The much-awaited 3rd edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is only a few days away, but the competitive UP Warriorz camp has suffered a massive setback, with skipper Alyssa Healy forced to opt out of the season to fully recover from recent foot injuries.
Australian skipper Alyssa Healy has faced a challenging run with injuries since the T20 World Cup in October 2024, where she ruptured the plantar fascia in her right foot. Despite managing her workload and missing a few initial WBBL games, she returned to play for the Sydney Sixers, only for her campaign to end early due to an injury to her left knee.
The same knee injury ruled Healy out of Australia’s home ODI series against India in December 2024. However, later that month, she returned as a specialist batter for the away ODI series against New Zealand before resuming her role as a keeper-batter in the ODI leg of the Ashes 2025. On her return, she was consistently among the runs, registering scores of 34, 39, 70, 29, and 15, before once again being seen in a moon boot.
Healy missed the T20I leg of the Ashes 2025 but, committed to playing and captaining Australia, returned for the One-Off Ashes Test as a specialist batter despite a stress reaction in her right foot. She contributed 34 runs before being controversially dismissed. Nonetheless, Australia secured a historic victory in the first-ever pink-ball Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, winning by an innings and 122 runs to complete an unprecedented 16-0 sweep.
Minutes after the historic triumph, Healy confirmed to reporters that she would not be playing in the WPL. She said, “Unfortunately for me, I’ve got a couple of months feet up. I’m pretty bummed by that, but at the same time elated to have a little bit of downtime and try and get my body right. But I’m looking forward to sticking my feet in an ice bucket.”
Opting out of WPL participation, Healy also remains doubtful for Australia’s 3-match T20I series against New Zealand in late March. However, she is already focusing on Australia’s World Cup title defense later this year in India. Healy shared, “It’s been a really frustrating probably 18 months for me … you get yourself right, back playing, and something else goes wrong.”
She added, “(I’m) going to have a look at a couple of things and how I can be better, maybe a bit more disciplined in some areas, and make sure I’m right to go in particular for that ODI World Cup.” She remained tight-lipped about her availability for the next Ashes in 2027 but expressed her strong desire to lead Australia’s World Cup title defense. She mentioned it as one of her four key goals when presenting her case for captaincy.
“I’ve got some thoughts in the back of my mind about what it looks like for me moving forward. But I think most importantly, for me when I took on this role, I wanted to get us to that ODI World Cup and get us into a really great place as a group, playing some really good cricket, and to hold that trophy at the end of it.”
The 2025 WPL kicks off on February 14 in Vadodara before moving to Bengaluru and Lucknow and concludes in Mumbai with the Final on March 15. UP Warriorz will open their campaign on the third day against hosts Gujarat Giants. While the team has yet to announce Healy’s replacement, they remain a balanced and competitive side with the likes of Chamari Athapaththu, Tahlia McGrath, Uma Chetry, Alana King, and Sophie Ecclestone.
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