Photo Credit: Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades have secured the signature of one of the women’s game’s fastest bowlers.
Australian quick Tayla Vlaeminck has signed a two-year deal to return to the Renegades after three seasons in Hobart.
The 23-year-old earned her start as a Renegade – spending three seasons with the club from WBBL|02 to WBBL|04 – and made her international debut in that period.
Vlaeminck is one of the world’s most exciting fast-bowling prospects, regularly clocking delivery speeds in excess of 120km/h. The Bendigo export has already represented Australia on 24 occasions, across all three formats of the game, since 2018.
“I’m really excited that I’ve decided to come back to the Renegades,” Vlaeminck said.
“It’s enticing to be back at home and close to family and friends. I’ve grown up with ‘Soph’ and ‘Wolf’ 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.”
Vlaeminck will miss WBBL|08 as she continues her recovery from a navicular stress fracture, with her rehabilitation plan including working with The Australian Ballet.
“We’re starting to make good progress now, which is nice,” Vlaeminck said.
“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.”
Vlaeminck has played 33 WBBL matches across her career to date, collecting 27 wickets.
“We’re excited to be bringing Tayla home to the Renegades and see her being an important part of our future,” General Manager, James Rosengarten, said.
“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.”
