Left-field rehab keeps Vlaeminck on her toes

Fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck’s rehabilitation of a serious foot injury has taken a different twist in recent months, with Australian medical staff turning to a physiotherapist who specialises in working with ballet dancers.

Vlaeminck, widely regarded as Australia’s fastest female bowler, has been sidelined since being diagnosed with a stress fracture in her foot on the eve of the T20 World Cup back in February.

The injury, to the navicular bone in her right foot, is a tricky one to overcome and given Vlaeminck’s torrid run of serious injuries, Australian medical staff are leaving no stone unturned as they look to ensure the 22-year-old can remain on the park long term once she does return.

"It’s a challenging bone, anatomically it doesn’t have a great blood supply … which is why the management of it can be challenging and is taken very seriously," Australia team physio Kate Beerworth told cricket.com.au.

That management has included enlisting the services of Dr Sue Mayes, who has been the Principal Physiotherapist of The Australian Ballet since 1997 and who consults with athletes from a range of other sports including cricket and Australian Rules football.

"We’ve used her before to consult on foot and ankle injuries and also to adopt some foot conditioning work, which they do a lot of at the Australian Ballet," Beerworth said.

"You can always learn from other sports and colleagues working in different domains.  Ballet dancers don’t have the benefit of cushioned footwear, so they have to really be very strong through their feet, and have to be exceptional in their ability to be able to accept force through jumping and landing, which they do a lot.

"They are unbelievably strong athletes."

That conditioning work with Mayes includes specialised exercises and use of a pilates reformer, not only focusing on Vlaeminck’s right landing foot, but also on her calves, hips and trunk strength and control.

"With a navicular injury, it’s really all about just making sure that everywhere along the chain in the legs, what we call the kinetic chain, is efficient and the landing force is dissipated," Beerworth explained.

"Working on the little muscles in her feet, which are called your intrinsics, has been an integral part of that … making sure that those little muscles in the foot are really strong.

"Then working up the chain, we need to make sure we are strengthening her hip and her trunk so that she can land really well without putting undue force through that inside of her foot."

Working with Mayes has also provided a different challenge for Vlaeminck, who is no stranger to the rehabilitation process.

By the time she made her international debut in 2018 Vlaeminck had already undergone two reconstructions on her right knee and recovered from a dislocated shoulder – injuries that meant she played for Australia before making her maiden appearance in the WBBL.

A partial ACL strain (her left knee, this time) in 2019 then prematurely ended her 2018-19 WBBL campaign, with Vlaeminck returning in time to make her Test debut during last year’s Ashes in England.

After putting together her first full WBBL campaign last summer, she suffered another partial knee strain in late 2019, but recovered in time to hit the best form of her career in February this year - only to again find herself in the injury ward just days out from the start of the T20 World Cup.

"It’s something different that she hasn’t done before which is really important when you’ve been in rehab a few times," Beerworth said.

"So it’s just about trying to bring some variety into her programming as well, provide a different stimulus and do some different things."

Vlaeminck’s hopes of a return for Australia’s limited-overs matches against New Zealand back in September, or for the Rebel WBBL, were dashed due to a minor setback in August.

The postponement of the next ODI World Cup from early 2021 to early 2022 means a long-term view is being taken to her return to play.

Australia are expected to play several bilateral series throughout 2021 - starting with an away tour of New Zealand in March - but their next major contests will not come until the 2020-21 summer, which will include a home Ashes followed by the World Cup in New Zealand.

"It’s not a short-term fix, we’re looking at Tayla as in the long term and really making sure that we’re looking at the big picture rather than trying to rush her back," Beerworth said.

"Her body has got to be able to cope with the impact forces of running and then reloading into bowling (before she makes a return to play), but we’re very confident that we’re on the right path."