Declaring herself reinvigorated by captaining Australia in the Ashes, Alyssa Healy has halted any talk of retirement by signing a three-year deal with the Sydney Sixers.
Off contract since the end of last summer, Healy has agreed a contract extension to keep her in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) with the Sixers until the end of 2025-26.
Key points:
Alyssa Healy has been with the Sydney Sixers since the WBBL’s inception in 2015/16She has now signed a three-year deal, which will take her time with the franchise to 11 seasonsHealy, 33, says her stint as Australian captain for the Women’s Ashes series has reinvigorated her thinking about the game
Leaving the club was never realistically an option for Healy, with the main decision for Australia’s stand-in skipper being how much longer she wanted to commit for.
The 33-year-old has spoken in the past about considering her future, with an ongoing joke between her and husband Mitchell Starc that she has changed her mind multiple times.
Players often continue in franchise cricket after the end of their international career, but Healy’s long-term deal is an indication she is not planning to walk away any time soon.
After taking the reins with Meg Lanning unavailable for Australia’s retention of the Ashes in England earlier this year, Healy will start the summer captaining the side against West Indies.
And the wicketkeeper-batter said her leadership role in England had rejuvenated the way she thought about cricket, with a multi-format tour of India and a Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh to come in the next year.
“The only thing we pondered was how long we wanted the deal to be,” Healy said of her Sixers contract.
“The beauty of the situation is I have had an exciting opportunity to captain the side in the Ashes.
“Whether that is something that will happen moving forward or not doesn’t matter.
“It has reinvigorated the way I think about the game and the way I am enjoying it.
“There is an exciting 12 months ahead with World Cups and trips to Bangladesh. I am still loving playing for Australia, but the WBBL is great to be part of.”
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Elevated to the captaincy a week before the Ashes tour when Lanning was ruled out, Healy had one of the tougher series of her career with 126 runs at 15.75 across all formats.
She is desperate to rebound, and be better prepared to juggle the captaincy and her own game at short notice.
“It’s made me think about what I need as an individual,” Healy said.
“Throughout my whole career it has just been, ‘Do my job for the team, do what the team needs’.
“I have always enjoyed being vice-captain because that is the way you think; you are in the right position to read the game and help the captain out.
“But being skipper you don’t have time to think about anything.
“You are focusing on the game and tactics, and I forgot to think about what I need to make sure I perform.
“It has made me think about my game and what I can do to be better.”
AAP
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