Australia pacer Tayla Vlaeminck has returned to Melbourne Renegades in the Womens Big Bash League (WBBL), inking a two-year deal despite being unavailable for the upcoming edition of the tournament due to a stress fracture in her right foot which kept her out of victorious Ashes and Women's Cricket World Cup campaigns. Tayla's return to Renegades marks her reunion with her first WBBL club, where she played for three seasons before moving to Hobart Hurricanes.
Tayla joins her fellow Australia team-mates Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham, both of them on the injury list, at the Renegades. "I'm really excited that I've decided to come back to the Renegades. It's enticing to be back at home and close to family and friends. I've grown up with 'Soph' (Sophie) and 'Wolf' (Georgia) and a lot of the girls. I obviously played at the Renegades with a lot of the girls beforehand as well, so I know everyone really well, and hopefully, it's going to be an easy transition back into the team," said Tayla in a statement by the club.
In last year's WBBL, Tayla took 13 wickets with an economy rate of 6.06 in 14 matches for the Hurricanes. But after reporting pain in her right during the opening women's Ashes T20I in January, Tayla missed out on the series as well as winning the Women's Cricket World Cup, the second mega event she missed after being ruled out of Women's T20 World Cup in 2020. As per her rehabilitation under Renegades, Tayla will work under The Australian Ballet.
"We're starting to make good progress now, which is nice. I obviously won't be playing this season but hopefully, I'll be able to contribute off the field, still get around the girls and help out some of the bowlers and look to play the following year, which is exciting." "Training at the ballet is something completely different... It's been kind of cool to get into a different high-performance environment to see how that works and grab a few little things here and there which I can hopefully bring back to cricket," stated Tayla.
James Rosengarten, the general manager of the Renegades, revealed that Tayla's signing is an investment made with an eye on the future. "We're excited to be bringing Tayla home to the Renegades and see her being an important part of our future. There are very few players who have the skill-set that Tayla has. She is a match-winner with the ball and has the pace and skill to challenge the world's best batters." "Tayla won't play this year as she continues her recovery, but we're committed to supporting her through this period.
She already has strong relationships at the club and we know she will be a great asset to our group off the field too." "Our list strategy is not only about building our squad for WBBL|08 but to set us up to challenge over a sustained period. To have the likes of Tayla, Sophie (Molineux) and Georgia (Wareham) locked in beyond this season is fantastic and we look forward to adding more talent ahead of the season."