to play among boys in the private schools' competition in New South Wales. She moved up the state age group ranks and made her debut for the senior New South Wales team in the 2007–08 season. She played most of her first two seasons as a specialist batter until the 2009–10 season, where she took up the glovework on a full-time basis for her state. During the same season, she recorded her highest score of 89 not out at faster than a run a ball, and made the most dismissals of any wicket-keeper in the Women's National Cricket League.
Making her international debut in the 2010 Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, Healy played 162 WT20I matches, the second most for any Australian woman, alongside playing 126 WODI matches. She currently holds the record for the most T20I dismissals as a wicket-keeper, male or female, having been involved in 126 dismissals over her career.
Healy was a member of Australia's squad for the 2018 Women's World Twenty20 and won player of the tournament alongside being the leading runs scorer, with 225 runs. She was named the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2018 and 2019 alongside winning the Belinda Clark Award in 2019. Against Sri Lanka in 2019–20, she set an at-the-time record for the highest individual score in a Women's T20I match—148 not out. She was a member of the team during their seven-year WODI series win-streak and six year WT20I series win-streak, including their gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Following the retirement of Meg Lanning from international competition in November 2023, Healy became the captain of the Australian women's team in all three formats. She captained Australia in ODI and Test when they achieved a 16–0 whitewash against England at the 2024–25 Women's Ashes. She announced her retirement from professional cricket in 2026.
Early and personal life Born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Healy is the daughter of Greg, who was a member of the Queensland squad, while Greg's younger brother Ian was Australia's Test wicket-keeper from the late 1980s until 1999 and was the world record holder for the most Test dismissals. Another uncle, Ken, played for Queensland. Despite the family heritage, and watching her uncle represent Australia, she said that she did not become interested in cricket until she moved from Queensland to Sydney as a child and was coaxed into taking up the sport by a friend. She attended high school at MLC School and later Barker College.
In 2015, Healy became engaged to fast bowler Mitchell Starc. They were married in April 2016. They met each other when they were both aged nine as Starc began as a wicketkeeper. Healy and Starc are only the third married couple to play Test cricket, after the English couple the Prideauxs (Roger and Ruth), in the 1950s to 1970, and the Sri Lankan de Alwis couple (Guy and Rasanjali), in the 1980s and 1990s. In March 2020, Starc flew home ahead of the final ODI match against South Africa, so he could watch Healy play in the final of the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Healy's brother-in-law is high jumper Brandon Starc.
Healy's nickname is "Midge", given to her by her father when she was a child.
Healy has a golf handicap of seven (as of 1 Oct 2019) and competes against Starc (handicap of ten) for the annual Steally Cup. Healy and her husband support the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League. They were named joint number-one ticket holders in 2025.
Youth career Her selection at the age of 16 in late 2006 as wicket-keeper for Barker College First XI, the first time a girl had been picked to play among boys in the elite private schools' cricket competition in New South Wales, drew press commentary from various sources. This came about after an anonymous person, believed to be a former male student, circulated an email entitled "Save Barker Cricket Now" in the school community attacking the selection as a "disgrace" and calling for gender segregation of the cricket team. The sportsmaster of Barker College condemned the anonymous writer as "gutless" and maintained that Healy's selection was based on merit. Ian Healy and Alex Blackwell, a cricketer for the Australian women's team and former Barker student, also defended the selection and criticised the email author. The emailer was also criticised, and Alyssa Healy commended, by social commentators in newspapers. In 2010, she reflected "I'd do it all again...I really enjoyed playing school cricket with the boys and it definitely helped lift my skills and tighten my technique." Both she and Australian teammate Ellyse Perry have publicly advocated girls playing against boys.
In January 2007, Healy was selected in the New South Wales team to play in the Under-19 interstate competition. Opening the batting in all three matches and keeping in only the second of these, she scored 47, 73 and 41 in her first three matches, and took one catch. She went on to end with 345 runs at a batting average of 57.50, topping the run-scorers list and was named the best under-17 player at the tournament. The following month, she was selected in the Australia Youth team, composed of under-23 cricketers, to play against New Zealand A, the only player selected before making their senior domestic debut. She scored 10 not out, 41 and 63 in three matches, and made one stumping. Though she top-scored amongst the Australians in the final match with 63 from 84 balls, it was not enough to prevent a 22-run defeat. She played as a wicket-keeper batting in the middle-order in the first match, and opened in the last two matches, playing purely as a batter. The series ended 1–1 after the second match was tied.
Domestic career Women's National Cricket League Senior domestic debut (2007/08–2008/09) At the start of the 2007–08 season, she made her senior debut for the New South Wales Breakers in the Australian domestic one-day league. She was used as a specialist batter in the top-order, as Leonie Coleman, a wicket-keeper in the Australian squad, also played for New South Wales. She made her debut against South Australia and was unsuccessful to begin with, scoring only 24 runs in her first five innings. After one month at senior level, she broke through with a match-winning performance in her sixth senior game. After Queensland had made 170, Healy came in with the score at 5/99 after 32 overs, with 18 overs remaining. She raised the run rate, scoring 41 not out from 50 balls, with eight fours, shepherding the tail-enders and guiding her state to a two-wicket win with 17 balls to spare.
New South Wales reached the final and were awarded the title because they placed first in the qualifying matches after rain washed out the deciding game. Healy ended the season with 78 runs at 11.14. She also played in two Twenty20 interstate matches. She scored two and made a stumping in the first match, and neither batted nor kept wicket in the latter. New South Wales prevailed in both.
At the end of the season, she was selected for the Under-23 Australian team to play a series against the senior England and Australian teams. She scored 45, 1 and 41 not out in three matches. In the third match, she combined for a second-wicket partnership of 52 with Elyse Villani, hitting six boundaries in 62 balls and guiding her team to an eight-wicket win over the Australian team. Playing as a specialist batter, she also took three catches. The new 2008–09 season started the same way, with the Under-23 national team playing against Australia and India. The first match, against India, was washed out and Healy made a duck [zero] and 9 in the other matches. Playing as a batter, she did not take a catch.
Healy again played as a batter, with Coleman ensconced behind the stumps. In the first four matches of the new domestic season, she batted only once, scoring nine. In these matches she was placed in the lower-order and did not bowl. She was dropped after these four matches.
She then played six matches for the Second XI in the space of a week, mostly as a top-order batter, sometimes opening and as a wicket-keeper. New South Wales won all the fixtures except for one that was abandoned due to inclement weather. She scored 120 runs at 40.00, took six catches and made three stumpings, and was recalled to the senior team after one week in the second-string outfit. In her first three matches back, Healy was placed in the middle-order and not required to bat or keep wickets. In the last league match, she scored 59 from 55 balls in an 89-run partnership at faster than a run a ball with Lisa Sthalekar against Victoria. New South Wales won by three wickets despite losing Healy and three subsequent batters in the closing phase of the run-chase. In the final against the same team the following week, Healy made 11 from 22 balls before being run out, but New South Wales nevertheless won by six wickets with more than 15 overs to spare to claim the title. Healy ended the one-day competition with 79 runs at 26.33. She was named Australia's 30-strong shortlist for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup, but was not a part of the final squad of 15.
Healy also played in two Twenty20 matches for her state during the season, scoring 35 from 27 balls against South Australia and 16 from 21 balls against Victoria. She was New South Wales' second top-scorer in both matches; the first was won but the second lost.
Full-time wicket-keeper (2009/10)
After the Women's World Cup held in early 2009, Coleman transferred to play for the Australian Capital Territory, so Healy became New South Wales' wicket-keeper on a full-time basis for the start of the 2009–10 season. After making scores of 11, 12 and 29 in her first three innings of the one-day season, she struck an unbeaten 89 against Victoria. Coming in upon the fall of Leah Poulton with the score at 1/9 after three overs, she hit 13 fours in 82 balls, putting on partnerships of 72 with Blackwell and 82 with Sthalekar. New South Wales reached their target of 187 with more than 13 overs to spare and Healy was named the Player of the Match, having earlier taken a catch and made a stumping. Her season was interrupted by her selection in the Australian Under-21 team to play against the New Zealand Emerging Players. In five matches, she scored 50 runs at 10.00, took five catches and made one stumping as Australia won the series 4–1.
In the final of the one-day competition, she scored 23 from 37 balls batting at No. 3 and took two catches as New South Wales defeated Victoria by 59 runs. Healy ended her first full season as a wicket-keeper with 208 runs at 29.71, the second-highest average in her team behind Blackwell. In 11 matches, she also took 11 catches and completed 9 stumpings, effecting more dismissals than any other player.
She made 52 runs at 13.00 in seven T20 matches. Her best score was an unbeaten 20 from 13 balls in an eight-wicket win over Tasmania. In the final, Victoria batted first and made 5/127, Healy completing a catch and stumping. In reply, Healy made a duck as New South Wales lost four wickets in the first 13 balls and were all out for 75 to lose by 22 runs.
Women's Big Bash League
In November 2018, she was named in the Sydney Sixers' squad for the 2018–19 Women's Big Bash League season. In April 2019, Cricket Australia awarded her with a contract ahead of the 2019–20 season.
International career International debut (2010)