Lanning over shoulder worry to boost Aussies

Australia captain Meg Lanning appears to have overcome the shoulder injury that ruled her out of last month’s Twenty20 Super League in England as the tourists ramped up their preparations for Sunday’s one-day international series opener against Sri Lanka.

Lanning trained strongly in the nets at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday afternoon, with the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars to return to the nation’s premier cricket stadium today for their sole practice match of the tour.

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Scans on Lanning’s right shoulder in July revealed a cartilage tear that require weeks of rehabilitation, but the star batter is eager to return to action.

“I’ve been working back from a shoulder injury, so that’s going really well,” Lanning told media at last night’s official welcome event.

“Everything is on track to be playing my part in this tour.

“I’m looking forward to getting back into games, it’s been a while since everyone has played.”

The two-week tour represents new ground for the Southern Stars, with this tour the first bilateral series between the two sides.

“It’s great to be here in Sri Lanka and playing against different opposition that we usually only come up against in World Cups,” Lanning said of the historic tour.

“Playing Sri Lanka in their home conditions is going to be a good test for us.

“We’ve certainly trained a lot for spin and slower bowling. We’re as ready as we can be.

“The important thing is implementing and being able to adapt in the games, so that’s going to be our biggest challenge and we’re looking forward to that, as well as executing in the games.”

The Australians enter the series as heavy favourites, having never been beaten by Sri Lanka in their three previous 50-over encounters.

Lanning’s side also sits two matches clear on top of the ICC ODI Championship with 12 wins from their 15 matches so far in the two-year cycle, while Sri Lanka sit at the bottom of the table with victories over South Africa and West Indies – both on home soil.

The top four teams at the end of the year will earn automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in England, with the Southern Stars able to become the first team to book their place at the event if they can secure a three-nil sweep across the Championship matches.

However, the Australians are wary of the constantly-improving competition coming at them from around the globe.

“We’ve had a lot of success over the past 5-10 years, but as we’ve seen at the World Cup, the other team are catching up and lifting the skills of women’s cricket,” Lanning said.

“We’re aware that we need to keep improving and keep developing to stay on top. That’s our aim.

“It’s important throughout this tour that we get better and improve in different areas.

“That’s certainly what we’ve been focusing on because you can never rest and we expect to keep winning.”

The tourists will fine-tune their preparations in an intra-squad match at Premadasa Stadium today, before making the trip up to Dambulla on Friday morning.

Squads

Australia: Meg Lanning (captain), Alex Blackwell (vice-captain), Kristen Beams, Nicole Bolton, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani

Sri Lanka: Chamari Atapattu (c), Prasadini Weerakkody (vc), Dilani Manodara, Nipuni Hansika, Chamari Polgampola, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasooriya, Inoshi Fernando, Imalka Mendis, Ama Kanchana, Harshitha Madhavi.

Fixtures

Tour match: R. Premadasa Stadium, 15 September at 2:20pm AEST

First ODI: Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, 18 September at 2:20pm AEST

Second ODI*: Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, 20 September at 2:20pm AEST

Third ODI*: R. Premadasa Stadium, 23 September at 2:20pm AEST

Fourth ODI*: R. Premadasa Stadium, 25 September at 2:20pm AEST

T20: SSC Ground, 27 September at 6:30pm AEST

*ICC Championship matches

You can follow regular updates from Australia’s tour match, four ODIs and T20 in Sri Lanka at @SouthernStars on Twitter.