Alyssa Healy celebrated the Sydney Sixers' thrilling WBBL semi-final win with a grade cricket match, kickstarting her preparations for Saturday's decider against Brisbane.
Less than 18 hours after pulling off one of the clutch plays of the summer to run out Sophie Molineux on the last ball and force a semi-final super over against the Melbourne Renegades, Healy was back out representing the Sydney Tigers against Gordon.
"I got a phone call from Dad, who is still involved at Sydney, and said we're playing in the T20 semis on Sunday and I said yes straight away," Healy said.
"It's something that when you've got a spare day I'm more than happy to do.
"I think last year I couldn't make a run in Big Bash and went back and played club cricket and it put me on the right trajectory."
Healy's 15 in the Tigers' Twenty20 loss was her first game of the season but came in a summer where a lack of national men's players' involvement at grade level was a talking point out of the culture review.
Healy is arguably just as deserving of a break as anyone.
She was the star of Australia's World Twenty20 success in the Caribbean in November after two months of non-stop cricket for the national team, and has kept in all 15 of the Sixers' WBBL games, which began just three days after lading home from the West Indies.
"I feel like it's almost a responsibility of mine or ours as a playing group to almost teach the young girls coming through the way to play the game," Healy said.
"There are just little things in the game where the match awareness isn't quite there and me behind the stumps is able to chat about it with them.
"I know that schedules are tough and people are tired and it's not necessarily the first thing on people's minds but when you can I think it's the right thing to do."
The 28-year-old hasn't been overly happy with her own form in this summer's WBBL, but is still the competition's third-highest run-scorer with 427 to her name ahead of Saturday's final at Drummoyne Oval.
"I think I'm going to go out there and get myself set and if I'm still there after the first six overs I would love a big score," Healy said.
"But if I get a duck and we win, I'll still be happy."
Australian Associated Press
