Hayley Matthews to miss next WBBL because of shoulder surgery

Melbourne Renegades were dealt with a big blow ahead of the WBBL draft on Thursday when their star allrounder Hayley Matthews was ruled out of the upcoming season due to a shoulder surgery. Matthews had been signed as a pre-draft recruit for two years by Renegades, the defending champions, but her unavailability was announced just hours before the draft.

Matthews injured her shoulder recently while fielding in the first ODI against England, and she had to sit out of the last two games of the series. She has been playing after that - in the home ODIs against South Africa - and will feature in the subsequent T20I series too, followed by the Women's CPL in September for Barbados Royals, and will then go for her surgery during the Women's ODI World Cup as West Indies failed to qualify for the tournament. She won't be available for the rest of the year after that.

"We are clearly disappointed Hayley won't be with us this season," Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said. "She's been instrumental during her time with the Renegades, not just with her performances but with her leadership and professionalism.

"There's a very close relationship between the Renegades and Hayley and we know it will continue next year and beyond. Hayley loves this club and we share in her disappointment at not being available for this year's tournament."

Renegades will now have all three overseas slots to fill at the WBBL draft on Thursday in Melbourne.

Matthews had played a crucial role for Renegades in their run to lift their maiden title last season. She was their top scorer with a tally of 324 runs and a strike rate of 130.64 and was also their second-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps, while leaking 6.98 runs an over, again among the best in her team. She was also the Player of the Match in the final against Brisbane Heat with a knock of 69 off 61 and figures of 2 for 24.