Alyssa Healy’s decision to retire was made alone. She knew the time had come

On Tuesday morning, Australian women’s cricket captain Alyssa Healy met her mum, dad and husband for a coffee before training. The trio have long been Healy’s counsel, but for the most important decision of her career, she had barely conferred with them.

Instead, earlier that morning and without much input from anyone else, Healy’s retirement from all forms of cricket was announced. After next month’s multi-format series against India, she will retire as captain, some 16 years after making her debut for the national team.

“I just made it and told them, and off we went,” Healy said at NSW Cricket headquarters at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday.

Some mental fatigue had been dawning on Healy’s career, and that is what calcified the 35-year-old’s decision before anyone else could have a say.

“The timing’s right,” she said. “I lost a little bit of my competitive edge … I’ve been doing it a long period of time.

“I’ve loved every minute of it, but I felt like every contest I wanted to be a part of, I wanted to compete, and it’s probably drained me a little bit more over the years.

“To be completely honest, if I had fought my way through to the World Cup, it’s probably not doing the right thing by my teammates and probably the country as well, to half-ass that opportunity.”

And while parents Sandy and Greg and her husband, cricketer Mitchell Starc, had little to say in the decision, they were there on Tuesday to support it.

“They’re supportive of me regardless of what I do and what decisions I make, so I’m really grateful to have that backing. In particular, for someone like Mitch to just say, I’ve got your back, and whatever you decide to do, you know we can make it work. So I’m really lucky in that regard.”

Healy, 35, made her national team debut in 2010 and was named captain in 2023. She earned a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2022 and led Australia to a clean sweep win over England in the 2025 women’s Ashes.

She’s twice been named ICC women’s T20I cricketer of the year, and won the Belinda Clark Award in 2019 as Australia’s best female international cricketer. Domestically, she was a founding Sydney Sixers team member and has compiled more than 3000 runs across 11 seasons in the women’s Big Bash League, lifting the trophy twice.

But it’s the achievements off the pitch, including seeing the women’s game turn professional, that Healy is most proud of.

“It’s probably only today that that’s really hit me, that actually probably means more to me than the runs on the board or the dismissals. It’s about growing the game and inspiring the next generation.”

Her mum, Sandy, agreed.

“We’re very proud,” she said. “When Alyssa first started playing in this sport, it was just the families that sat together in a little huddle. Now to think they had close to 90,000 people [when] playing at Melbourne not so long ago,” she said. “I mean that’s a tremendous increase in people watching women’s cricket in particular.”

Although Healy wouldn’t reveal future career plans on Tuesday, many – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – expect she’ll continue commentating.

“Alyssa Healy is a legend. She has had such an incredible career playing for Australia and leading Australia,” Albanese said during a press conference.

“I think she’s a great cricket commentator. I think, you know, my two favourite commentators are both women, one from Australia, one from England at the moment, I think are just outstanding. And we certainly wish Alyssa all the very best.”

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg added his voice to the chorus of praise, writing that Healy was one of the all-time great cricketers, but would be equally remembered for her contributions off the pitch.

Indeed, after the press conference had ended and Healy had changed from green and gold back to her NSW kit, a group of young boys emerged from the nets to find her. One by one, they presented their gloves for her to sign.

“I feel like the cricket side of it’s one thing,” Healy said. “But it’s the little moments and the interactions that I feel like I’ve had outside of the game to whether it be inspiring a young girl or boy to pick up the game or to talk to somebody about the game, that’s really what’s made this all special.”

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