Australia captain Meg Lanning will miss the Women's Ashes after having surgery on her injured shoulder, Cricket Australia has announced.
Lanning has been dealing with the problem for several weeks, and saw a specialist on her return to Australia from the Women's World Cup last month.
The 25-year-old had surgery in Melbourne on Wednesday and now faces up to eight months on the sidelines.
"Meg has been managing a right shoulder injury and following the recent World Cup, it became apparent that she would require surgery," Cricket Australia team physio 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."
The multi-format Women's Ashes begins with a one-day international in Brisbane on October 22.
"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."
Source: PA
