In another unfortunate injury blow for Australia, fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck has been ruled out due to a stress fracture in her right foot. As confirmed by Cricket Australia last Sunday before the start of the third T20I, Vlaeminck will miss out on the remaining matches of Ashes as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. What’s more disheartening for one of the fastest bowlers of women’s cricket is that the same injury kept her out of the 2020 T20I World Cup as well.
Announcing a replacement for Vlaeminck, the board today confirmed the inclusion of young fast bowler Stella Campbell to the squad ahead of the Test match that starts January 27 at the Manuka Oval.
Campbell made her ODI and Test debut in September last year against India and got a wicket in the ODI and a couple of them in the pink ball test. Displaying an extraordinary performance last month during Australia’s 50-over domestic competition, Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) at the same ground where the Ashes Test is to be played, Campbell got an edge over the others from the Australia ‘A’ squad. Playing for New South Wales, the 19 years old ended with a Player of the Match spell with the ball, taking 7 wickets giving away 25 runs in the match against the Australian Capital Territory.
As reported by cricket.com.au, commenting on Campbell’s inclusion national selector Shawn Flegler said,
“Stella bowled well for us in the Test match against India and provides another fast-bowling option now with Tayla being injured,”
“We will continue to assess conditions over the next couple of days before finalising the team.”
Just a month away from the Mega World Cup Event, Tayla has picked up the same injury which ended her T20 World Cup 2020 dreams.
She won’t be playing the Ashes and World Cup 2022 now. #CWC22 pic.twitter.com/wwAhlFVSp7
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 23, 2022
After the rain spoiled the 2nd and 3rd T20Is in Adelaide, there are chances of the four-day Test in Canberra also being affected by it which would further change the pitch accordingly and might not bring us a one-sided victory.
Campbell’s NSW teammate all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner was also all praise for her as she said,
“When we played the ACT down here for New South Wales, Stella was almost unplayable and to have her back into the Test squad is really exciting.
“The confidence that she can take out of that WNCL match going into this match … it’s really exciting to be on her team. Hopefully, if she does play, she can replicate that.”
Meanwhile, last week Australia’s star batter Beth Mooney suffered an injury that kept her out of the T20Is but the No. 1 T20I batter has been seen practicing in the nets even after surgery.
With the World Cup lined up next, these injuries as well as a couple of Coronavirus cases in the Aussies camp have raised concerns for the most successful team of Women’s Cricket.
Let’s hope all goes well as the oldest rivals compete in the only Test match Thursday onwards followed by the three ODIs of the 2021-22 Women’s Ashes which Australia leads by 4-2 after a victory in the first T20I gave them 2 points while the next two abandoned matches awarded 2 points each to both the teams.
Schedule for the Test & ODIs of Women’s Ashes-:
| Match | Date | Venue |
| Test | Thursday, Jan 27- Sunday, Jan 30 | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| 1st ODI | Thursday, February 3 | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| 2nd ODI | Sunday, February 6 | Junction Oval, Melbourne |
| 3rd ODI | Tuesday, February 8 | Junction Oval, Melbourne |
Schedule for remaining matches of AUS A v ENG A-:
| Match | Date | Venue |
| 1st ODI | Friday, January 28 | Philip Oval, Canberra |
| 2nd ODI | Sunday, January 30 | Philip Oval, Canberra |
| 3rd ODI | Wednesday, February 2 | Philip Oval, Canberra |
Author of the poetry book ‘The Scent of Rhythm’, I am a passionate writer and a Sports enthusiast who writes on Cricket and plays Badminton.