Beers and a scooter race: Healy’s unorthodox Cup prep

Alyssa Healy, the hero of Australia’s World Cup final triumph, has revealed how a couple of calming ales and a scooter race through Melbourne’s CBD helped relax her ahead of the biggest innings of her life.

On the eve of the T20 World Cup final at the MCG, Healy explained on The Howie Games podcast how she all but forgot about the looming match as she went for dinner.  

“We met this rowdy bunch of Long Reef (Golf Club) women who have already had a thousand-and-one beers,” Healy recalled.

“We went in there and lo and behold, I’ve had three beers. I’m like ‘oh my gosh, I need to leave right now’.

“But as it happens, another one of our mates walks past and she has two kids and they’re on a scooter.

“Here I am in the middle of Melbourne CBD at about 8pm on a kid’s scooter, racing one of them down the street.

“It’s like I didn’t even know I had a World Cup final the next day.”

Healy would go onto smash the fastest half-century in any World Cup decider – men’s or women’s – and finish with 75 off 39 balls in one of the finest performances by an Australian in a major final.

The relaxed nature of her preparation reflected a team mentality Healy believes gave the hosts an advantage over their Indian counterparts.

Faced with the prospect of a world-record crowd at the MCG, Healy could sense the nerves of India’s players.

“I think we embraced that day so much more than India did,” the 30-year-old said.

“Not one of us were nervous.

“We were just calm and saw it such a great opportunity to play in front of this many people.”

But her calmness almost led to the opening batter missing her big moment altogether.

A tap on the shoulder from injured teammate Ellyse Perry was required to remind Healy to put her pads on ahead of the Australian innings.

“I was standing there alongside a few of my teammates watching Katy Perry sing ‘Roar’ and Pez turns to me and says ‘do you not need to go and pad up? You’re about to open the batting for Australia,’” said Healy.

“It was probably quarter to seven and I was still in my training kit singing along to Katy Perry.”

The rarely-phased Healy had little reason for concern.

She hit her first ball for four and continued to strike the ball at a rate of 192.3 in the final to finish with 75 and Player of the Match honours.

Australia beat India convincingly and lifted their fifth T20 World Cup. The reception, which begun with a dance-filled cameo at Katy Perry’s post-match concert and has continued through the weeks following has been a far cry from when the team first returned home from the West Indies victorious in 2010.

“(In 2010) we got home and went back to normal life. Not one person knew about it,” Healy said.

“The last two weeks of my life right now, literally 10-15 people every day stop me and say ‘congratulations on your win, great knock in the final’. Just people walking down the street who have seen it and watched it.

“It’s an experience that has been really cool.”