Allrounder Graham replaces Vlaeminck in Aussie squad

Heather Graham has flown to Dubai to join Australia's T20 World Cup squad, replacing injured quick Tayla Vlaeminck for the remainder of the tournament.

The International Cricket Council confirmed the change to Australia's 15-player squad on Sunday afternoon local time, after Vlaeminck dislocated her right bowling shoulder while fielding against Pakistan on Friday. 

The change to Australia's squad has been approved by the ICC's technical committee.

An update from Cricket Australia, which will provide more details around the extent of Vlaeminck's injury and her recovery, will come in due course.    

Australia have not yet provided an update on injured captain Alyssa Healy, who was forced to retire hurt with an "acute right foot injury" while batting against Pakistan, and who underwent scans on Saturday.

Their final Group A game against India in Sharjah will start at 6pm local time (1am Monday AEDT), and Healy's situation will become clearer shortly.    

Allrounder Graham had been playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the T20 Spring Challenge in Adelaide, and arrived in the United Arab Emirates early on Sunday morning.

She had been the 16th member of Australia's T20I squad that played New Zealand at home in September, but was not part of the group that travelled on to the World Cup.

She played one game during that series, brought into the XI at the last minute after Ashleigh Gardner clashed heads with Georgia Wareham during a warm-up ahead of the first T20I. 

Vlaeminck's injury is a shattering blow for the 25-year-old and her teammates, and a particularly cruel setback for the right-armer who was playing her first World Cup game since 2018 on Friday night, but was forced from the field just four balls into the game when she dislocated her shoulder while diving to stop a boundary.

The Victorian had endured two knee reconstructions and shoulder surgery before her 21st birthday, then was ruled out of the 2020 T20 World Cup on the eve of the tournament with a stress fracture to the navicular bone of her right foot.

She returned from the ailment in 2021, only to suffer a recurrence of the injury during the 2022 home Ashes. Vlaeminck then dislocated her left shoulder - the same one she had previously injured - during her comeback tour for Australia A in the UK in mid-2023 and required surgery before returning late in the 2024-25 summer.

Vlaeminck had made an emotional return to Australian colours during the white-ball tour of Bangladesh in March, before earning her place in this T20 World Cup squad.

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ash Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

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

For the full list of fixtures click here. All matches live and exclusive on Prime Video. Sign up here for a 30-day free trial