Alyssa Healy - Senior Domestic Debut

Senior Domestic Debut

At the start of the 2007–08 season, she made her senior debut for the New South Wales Breakers in the Australian domestic one-day league. She was used as a specialist batsman in the top-order, as Leonie Coleman, a wicket-keeper in the Australian squad, also played for New South Wales. She made her debut against South Australia and was unsuccessful to being with, scoring only 24 runs in her first five innings. After one month at senior level, she broke through with a match-winning performance in her sixth senior game. After Queensland had made 170, Healy came in with the score at 5/99 after 32 overs, with 18 overs remaining. She raised the run rate, scoring 41 not out from 50 balls, with eight fours, shepherding the tail-enders and guiding her state to a two-wicket win with 17 balls to spare.

New South Wales reached the final and were awarded the title because they placed first in the qualifying matches after rain washed out the deciding game. Healy ended the season with 78 runs at 11.14. She also played in two Twenty20 interstate matches. She scored two and made a stumping in the first match, and neither batted nor kept wicket in the latter. New South Wales prevailed in both.

At the end of the season, she was selected for the Under-23 Australian team to play a series against the senior England and Australian teams. She scored 45, 1 and 41 not out in three matches. In the third match, she combined for a second-wicket partnership of 52 with Elyse Villani, hitting six boundaries in 62 balls and guiding her team to an eight-wicket win over the Australian team. Playing as a specialist batsman, she also took three catches. The new 2008–09 season started the same way, with the Under-23 national team playing against Australia and India. The first match, against India, was washed out and Healy made a duck and 9 in the other matches. Playing as a batsman, she did not take a catch.

Healy again played as a batsman, with Coleman ensconced behind the stumps. In the first four matches of the new domestic season, she batted only once, scoring nine. In these matches she was placed in the lower-order and did not bowl. She was dropped after these four matches.

She then played six matches for the Second XI in the space of a week, mostly as a top-order batsman, sometimes opening and as a wicket-keeper. New South Wales won all the fixtures except for one that was abandoned due to inclement weather. She scored 120 runs at 40.00, took six catches and made three stumpings, and was recalled to the senior team after one week in the second-string outfit. In her first three matches back, Healy was placed in the middle-order and not required to bat or keep wickets. In the last league match, she scored 59 from 55 balls in a 89-run partnership at faster than a run a ball with Lisa Sthalekar against Victoria. New South Wales won by three wickets despite losing Healy and three subsequent batsmen in the closing phase of the run-chase. In the final against the same team the following week, Healy made 11 from 22 balls before being run out, but New South Wales nevertheless won by six wickets with more than 15 overs to spare to claim the title. Healy ended the one-day competition with 79 runs at 26.33. She was named Australia's 30-strong shortlist for the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup, but was not a part of the final squad of 15.

Healy also played in two Twenty20 matches for her state during the season, scoring 35 from 27 balls against South Australia and 16 from 21 balls against Victoria. She was New South Wales' second top-scorer in both matches; the first was won but the second lost.