Australian skipper Meg Lanning ruled out of the Ashes

Australia Women’s team has suffered a major blow to their Ashes defence as their skipper Meg Lanning has been ruled out of action after she had to undergo a surgery on her right shoulder. She had been carrying the injury from last one year and was restricted to only under arm throws.

The skipper had missed a couple of matches during the Women’s World Cup 2017 owing to her troublesome shoulder and it was clear that she would require a surgery. Meg went under the knife on Wednesday and now faces a six to eight months period of rehabilitation.

“Meg has been managing a right shoulder injury and following the recent World Cup, it became apparent that she would require surgery,” said Kate Mahony, Cricket Australia Team Physiotherapist. “Meg underwent surgery earlier this week and we expect that she will require a long rehabilitation period of 6-8 months, ruling her out of the upcoming Ashes Series. We will continue to monitor her progress, with return to play timelines to become clearer once she has commenced rehabilitation,” she was quoted by cricket.com.au as saying.

Disappointing to miss Ashes

Lanning was extremely disappointed for having to miss the Ashes but was confident of returning to cricket soon after the successful rehabilitation. She also wished the team well for the all important series against England.

“Whilst it’s very disappointing to be unavailable for the Ashes, I’m looking forward to getting stuck into my rehabilitation and returning to cricket as soon as possible. “It’s an incredibly special occasion for any cricketer to be a part of and I wish the team all the best as they set out to retain the Ashes,” the skipper signed off.

The Ashes is played in the multi-format in Women’s cricket and Australia will host the series this year. It comprises of 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and the first-ever day/night Test in Women’s cricket. The series is scheduled to commence from 22nd October with the ODI series followed by a solitary Test and T20 Internationals respectively.