Australian captain Meg Lanning will miss the women's Ashes as expected after undergoing surgery on her troublesome right shoulder earlier this week.
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She's set to miss up to eight months, which also rules her out of the Australian summer including the WBBL, but should be fit for the Women's T20 World Cup in the West Indies at the end of next year.
Lanning's replacement as skipper during the Ashes is yet to be decided, but the responsibility will likely fall to vice captain Alex Blackwell, or Rachael Haynes who deputised for the incumbent for two matches during the women's World Cup.
"Meg has been managing a right shoulder injury and following the recent World Cup, it became apparent that she would require surgery," Cricket Australia physiotherapist Kate Mahony said.
"Meg underwent surgery earlier this week and we expect that she will require a long rehabilitation period of 6-8 months, ruling her out of the upcoming Ashes Series.
"We will continue to monitor her progress, with return to play timelines to become clearer once she has commenced rehabilitation."
Lanning was carefully managed at the recent World Cup in England rarely training with the team and forced out of matches against Pakistan and South Africa with the painful shoulder injury.
She still managed 328 runs at 82 during the tournament, but was bowled for a duck in the semi-final loss to India.
"Whilst it's very disappointing to be unavailable for the Ashes, I'm looking forward to getting stuck into my rehabilitation and returning to cricket as soon as possible," Lanning said.
"It's an incredibly special occasion for any cricketer to be a part of and I wish the team all the best as they set out to retain the Ashes."
