Alyssa Healy earns the loudest ovation of her career at the Gabba
Edition US
The Buzz (https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricket-blogs/the-buzz-454)
Alyssa Healy’s steady hands- Getty Images
What earned Alyssa Healy the biggest standing ovation of her life? A monumental century? An extraordinary catch or a clever stumping? Another trophy for Australia? Not this time. The crowd rose to applaud her for something far less flashy: her beer-balancing skills.
As the wife of Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, Healy was at the men’s Ashes Test in Brisbane, strolling through the stands with a few cold drinks in hand, much to the amusement of spectators.
“I got one of my biggest standing ovations at the Gabba,” she told Adam Peacock on the Willow Talk podcast. When Peacock asked if it was because she’s a Queenslander, she clarified, “No, I was there watching Mitch and I carried, I think maybe five or six beers back to my seat. I had two in my mouth because I was trying to find my ticket. The security guard was like, ‘Do you need a hand?’ and I said, ‘No, I’ve got this,’ and I walked back in.”
The moment came as the crowd stood to applaud her return, some of them near the Star Wars–themed fans, where they were seated.
Starc has taken 18 wickets across the first two Ashes Tests, eight of them at the Gabba, where he also led Australia in the first innings with 77 in a total of 511.
Starc also shared a humorous tale, though it’s one Nathan Lyon mostly relayed. Lyon recalled a trip to Josh Hazlewood’s family home in Bendemeer, New South Wales, where Starc and Lyon were bunking in the same room.
“I was fast asleep and suddenly felt a hand on my back,” Lyon recounts, before Starc adds his version: “It was around six in the morning, and Hazlewood’s mates had slammed their window with noise, and I rolled over thinking… that’s not Alyssa!”
