Women’s Cricket World Cup: Australia captain Alyssa Healy suffers injury setback ahead of clash with England in Indore | Cricket News

Australia captain Alyssa Healy has been ruled out of Wednesday’s World Cup match against England due to a calf injury.

The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, who has already scored two centuries in the tournament, suffered a minor calf strain in training and will now sit out of their penultimate group match.

She is also a doubt to face South Africa three days later, with Australia – already through to the knockout stages – hopeful Healy will be able to return for their semi-final on either October 29 or 30.

Beth Mooney will keep wicket in Healy’s absence, with Tahlia McGrath standing in as captain for Australia, while Georgia Voll is expected to feature at the top of the batting order.

“Really unfortunate there for Midge (Healy) with just a slight calf strain, but we know we’ve got some options,” Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke said on Cricket Australia’s website.

“We’re just going to keep assessing her day by day, and give her every opportunity to play the next game against South Africa, and then just see how that plays out with the rehab.

“Georgia Voll is here and has filled that (opening) role before, but we’ll sit down and just make sure we’re getting our match-ups right. She’s the obvious choice, but we’ve certainly got some depth there in our batting so there are some opportunities outside of that move as well.”

Healy is currently Australia’s leading run scorer after making 294 from her four matches, including 142 against India before an unbeaten 113 against Bangladesh, having also been the tournament’s top scorer during Australia’s 2022 World Cup success.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports: “I guess it’s slightly better that it [injury] happens now before a semi-final or a final. She has got eight days to get fit for those knockout games but a calf injury, you don’t want to be risking.

“It is a blow [for Australia] because it’s Alyssa Healy. She is one of the great players in the world game at the moment and coming in off the back of two magnificent hundreds.

“England will be pleased, but also realise that whoever comes in will be a seriously good cricketer.”

Can England take advantage of Healy-less Australia?

England are also already assured of a semi-final spot after four wins from their first five matches, the other abandoned due to rain, with Charlotte Edwards’ side beating co-hosts India on Sunday to secure their passage with two games to spare.

They beat Australia by four wickets in a World Cup warm-up last month, their first meeting since a 16-0 humiliation in a multi-format Ashes series earlier this year, with Amy Jones hoping to see England follow on victory over India with another strong performance.

“Really looking forward to challenge,” Jones told Sky Sports. “I think their [Australia’s] challenge is the whole squad, it’s the depth that they’ve got. The batters just keep on coming and they’ve got some of the best bowlers in the world.

“We know it’s a great challenge but it’s a great time to play them after a good win the other day. Confidence is high in our group and hopefully we’re in for a high-scoring game of cricket.”

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, looking to see her side extend their unbeaten start, added: “The Australia match is one to look forward to, and get into the battle. We are happy to get the qualification, but want to take some confidence into the knock-outs.”

England’s World Cup results and fixtures

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