Melbourne, June 19 (IANS) Melbourne Renegades all-rounder Hayley Matthews is unavailable for the Women’s Big Bash League season 11 due to a shoulder injury, the club announced on Thursday.

Matthews was pre-signed by the Renegades ahead of the WBBL Overseas Player Draft and prepared for her fourth season in red, but a shoulder injury sustained in the West Indies’ recent ODI series has seen her WBBL plans put on hold.

The world’s top-ranked T20I allrounder has been forced to pull out and is set to have surgery on the shoulder she injured. However, she will fulfill her national commitments, including captaining the West Indies and appearing for her Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League, before undergoing surgery later this year.

Matthews would have been allocated one of the Renegades’ picks at Thursday’s Big Bash drafts, but the club will now have all three of their overseas slots to fill at the event.

“We are clearly disappointed Hayley won’t be with us this season. She’s been instrumental during her time with the Renegades, not just with her performances but with her leadership and professionalism,” General Manager James Rosengarten said.

“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.”

Mathews’ absence will be a bitter blow for the club after she played a significant role in the Renegades’ remarkable resurgence last season, as they recovered from a bottom-placed finish in WBBL 9 to win their maiden title at the MCG.

She produced a career-best campaign in WBBL 10, scoring 324 runs at a strike rate of 130.6 and 14 wickets, a haul that earned selection in the WBBL 10 Team of the Tournament.

–IANS

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