New Delhi: UP Warriorz on Monday named West Indies batter Chinelle Henry as the replacement for injured captain Alyssa Healy for the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) third season. Healy, who led the franchise in 17 matches across the first two editions, confirmed that she will miss the WPL following a foot injury.
Healy’s participation on the field continues to get marred by injuries in a period of last five months. She missed Australia’s final group match and semifinal exit against South Africa in the T20 World Cup in October last year owing to a ruptured plantar fascia in foot. Later, a knee injury forced her out of Sydney Sixers’ remaining campaign in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and India ODIs as well.
Healy was back in action for New Zealand ODIs on the other side of the trans-Tasman border and was recently seen in the Women’s Ashes at home, though she missed the T20I series completely. The star Australian player will take time to recover from the latest injury setback, but the focus will be to be available for the Women’s ODI World Cup in India later this year.
“Unfortunately for me, I’ve got a couple of months of feet up. I’m pretty bummed by that, but at the same time elated to have a little bit of downtime and try and get my body right,” said Healy, who captained Australia in the recent Women’s Ashes match against England at Melbourne.
With 428 runs in 17 innings at a strike rate of 130.48, Healy has been the leading run-getter for the UP Warriorz in the combined two completed seasons.
Healy’s replacement Henry has played 62 T20 Internationals and 49 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies women cricket team. The middle order batter has amassed 473 runs in 53 T20I innings with the best score of 43. She has also played 10 matches in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League for Barbados women, scoring 65 runs in nine innings.
Henry, a right-arm medium pacer, has claimed 22 wickets in T20Is at an economy rate of 6.84. The 29-year-old all-rounder will join the UP Warriorz for a sum of INR 30 lakh. The franchise is yet to name a captaincy replacement for the Warriorz with all-rounder Deepti Sharma likely to be the front-runner for the role.
Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz captain, will miss the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) season due to a foot injury. West Indies all-rounder Chinelle Henry will replace her. Henry brings significant T20I and ODI experience to the Warriorz, having played for the West Indies and in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
