Fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck will miss a fourth straight Women’s Big Bash League season after her recovering right-shoulder simply refused to cooperate with a heavier bowling load. The 26-year-old Melbourne Renegades quick had pencilled in the WBBL, which begins on 9 November, as her long-awaited return date, yet the final month of training confirmed the joint is still not ready for match intensity.
“I’m obviously a little bit shattered about missing out,” Vlaeminck told reporters in Sydney. “Unfortunately my shoulder’s just not loving bowling at the moment, so there’s not much I can do about that. I think we were hoping that my shoulder would probably respond a little bit better to bowling than it has.”
Key facts first
• Vlaeminck dislocated the shoulder diving in the outfield during Australia’s opening T20 World Cup match against Pakistan last year.
• Since debuting in 2018 she has managed only 29 international appearances, a tally that underlines both her quality and cruel luck.
• Renegades have not fielded her since she joined the club in 2022.
The right-armer is regarded as one of the quickest in the women’s game, regularly touching the mid-130kph range, yet injuries have stalked her career. Ankle stress fractures, two ACL reconstructions before international debut, and twin dislocations of the left shoulder are already on the medical sheet. The recurring setbacks test even the most upbeat personalities.
“We lined up Big Bash to be that sort of end point. We sat pretty nice there [at] that year mark, and just in the last four weeks trying to ramp that up it just hasn’t responded the way we sort of thought it would,” she explained.
Analysis without the jargon
Fast bowling puts brutal rotational force through the shoulder; coming back after a dislocation usually involves months of strength and proprioception work. Vlaeminck has completed that, but the final hurdle is letting rip at full pace day after day. Sports-science staff often talk about ‘chronic workload’—in plain terms, how many overs the body can tolerate in a week. Vlaeminck’s limit remains below professional demand, so the medical team hit pause rather than risk another breakdown.
“We got to a space where I pulled the pin. I probably didn’t feel confident enough to be able to actually perform if I got out for the Renegades. It’s one thing to get out on the pitch and be back playing, but you actually have to sort of back yourself in to be able to perform and do well for a team, which I didn’t feel like I was going to be able to do.”
Cricket Australia kept Vlaeminck on a central contract earlier this year, a sign of the faith they still hold. The player herself refuses to dwell on misfortune.
“I think you always go there initially, but I don’t think it’s overly helpful being in that space. I just like to consider myself pretty lucky that Cricket Australia have stuck by me throughout this whole thing.”
“I’ve got heaps of support and hopefully over the next four to six weeks I’ll be able to continue to work on it and see how we go for the back end of the season.”
CA women’s team physiotherapist Kate Beerworth added a medical update: “Tayla’s recovery has been impacted by ongoing limitations, restricting her ability to progess her bowling and work through the end stages of her return to play plan. We’ll continue to work with Tayla, the Melbourne Renegades and Cricket Victoria to support her through this next phase.”
What next?
A cautious six-week block of rehab now looms. If the shoulder strength improves, domestic 50-over cricket or Australia’s home T20s later in the summer might become realistic targets. For the moment, the Renegades accept they will again be without their headline speedster, and Vlaeminck steels herself for more gym sessions rather than new-ball spells.
