Australia captain Alyssa Healy has confirmed that the home series against India in February-March 2026 will be her last. She will retire from all forms of cricket months before the T20 World Cup 2026.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy has made a shocking retirement announcement from all cricket, set to bring down curtains to an illustrious career. Healy would hang her boots from all cricket after the home series against India in February-March 2026.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Healy said on the podcast Willow Talk. “The last few years has been probably more mentally draining than anything else. A few injuries. I’ve got to dive into the well, and the well is getting less and less full of water. Getting harder to dive back in there.
“I’ve always felt like I’ve had a competitive edge in that I want to compete, I want to win and I want to challenge myself on the park. I’ve felt as I’ve got a little bit older, I’ve not necessarily lost all of it, but I’ve lost some of that.
“I think the WBBL [last year] was probably a bit of a wake-up call. Not being able to hold the bat with two hands didn’t help either, but waking up and going, ‘just another day of cricket’, really surprised myself because I still thought I loved playing the game.”
India series to be Healy’s last
Meanwhile, India will be touring Australia in February-March for a three-match T20I, three-match ODI and a one-off Test series. Healy would not be featuring in the T20Is but would be playing in the ODIs and the Test at WACA to bring an end to her career, during which she became an eight-time World champion.
The T20 World Cup 2026 will be played in England in June, and as Healy will not be playing the tournament, she won’t be featuring in the T20I series against India.ย “There might be a little bit of change within that series [against India] leading into the World Cup, and some leadership stuff. But for me, the opportunity to play at home, still captain the team in that series is going to be really special,” Healy said
“I never wanted to announce it, wanted to get to the end of the Test match [against India, starting March 6 in Perth], but with me not going into the T20 World Cup, it’s forced a little bit of change. Not a lot of T20 cricket leading into that for the girls, so it’s probably the place for me to make a decision on that format and give the girls an opportunity to prepare for that World Cup knowing that I’m not going to be there.
“It has forced an announcement of sorts, but it has given me some peace as well because I’ve known this in the back of my mind for probably six months. But to finally say it and get it out there, would be ideal for everyone to just clap it and move on.
“At the end of the day, to have an opportunity to finish at home against India, which is on the calendar one of the biggest series for us. I thought that would be a really cool way to finish with some of my teammates and some family around as well. It would’ve been nice to do it in India with a World Cup, but doing it at home will be something special.”
The Australian wicketkeeper stated that the injury during the ODI World Cup 2025 took a blow on her, which further hindered her in the WBBL.
“I think I’ve been doing this for a really long time and competed at the highest level for that amount of time, [so announcing retirement] wasn’t a sad thing,” she said at a press conference in Sydney. “I’ve always enjoyed the perspective of there’s so much more to life than just cricket. I’m really blessed with that perspective throughout my life.
“I guess when it comes to retirement, it’s quite daunting for a lot of people, but standing here right now, I’m really excited for the future come the end of March.
“I’ll obviously be excited to run back out there a couple more times for Australia, but what happens after that I think is going to be really exciting, and I’m looking forward to that next chapter. It was just probably one of those moments where you know that one door closes and another one might open.”
Healy is an eight-time World Cup winner with Australia. She has won the T20 World Cups inย 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2023 and the ODI World Cup inย 2018 and 2019.