Australia face an anxious wait after Alyssa Healy and Tayla Vlaeminck were felled by potentially serious injuries during their win over Pakistan
Injury-hit Aussies must rapidly regroup for India showdown
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In the minutes following Tayla Vlaeminck’s shocking shoulder injury in the opening over of Australia’s T20 World Cup game against Pakistan, Ellyse Perry addressed the remainder of her teammates in a huddle in the middle of Dubai International Stadium.
It was an attempt to get the Australian players, shaken by what had befallen a teammate who had already been handed more than anyone’s share of injury setbacks, to regroup and focus on the immediate task at hand.
If Australia are to go on and win an unprecedented fourth consecutive T20 World Cup over the next eight days, they will need to do the same on a far larger scale, starting with Sunday’s final group stage game against India.
Not only has Vlaeminck suffered a dislocated shoulder, but captain Alyssa Healy’s involvement in the remainder of the tournament is also under a serious cloud after she retired hurt with an "acute right foot injury" as Australia were closing in on victory on Friday night.
The extent of the pair’s injuries will become clearer following scans and assessment in the coming days, and it is likely the depth of the Australian squad will be tested.
But with less than 48 hours before their next game, there is little time for the Australians to process that happened, and chart new plans for India.
"We love Tay and it was pretty hard to watch, to be honest, it was really hard," Australia vice-captain Tahlia McGrath said after the match.
"(The huddle) was just to come together as a group and focus on the job at hand, and we'll get around her after the game.
"It was really important in that moment, just to refocus and regroup."
Vlaeminck dislocated her right shoulder after landing on the joint while attempting to slide in and cut off a boundary on the fourth delivery of the match, in her first T20 World Cup appearance since 2018.
An update from the Aussie camp on Tayla Vlaeminck:
— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) October 11, 2024
“Tayla dislocated her right shoulder while attempting to stop a boundary. Her shoulder is now relocated and the extent of the injury will be known following further assessment over the coming days.”
When the fast bowler, who only returned to the Australia squad earlier this year after three years recovering from back-to-back foot injuries, rolled over and clutched her shoulder in pain, those watching could scarcely believe what they were seeing.
To anyone even vaguely familiar with Vlaeminck’s backstory, it was a punch in the gut.
What those closer to her, who have been with the Victorian every step of the way and witnessed her rehabilitations and tenacity first-hand, would have been feeling is difficult to imagine.
"It's horrible seeing one of your mates go down and knowing Tay's road to get back to here, she’s someone that probably works harder than anyone else I know," Gardner said.
"We all really felt for her and there were people that were emotional … I think that just shows the care that we have for our teammates and especially Tay."
That same sense of disbelief descended on Dubai International Cricket Stadium at the sight of Healy hobbling from the ground, face scrunched up in a rare display of pain, before she had to hop up the set of stairs into the Australian dressing room.
This is the steely skipper who kept wicket and scored a gritty fifty with two broken fingers during Australia’s Test win in Nottingham last year.
If the news Australia fear is confirmed, it will fall to McGrath to at least lead her country against India on Sunday, and potentially into a semi-final or final.
"(Now it’s about) just resetting … quite a bit's happened tonight, so it's staying together as a group and staying really close," Gardner said of how Australia would approach their recovery day on Saturday ahead of the India game.
"A couple of our mates have been injured and we certainly want to take them into consideration with how we progress into the next game.
"There's certainly going to have to be changes, that's pretty obvious, but I think as a whole unit it's making sure that we stick together.
"They're our mates at the end of the day, so making sure of their well-being is first.
"Then we have to switch pretty quickly into that India game, it's certainly going to be a challenge – we know that they're one of the best T20 cricket teams in the world.
"So, being able to switch our focus really quickly is certainly something that we're going to have to do and just being able to reset tomorrow is going to be pretty key."
2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup
Australia's Group A fixtures
October 5: beat Sri Lanka by six wickets
October 8: beat New Zealand by 60 runs
October 11: beat Pakistan by nine wickets
October 13: v India, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 14 AEDT
Finals
October 17: Semi-final 1, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 18 AEDT
October 18: Semi-final 2, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 19 AEDT
October 20: Final, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 21 AEDT
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