The Australian vice-captain suffered a severe laceration to her right index finger when bitten by one of her Staffordshire bull terrier puppies when she tried to separate the pair last Saturday (21 October)
Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy will miss the entire WBBL season due to a freak finger injury after consulting with her surgeon and Cricket Australia's medical team.
The Australian vice-captain suffered a severe laceration to her right index finger when bitten by one of her Staffordshire bull terrier puppies when she tried to separate the pair last Saturday (21 October) evening.
The 33-year-old had surgery on Sunday (22 October) with her place in Australia's squad for December's tour of India now in the balance.
"This is not the news I was hoping for because I love playing in the WBBL and I love the Sydney Sixers," said Healy, wife of Australia men's international Mitchell Starc who is currently at the World Cup in India.
"My focus now will be on making a full recovery and returning to play when the time is right. I'll continue to spend time with the Sixers squad and offer any help I can to help the team and the club thrive for the rest of the competition," the multiple 50 and 20-over World Cup winner added.
"I'll enjoy being able to watch the WBBL from afar as the tournament continues to go from strength to strength."
Healy captained Australia, in the absence of Meg Lanning, to retain the women's Ashes (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
Healy has twice won the WBBL, in 2016/17 and 2017/18, with the Sixers, having played in all nine WBBL seasons to date.
She has also played 255 times for Australia across all three formats since making her international debut in 2010, scoring 5,668 runs including six tons and 32 half-centuries.
Despite the lengthy lay-off, the right-hander did not sustain any bone or tendon damage during the incident and is happy with how the surgery went.
"I've got two puppy dogs who were having a rough and tumble, it got a little more than that and unfortunately got my hand in the wrong place at the wrong time. My right index finger took a bit of a battering. It was quite gory…the positive side of it is that the surgery all went well," said Healy, who feared for her career immediately after the bite.
She continued: "Won't lie, when I pulled my finger out initially, I thought I was in strife, but it's all gone smoothly at the moment. Think it will all just come down to function and whether I can continue to grip the bat the way I need to, or catch the ball, but from all reports, which is really early, is that it's all pretty positive."
The 33-year-old is a two-time WBBL winner with the Sixers (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Sixers captain Ellyse Perry described the news as "a huge blow" for both the Sydney franchise and the tournament as a whole.
"Whenever a player like that's missing for a period of time, it's going to be a blow," she said. "She's one of the most exciting and mercurial players in the world."
Healy, the niece of former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy, was expected to captain Australia in India if usual skipper Meg Lanning, who missed the Ashes and the recent series against the West Indies, was unavailable.
If Healy and Lanning were both to miss out, Tahlia McGrath could take the role having captained the national team twice before.
The tour is expected to feature a Test match scheduled before Christmas with a series of white-ball fixtures following.
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