The retirement of Australian captain Alyssa Healy has opened the possibility of an Indigenous player leading the national cricket team for the first time.
Healy, 35, has announced she will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the summer, creating a vacancy at the helm of the national women's side. Cricket Australia now faces a decision between promoting vice-captain Tahlia McGrath or appointing in-form allrounder Ashleigh Gardner.
Gardner, 28, was elevated to captain the Sydney Sixers during last year's WBBL, replacing Ellyse Perry. She finished the season as the competition's leading wicket-taker with 19 wickets, as well as scoring 143 runs in the Sixers' run to the finals.
The Muruwari allrounder has served as vice-captain under McGrath when Healy has been unavailable and currently captains both the Gujarat Giants in India's Women's Premier League and the Trent Rockets in England's The Hundred.
In the WPL, she has led the Giants to consecutive wins to start the season, producing decisive performances with the bat in both matches.
If appointed, Gardner — who scored three centuries for Australia in 2025, including two during the 50-over World Cup in India, where she averaged 82 — would become the first Indigenous player to captain Australia's men's or women's national teams.
Before Healy's retirement, Gardner said captaincy was not something she had actively pursued, but she would accept the role if asked.
"It's not something that I ever had ambitions to do, but if the opportunities come up, absolutely, I'd be happy to do that," she said.
"So, whatever the team needs, I'll try to perform for whatever that looks like."
McGrath, who has deputised for Healy on 15 occasions, has the outgoing captain's backing and is widely praised for her composure under pressure.
However, she has experienced a recent dip in form, including being dropped to No. 7 in the ODI batting order. The 30-year-old has previously spoken about struggling with confidence following a difficult World Cup campaign in India last year.
Healy declined to nominate a preferred successor, saying the decision was "up to people paid a lot more than me" and expressing confidence in the squad's future.
"Those discussions will be had behind closed doors at the moment about who's going to step into that role and lead the team in a [T20] World Cup, which is really exciting for that next group of young leaders within our side," she told reporters.
"There's plenty in there. I feel really lucky to have been able to be a part of creating an environment where young leaders are able to flourish and express themselves, and hopefully become the next Australian captain and do some amazing things."
With AAP
