Alyssa Healy in doubt ahead of historic Ashes Test between Australia and England at MCG

Australian women's cricket captain Alyssa Healy is still uncertain for the upcoming Ashes Test match due to a foot injury. She is working hard to convince the medical team that she can participate in the historic day-night match. After missing the T20 series against England due to injury, Healy is eager to participate in the first women's Test match held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since 1949.

The 34-year-old will participate in Australia's training under lights on Tuesday to try and secure her place in the four-day match starting on Thursday. Australian coach Shelley Nitschke said, "Her recovery is progressing as expected." Australia has already secured victory in the multi-format Ashes series. Nitschke added that Healy is currently wearing a protective boot and reducing the weight on her foot. She will undergo testing on Tuesday, after which discussions will be held to determine her fitness for the four-day Test.

If Healy is able to play, she will only play as a batter, while Beth Mooney will continue as wicketkeeper, having performed well in the T20 matches. Healy's injury may open the door for rising star Georgia Voll to make her Test debut, having impressed in her early stages in international white-ball cricket. Meanwhile, all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner seems certain to return, having also missed the T20 matches. Gardner helped Australia win the last Test against England in Nottingham in 2023. Nitschke stated that Gardner's recovery is progressing well and she is expected to be fully fit and available for selection.

Australia has swept England 3-0 in both the ODI and T20 series, taking a 12-0 lead. If Australia wins the Test match, they will complete their first clean sweep since the multi-format Ashes series was introduced in 2013. Nitschke insists that the team has not talked too much about the possibility of a clean sweep, but she admits it would be another great achievement for her dominant team. She said, "A clean sweep would be amazing... hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to achieve that, but I don’t think we are getting too far ahead of ourselves.”

Nitschke did not respond to recent claims by England coach Jon Lewis that Australia has an advantage in athleticism due to "cultural differences" and warmer weather. England star Nat Sciver-Brunt believes her team has regrouped after suffering a crushing defeat in Adelaide. She said, "The last few days have been tough, there's no doubt about that... but it is the last Test match... hopefully we can put on a good show." Despite facing the possibility of a historic whitewash, Sciver-Brunt insists that the 2021-22 tour in Australia was more difficult due to COVID restrictions. The powerful batter said, "It was tough, we came in with probably higher expectations than we have before and we haven't really shown our best."