Australian women’s team captain is confident that the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will bring tougher competition to the international stage. So far, the Women in Yellow have excelled on the world stage and conquered both titles with little trouble. Despite coming up short in the WPL finals, she had a very successful tournament with the bat. She was the highest run scorer of the season, with 345 runs to her name, and she was awarded the Orange Cap for her achievement.
Lanning expressed her enthusiasm to continue her career for a long time to see the great change in women’s cricket due to the WPL.
“Hopefully this is just the start and there’s a lot bigger things to come which is really exciting. I can’t see any reason why I can’t play for four or five more years, it is just whether that is something I want to do. I haven’t thought too much. But especially with new opportunities like the WPL coming up, you really want to be part of that.”
“We’ve worked really hard over a long period of time to get the game into a good spot now, and hopefully it continues to grow. I want to be part of it for a little bit longer.”
Meg Lanning
She said that the WPL would be a great asset, connecting them to other countries in the international arena, which is a major benefit. She added that with the rise of other nations, Australia’s mentality would stay the same. She said:
“Tournaments like this will speed that up a fair bit. As an Australian team we think it is important the global game is growing. It is not just about us winning all the time. We want to win all the time. There’s no doubt about that, but there is more at play than that.”
“I’m looking forward to playing WPL in front of home fans in Delhi” – Meg Lanning
The WPL’s first edition took place in two venues, the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. However, due to the great success of its first season, the WPL is likely to switch to a home-and-away format similar to the IPL from next year. She said:
“It made sense to play in one place this time, but I’m looking forward to playing in front of home fans in Delhi in years to come.”