Vlaeminck attempted to block Muneva Ali’s fine edge for a boundary during the fourth over in Dubai on Friday. Running back from a short third, Vlaeminck slipped but reached for the ball before bouncing back and falling over the ropes, crying and clutching his shoulder while his knee got stuck in the grass.
Captain Alyssa Healy looked visibly worried as she lay in pain on the edge of the boundary line as Australian team medical staff rushed to her aid.
Vlaeminck’s shoulder was later relocated and the extent of the injury will be known following further assessment in the coming days.
She joined the side of smash hitter Grace Harris, adding pace to what Healy describes as an “impact-for-impact” swap in Australia’s first match of the tournament on ground, and opened the campaign with wins over Sri Lanka and New. New Zealand on a slow pitch in Sharjah.
It is the latest in a long line of injuries for the 25-year-old Vlaeminck, who has played her first World Cup match since 2018 and Australia’s group stage match against India, and only the second match of her career. .
Vlaeminck dislocated his left shoulder while playing for Victoria in the 2017-18 season. Then, while bowling during the England-Australia A tour that overlapped with the women’s tournament last year, I dislocated the same shoulder again and had to undergo corrective surgery.
She underwent two ACL reconstruction surgeries before making her Australian debut in 2018. A stress fracture in her foot caused her to miss the 2020 home T20 World Cup and the 2022 ODI World Cup, the Commonwealth Games later that year and the 2023 T20 World Cup. Due to a foot injury, she spent time training with professional dancers at the Australian Ballet as part of her rehabilitation.
Valkerie Baynes is ESPNcricinfo’s executive editor of women’s cricket.
