Australian wicketkeeper/batter Alyssa Healy revealed that dissatisfaction regarding her career had almost caused her to quit the game before her remarkable rise. Since 2017, the cricketer has scored 1,143 runs in ODI matches, which included three centuries, at an average of 57.15. In T20Is, she has scored over 1,000 runs at an average of 38.76.
Healy stated that before her career took a turn for the better, she was contemplating retiring from the game.
Cricket.com.au quoted her as saying, “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.”
She further said, “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.”
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Healy was instrumental in helping Australia clinch the 2018 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and was named Player of the Tournament for her contribution. In 2019, she was named the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year after smashing a 61-ball 148 in a T20 match against Sri Lanka.
Healy made her international debut in 2010 against New Zealand. She has played 73 ODIs and scored 1,638 runs with ten half-centuries and three hundred. She has played 103 T20Is and has scored 1,819 runs with nine half-centuries and one century.
Talking about her experience, the cricketer said, “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.”
She further added, “I’m not sure (what convinced me to continue) to be fair, I think Flags 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.”