The legspinner will undergo ACL reconstruction early next year
Wareham, who has previously had the same knee reconstructed, injured herself in the field against Adelaide Strikers. She now faces a lengthy period of the sidelines and a return is unlikely before the next Australia season.
Wareham had her first surgery last week but won’t be able to undergo the latest reconstruction until early next year.
“Due to her previous history, Georgia requires a two-stage process to reconstruct her left ACL,” Australian team doctor Pip Inge said. “She had a knee arthroscopy in Adelaide last week to remove the previous graft and will now commence rehab in Melbourne while she awaits for the knee to be ready for the ACL reconstruction in early 2022.
“Due to the recovery time, Georgia will be unavailable for the Ashes, World Cup and Commonwealth Games with her return to play time-frame expected to become clearer after the reconstruction.”
The injury means Australia will need to delve into their spin-bowling resources next year as they target three major trophies to go alongside their T20 World Cup crown from 2020.
Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen missed the multi-format series against India and is a certain inclusion when Australia return to action, but if a like-for-like replacement is wanted it could open the door for Amanda-Jade Wellington to return to the fold. Alana King is also putting together another impressive season having moved to Perth Scorchers in the WBBL.
Sophie Molineux, Ash Gardner and Molly Strano were the other spinners in the squad that faced India last month.