Beth Mooney will take the gloves in the absence of Alyssa Healy, who will miss at least one game
Healy injury a test for Australia’s depth: Nitschke
Alyssa Healy has been ruled out of Wednesday’s ODI World Cup blockbuster against England due to a calf injury, with Australia to face an anxious wait on their skipper’s availability for the business end of the tournament.
Healy, who is in red-hot form atop the tournament runs table after scoring 142 against India and an unbeaten 113 against Bangladesh, suffered a minor calf strain during a training session held on Saturday.
The 35-year-old will miss at least the game against England at Indore’s Holkar Stadium, and will continue to be assessed ahead of Australia’s final round game against South Africa three days later on Saturday.
Tahlia McGrath will captain the side in her absence.
“Really unfortunate there for Midge with just a slight calf strain, but we know we’ve got some options,” Australia coach Shelley Nitschke told reporters in Indore on Tuesday.
“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 – but just keep assessing it and hopefully she’s she gets up.”
Australia, who are one of two undefeated teams in the tournament alongside England and who have locked in a top four spot, are unlikely to know where or when they will play their semi-final until after Sunday’s final two round matches.
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
SA
6
5
1
0
0
0.276
0
10
2
AUS
5
4
0
0
1
1.818
0
9
3
ENG
5
4
0
0
1
1.49
0
9
4
IND
5
2
3
0
0
0.526
0
4
5
NZ
5
1
2
0
2
-0.245
0
4
6
SL
6
1
3
0
2
-1.035
0
4
7
BAN
6
1
5
0
0
-0.578
0
2
8
PAK
6
0
4
0
2
-2.651
0
2
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
But either way it is a tight timeline for Healy: the first semi-final will be played in Guwahati (with a caveat that Pakistan still have a one per cent chance of advancing to the finals, in which case it would be in Colombo) on Wednesday, October 29, followed by the second semi-final in Navi Mumbai a day later.
India, who are currently fourth on the table and locked in a battle to seal the final top-four berth, will feature in the Navi Mumbai semi should they qualify, while just one point separates Australia, England and South Africa in the top three spots.
Beth Mooney will take the wicketkeeping gloves for Wednesday’s match against England, while Healy would be expected to be replaced at the top of the order by 22-year-old opener Georgia Voll.
Voll has played five one-dayers after making her debut in place of an injured Healy last December, including two ODIs against India at the start of this trip while Phoebe Litchfield managed a minor quad complaint.
“The one is Georgia Voll that’s here and has filled that (opening) role before, but we’ll sit down today and just make sure we’re getting our match-ups right and come to a final decision,” Nitschke said.
“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.”
Beth Mooney presents Georgia Voll with ODI cap no.150
In the second of those appearances, she struck 81 off 68 deliveries at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
The setback is a bitter blow for Healy, whose 2024 T20 World Cup campaign was also soured by injury. There, she missed Australia’s final group game against India and their semi-final defeat to South Africa after injuring her plantar fascia.
It had a domino effect through the remainder of her 2024-25 season, as knee and foot injuries saw her miss the majority of WBBL|10, an ODI series against India, the T20 leg of the Ashes and a T20 tour of New Zealand.
Healy made a long-awaited return from injury in August, playing six white-ball matches for Australia A against India A in Queensland, before taking her spot in the World Cup squad.
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Australia’s group stage matches
October 1: Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs
October 4: v Sri Lanka: Abandoned without a ball bowled
October 8: Australia beat Pakistan by 107 runs
October 12: Australia beat India by 3 wickets
October 16: Australia beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets
October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
