Healy ruled out, Faltum called in for T20 tour of NZ

Alyssa Healy has officially been ruled out of Australia's upcoming T20 tour of New Zealand, with Victoria and Renegades wicketkeeper-batter Nicole Faltum handed her first international call-up.

Australia have named a stable 14-player squad for the three-game series, with skipper Healy to miss as she continues to rehabilitate the foot injury that interrupted her Ashes campaign and deputy Tahlia McGrath to lead in her stead.

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Healy had suggested she was set for several months on the sidelines at the end of the multi-format Ashes – with a view to ensuring her fitness for October's ODI World Cup in India – and subsequently pulled out of the Women's Premier League.

Faltum, 25, has been named in an Australia squad for the first time, having represented Australia A on numerous occasions while she captained the Governor-General's XI against England in January.

She has been included as 'keeping cover for Beth Mooney, who will take the gloves in Healy's absence, while Georgia Voll would be expected to continue filling Healy's role at the top of the order.

Faltum's off-season move from Melbourne Stars to the Renegades paid off earlier this summer, as she enjoyed a career-best tournament in the middle-to-lower order that saw her score 136 runs at a strike rate of 134.65 for the eventual champions.

"It's exciting to be able to bring Nicole into the squad, she's been a consistent performer over a long period of time and will provide a strong back-up option to Beth who will take the gloves during the series," Cricket Australia's Head of Performance and National Selector Shawn Flegler said.

"While Beth was brilliant during the Ashes in Alyssa's absence, it's important we're continuing to look to the future and Nicole is certainly someone who we can see wearing the green and gold for a long period of time.

"Alyssa is unavailable for this series due to the foot injury she sustained during the Ashes.

"She's working diligently on her rehab with the aim to have her fit for the one-day World Cup later in the year."

There are no other changes to the squad that swept the T20I leg of the Ashes 3-0, with Sophie Molineux and Tayla Vlaeminck still recovering from their respective knee and shoulder injuries.

Australia will play the reigning T20 World Cup champions at Auckland's Eden Park, Tauranga's Bay Oval and Wellington's Sky Stadium. All three matches are double-headers with New Zealand's men taking on Pakistan. 

The T20I series against the White Ferns bookends a packed summer that also started with three 20-over games against the Kiwis in Queensland in mid-September.

Nine members of the Australian squad are currently in India playing in the WPL, which will conclude with the final on March 15, three days before the T20I squad assembles in Auckland.

While Australia's next major campaign is their ODI World Cup defence in India in October, they will also already have one eye on next year's T20 World Cup in England.

As it stands, Australia will play just six T20Is following this NZ tour, against India and West Indies in early 2026, in the lead-up to that tournament.

"These three matches against New Zealand will be another good test as to how the side has bounced back after the T20 World Cup; the team performed strongly during the Ashes and will be looking to build on that against the World Champions," Flegler said.

CommBank T20I tour of New Zealand

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

First T20 | March 21: Eden Park, Auckland

Second T20 | March 23: Bay Oval, Tauranga

Third T20 | March 26: Sky Stadium, Wellington

All games starting at 12:45pm AEDT, 2:45pm NZDT