Tayla Vlaeminck ‘shattered’ to miss another WBBL season

Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck has expressed her heartbreak after being ruled out of the upcoming Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) season for the Melbourne Renegades due to a slow recovery from a shoulder injury.

The 26-year-old, regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket, suffered a dislocated right shoulder while fielding during Australia’s opening game of the 2024 T20 World Cup against Pakistan in the UAE. Despite initial hopes of making a return this season, Vlaeminck’s shoulder has not responded well to her increased bowling workload over the past month.

As a result, she will miss her fourth consecutive WBBL, having last played in the tournament in 2021 before joining the Renegades the following year.

“I’m obviously a little bit shattered about missing out,” Vlaeminck said in Sydney. “Unfortunately my shoulder’s just not loving bowling at the moment, so there’s not much I can do about that. We were hoping it would respond a little bit better, but it just hasn’t.”

“We lined up the Big Bash as that end point, sitting nicely at about the one-year mark [since injury], but in the last four weeks, trying to ramp things up, it just hasn’t responded the way we thought it would.”

Vlaeminck said she ultimately made the decision to withdraw, acknowledging she wasn’t confident enough to perform at her best for the Renegades.

“It’s one thing to get back out on the pitch, but you have to back yourself to perform for your team — and I didn’t feel I could do that,” she added.

The Victorian quick has endured a long and frustrating run with injuries, including two dislocations of her left shoulder, stress fractures in her foot, and two ACL reconstructions before her international debut in 2018. Despite making only 29 international appearances, she remains a highly rated talent and continues to receive strong support from Cricket Australia, who retained her on their central contracts list earlier this year.

“I think you always go there initially [feeling frustrated], but I don’t think it’s overly helpful being in that space,” Vlaeminck said. “I just consider myself pretty lucky that Cricket Australia have stuck by me. I’ve got heaps of support, and hopefully over the next four to six weeks I can keep working on it and see how we go for the back end of the season.”

Australian Women’s team physiotherapist Kate Beerworth said Vlaeminck’s rehabilitation had been slowed by ongoing limitations with her shoulder.

“Tayla’s recovery has been impacted by ongoing limitations, restricting her ability to progress her bowling and work through the end stages of her return-to-play plan,” Beerworth said. “We’ll continue to work with Tayla, the Melbourne Renegades, and Cricket Victoria to support her through this next phase.”

The WBBL 2025–26 season begins on November 9, but Vlaeminck’s focus will now shift toward regaining full fitness for a possible return later in the summer.