Australia all-rounder Annabel Sutherland has been ruled out for the rest of WBBL|12, dealing the Melbourne Stars another heavy blow in a season that keeps getting worse. Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday, 15 November, that Sutherland has a right hamstring tendon injury and will miss the Stars' final four games of the tournament.

It is a big loss for a side already struggling. Sutherland has been the Stars' best player this season — their leading wicket-taker and one of the most dangerous batters in the competition — and her absence also leaves a question mark over Australia's tour of Sri Lanka next month.

The injury

Sutherland has a progressive injury to the tendon in her right hamstring. Australia team physiotherapist Kate Moore said the injury "will not recover while playing tournament cricket" and now needs a period of offload — in other words, rest, not more cricket.

Annabel has been ruled out for the remainder of the WBBL due to a progressive hamstring tendon injury that will not recover while playing tournament cricket, and requires a period of offload. Her availability for Australia's tour to Sri Lanka in December is to be confirmed.

That last line is the one Australia's selectors will be watching most closely. The reigning Belinda Clark Medallist has been relatively resilient to injury across her five-year international career, though she was managed through a tour of the Caribbean earlier this year. A hamstring tendon injury is not the kind that heals in a week, and the December tour is now a race against time.

Doubt over the Sri Lanka tour

Australia travel to Sri Lanka next month for a rare tour — three one-day internationals under captain Sophie Molineux. Whether Sutherland is on the plane is now to be confirmed, and the team will not rush a player they need for a much bigger year ahead.

Beyond Sri Lanka, the calendar is crowded. As Cricket Australia notes, selectors will be eager to have her fit for the Champions Trophy in February and the Ashes later in the year, with home ODIs against New Zealand in March, a multi-format tour of South Africa ending in mid-April and India's Women's Premier League in January also on the horizon. Losing her for the rest of the WBBL is bad enough; losing her for any of that would be far worse.

A huge blow for the Stars

For the Stars, the timing could hardly be worse. They have gone winless from their last five games, their finals hopes are teetering, and they are bidding to make the finals for only a second time in six seasons. Now they must finish the season without their best player.

Sutherland handed the Stars captaincy to Meg Lanning at the start of the season, but she has still been the side's driving force. She is their leading wicket-taker with seven scalps at 26, and her tournament strike rate of 146 is second only to Georgia Prestwidge's 171. On the table, the Stars sit seventh — one win from six games, two points, and a net run rate of -0.602 — and the run home just got much harder.

Her value is not just in this tournament. Last August she was named player of the tournament at The Hundred in England, scoring 315 runs at an average of 63 and a strike rate of 153 for Leeds, along with 11 wickets. Across her past three seasons in the competition batting at No.4, she has averaged 48.86 and struck at 141.

Who replaces her

Zoe Samuel, a 19-year-old all-rounder who is yet to make her WBBL debut, has been added to the Stars' 13-player squad for Monday's game against the Sydney Thunder at Drummoyne Oval — the Stars' seventh match of the tournament, starting at 7:10pm AEDT.

It's always disappointing to lose a high-quality player and we'll miss Annabel's contributions. But as always, change presents opportunities for other members of the team and we have a lot of confidence in our full playing squad.

That was Melbourne Stars general manager James Rosengarten, confirming the change and backing the rest of the squad to step up. For Samuel, it is a first taste of the WBBL — and a sudden one, with the Stars short on both runs and wickets.

What the Stars lose

Sutherland's WBBL record shows why this hurts. She debuted in the competition as a 15-year-old, initially as a pace bowler, and worked her way up the order to No.4, where she now averages 24.18 at a strike rate of 116.03 from 50 innings. Translating her world-class Test and ODI batting into the shortest format has been the final frontier for her — and this season, she was getting there.

She carried her form from The Hundred into Australia's ODIs against Bangladesh, with unbeaten knocks of 74 and 25, though her chances were limited batting at No.7 in the T20I side, where she scored 10 and 9 across her two innings against the White Ferns. The WBBL was her chance to keep that momentum going. Instead, her season is over with four games still to play.

FAQs

Why is Annabel Sutherland out of WBBL|12?

She has a progressive injury to the tendon in her right hamstring. Australia team physiotherapist Kate Moore said it "will not recover while playing tournament cricket" and requires a period of offload, so she has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

How many games will Sutherland miss?

The Stars' final four games of WBBL|12, starting with Sydney Thunder at Drummoyne Oval on Monday, 16 November.

Will Sutherland play in Australia's Sri Lanka tour?

Her availability for the three-ODI tour in December is to be confirmed. Australia's medical team will assess her after the period of offload.

Who has replaced Sutherland in the Stars squad?

Zoe Samuel, a 19-year-old all-rounder who is yet to make her WBBL debut. She has been added to the Stars' 13-player squad for the Thunder game.

How have the Stars gone this season?

They have one win from six games and sit seventh on the table with two points, having gone winless in their last five matches. They are chasing only their second finals appearance in six seasons.

Conclusion

Annabel Sutherland's season is over, and the Melbourne Stars' already slim finals hopes are slimmer still. A hamstring tendon injury has taken their best player out of the run home and put her December tour of Sri Lanka in doubt — and with a Champions Trophy and an Ashes series on the horizon, Australia will not rush her back. For Zoe Samuel, though, the door has opened: a WBBL debut, at 19, in a side that suddenly needs someone new to stand up.

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Sources: Cricket Australia — Stars blow as Sutherland sidelined for remainder of WBBL|12, The Hawk (IANS) — Sutherland ruled out of WBBL 12 with 'hamstring tendon injury'