Disappointment over missing the day-night Test through injury has quickly turned to joy for Australia's vice-captain
Haynes, Poulton welcome baby Hugo
Just days after a hamstring injury denied Rachael Haynes the rare chance to play a Test and saw her depart the India series in Queensland prematurely, the Australia vice-captain has welcomed her first child with partner Leah Poulton.
Hugo Poulton-Haynes arrived on Friday with both mum and baby reported to be doing well.
Haynes had returned to Sydney after being ruled out of the Test on Tuesday, following scans that revealed the extent of the hamstring injury suffered while fielding during the third ODI.
Australia coach Matthew Mott said at the time his vice-captain had been devastated at the news, but her timing ultimately proved impeccable, as Poulton was due to give birth midway through this month.
As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. While disappointed to miss the test, yesterday fate took hold and we welcomed Hugo Poulton-Haynes into the world. Mum and bub are doing well, and we can’t help but think our world has become a little brighter. pic.twitter.com/iwFeSwTRo6%E2%80%94 Rachael Haynes (@RachaelHaynes) October 2, 2021
If not for the injury, Haynes would have been set to open the batting alongside Alyssa Healy in the pink-ball Test.
The Australia vice-captain is the second member of the all-conquering Australian women’s team to become a mother in recent months. In August, Megan Schutt’s wife Jess gave birth to Rylee, who arrived prematurely at 28 weeks.
Schutt is sitting out the ongoing series against India to be with her family, sharing regular updates of Rylee’s progress.
Haynes’ hamstring injury had ruled her out of the one-off Test on the Gold Coast, and while it may also have impacted her availability for the upcoming Weber WBBL, she had already been expected to be on maternity leave for at least the first part of the season.
Haynes and Schutt are both expected to feature in the CommBank Ashes in January and the ODI World Cup that will follow – no doubt with an endless supply of babysitters and aunties among their teammates.
CommBank Series v India
Australia lead India 4-2 on points
Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.
India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.
First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets
Sep 24: Australia won by five wickets
Sep 26: India won by two wickets
Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)
Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast
Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast
Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast