Australia will tackle England in Indore tomorrow without Alyssa Healy after the captain picked up what team medics have called a “minor calf strain” during Saturday’s training run.
Vice-captain Tahlia McGrath steps up as skipper, and 20-year-old Georgia Voll is the favourite to slide into the XI. Voll spent the best part of an hour in the nets on Monday and is expected to partner Phoebe Litchfield at the top of the order.
A brief update from Cricket Australia confirmed the injury and added that Healy “will continue to be monitored” ahead of the final league match against South Africa later in the week.
Australia have already booked a semi-final berth, winning four of five group games to sit clear at the summit. That security gives the selectors room to rest their first-choice keeper-batter, yet nobody is pretending her absence is insignificant. After a quiet lead-in series against India, Healy spluttered early in the World Cup before clicking: 142 from 107 balls against India and an unbeaten 113 off 77 against Bangladesh reminded everyone of her match-shaping ability.
“It’s frustrating timing, but better now than in a knock-out,” a team staffer admitted off-mic. McGrath, meanwhile, sounded calm about the extra responsibility earlier in the week: “We’ve planned for contingencies all tour; nothing really changes for us,” she said.
England, needing points to shore up their own semi-final hopes, will not mind the reprieve. Even so, Australia’s depth remains considerable, and the focus will quietly shift to how quickly Healy’s calf settles before the business end of the tournament.
