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Lanning presses pause as pivotal WBBL decision looms

Australian skipper yet to decide whether she’ll remain at Perth Scorchers for the next edition of the WBBL

The cricketing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic means a pivotal factor in the next Rebel Women’s Big Bash League tournament, the playing future of Australian skipper Meg Lanning, is still to be determined.

Victorian Lanning, the inaugural captain of the Melbourne Stars, made a shock move west to join the Perth Scorchers in 2017 but is currently out of contract after her three-year deal expired at the end of last season.


'We played twice in one day!': Lanning tracks WBBL rise

A move home to Melbourne would have its appeal for Lanning given she spends the majority of the year on the road with the national side, but new Scorchers coach Shelley Nitchske has said keeping the star batter in Perth is her “No.1 priority”.

Where Lanning ends up for WBBL|06 would have a major bearing on the tournament given her status as one of the leading batters and captains in the competition, underlining Nitchske’s determination to hold onto her star player.

Lanning had been expected to decide her next move after the recent World Cup, but the delay in the announcement of Cricket Australia’s national contract list due to the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic has given her more time to consider her options.

"I’m not sure at this stage," Lanning said on Monday.

"I really enjoyed my three years in Perth, they’re a great club, really well run and Shelley Nitchske is now the coach there.

"So I’ll have to have a look at what I want to do … it’s given me a little bit more time to think about it and work it out."

Lanning was the fourth-highest run-scorer in last summer’s WBBL, clubbing her maiden century for the Scorchers to help lift them into the finals.

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Meanwhile, her former Stars side finished the season at the bottom of the ladder and remain the only club in the league to have not made the finals in five seasons.

But the potential for a revamped Melbourne set-up for this coming summer, led by the appointment of new coach Leah Poulton – a former national teammate of Lanning’s – could convince the Aussie skipper to return home.

Family could also play a role in potentially bringing the 28-year-old back to Melbourne, with sister Anna joining the Renegades last season.

Image Id: 90E6D30D0F4046ABB252CDFCD1C9E5A2 Image Caption: Meg and Anna Lanning have gone separate ways since their days together at the Melbourne Stars // Getty

After a frantic 2019-20 season that culminated in a fifth T20 World Cup title, Lanning said the extra time she’s been granted by the contracting delay will better allow her to make an informed decision.

"I put it on the backburner (during the World Cup) so I could focus on what we had at hand, so I hadn’t given it a lot of thought over the last few months,” she said.

"So it’s probably good thing that I have a bit of time to work out what I’m after over the next little bit in the WBBL and where I’m best suited.

"It gives me a bit of extra time to think." 

Nitchske, who knows Lanning well through her role as an assistant coach with the national side, said earlier this year she would do everything she can to keep Lanning at the Scorchers.

"We’d be mad not to have that as our No.1 priority,” Nitchske said after she took over from Lisa Keightley as head coach.

"When the time is right, we will have those discussions and hopefully we can keep her over in Western Australia, because she has been obviously a fantastic player and a great leader."