Express quick Vlaeminck ruled out of India ODIs, Test

Victoria quick Tayla Vlaeminck will miss the ODI and Test legs of Australia's upcoming multi-format series against India as the hosts' support staff looks to best manage its battery of promising young fast bowlers. 

Speaking with the media after his 18-player squad split into its traditional 'Sharks versus Dolphins' teams for a 30-overs per side hit-out in Brisbane, head coach Matthew Mott said Vlaeminck, who did not bowl today, would be the lone player unavailable for next week's ODIs in Mackay and the Test that follows it on the Gold Coast, though she will likely feature in the T20 series thereafter.

"Tayla has had some little niggles throughout her build-up down in Victoria," Mott said. "That's something that we've been monitoring all the way through. 

"And she does have to step up her loads gradually. We've got to manage her really well – we've got a huge 18 months for her as a young fast bowler, and we know the impact that she can have when she plays."

Vlaeminck, who played the first of her 20 matches for Australia as a 19-year-old in 2018, has for some time been regarded as among the world's quickest bowlers, though knee and shoulder problems as well as a stress fracture in her right foot have stalled her progress. 

With the 22-year-old speedster still working her way back to full fitness ahead of the T20s, Australia will arguably be without their first-choice opening pairing for the three ODIs and one-off Test, given veteran swing bowler Megan Schutt is also unavailable following the birth of her first child. 

And with experienced spinner Jess Jonassen another to be absent through injury, Mott said he expects star allrounder Ellyse Perry to take on a leadership role among an otherwise young bowling group. 

"(Perry has) obviously had a very long recovery now and (this series is) something she's planned a lot for," he said. 

"Speaking to (bowling coach) Ben Sawyer, who has worked a lot with her at the Sixers, he's really happy with where she's at. At the crease he can't remember her being as strong as she has been, and certainly in the hits that we've had up here (we've seen that). 

"She had a pretty good bowl today, she got a little bit of tap early, but then came back and got a wicket, got Meg out and bowled really well. 

"So it's exciting to see where she's going to take her game. Something we've spoken about is without Schutt and Jonassen, she's going to play a really pivotal role in leading our attack with some young bowlers around her."

One of those young bowlers donning the Baggy Green for the first time might well be Darcie Brown, an 18-year-old tearaway from Kapunda in South Australia who burst onto the scene in last summer's WBBL before going on to make her ODI and T20I debuts in New Zealand in March-April. 

In Vlaeminck's absence, Mott suggested Brown could well debut in the one-off Test and be deployed as an impact bowler. Such a role would protect her still-developing frame while best utilising her raw pace. 

"What we have found in our stats for the last few Tests is that spinners bowl a lot of the overs, so having some like Darcie to come in for short spells is probably how she's going to be used anyway," he added. 

"I think our quicks will probably used a lot more for impact than the grunt work in the middle overs."

CommBank Series v India

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), 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.

Sep 21: First ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 24: Second ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (D/N)

Sep 26: Third ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

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