Refreshed Lanning ready to scorch Kiwis

Australia captain Meg Lanning admits an unwanted period on the sidelines during the Rebel WBBL has ultimately worked in her favour as she targets a strong finish to the summer against New Zealand.

Lanning managed just one game for the Perth Scorchers in her first season for the club before sitting out the next five. That came after she missed the entirety of last summer's tournament due to shoulder surgery.

A back niggle combined with the sheer fatigue that followed a hectic few months – a period that saw Australia host the White Ferns before playing Pakistan in Malaysia and which culminated in the pressure and emotion of what was ultimately a successful T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean – had taken its toll on Lanning, both physically and mentally.

Such was the pressure Lanning had placed on herself to win back a piece of ICC silverware after failed campaigns in 2016 and 2017, she described her first emotion upon hitting the winning run in the final against England as one of "relief"

And after arriving back in Australia (via a 48-hour journey home), the Australian squad members had just two days to overcome their jetlag and reset before the opening weekend of the Big Bash season.

"It wasn't ideal," Lanning told Direct Hit of her missed matches. "I felt like I've missed my fair share of cricket over the last year or so, so I was keen to play as much as possible.

"I guess it was just a bit of fatigue and there was an injury there as well … coming back from the World Cup and then heading straight into the WBBL was a busy time for all those players and unfortunately I couldn't make it through without missing a few games.

"But I think, in hindsight, looking back at it now, I was able to take a little bit of a mini-break there as well during that time and I think that freshened me up for the rest of WBBL."

When Lanning did return to the Scorchers XI in late December, it was with a vengeance.

She struck scores of 1, 75, 70, 76, 1, 76, 2 and 70no through the remainder of the season, finishing seventh on the overall runs tally with 389 runs from nine innings at an average of 48.62.

"I felt like I was freshened up and I felt like I was hitting the ball well along the way," Lanning said.

"With the WBBL your games come around pretty quickly so if you can get some momentum within your game you can just sort of continue on and there's not much thinking involved in T20 cricket.

"You go out there and take the game on, which I really enjoyed. I enjoyed opening the batting again which I hadn't done for a little while and batting there with Elyse Villani for a bit as well, who I always enjoy batting with.

"I just really wanted to relax and have some fun during WBBL especially after the intenseness of the World Cup, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it."

That form continued into the final round of the 50-over domestic Women's National Cricket League – via a record 244 for Box Hill in Premier Cricket – as Lanning hit 105 against Tasmania to end Victoria's season on a winning note.

The Australian squad has gathered in Perth this week for the first of three one-day internationals against New Zealand and Lanning's recent form is an ominous sign against a team she already relishes playing – the right-hander averages 69.38 in ODIs against the White Ferns and has scored five of her 12 one-day tons against her trans-Tasman rivals.

"Even now I feel like I'm really, really looking forward to the games coming up (against New Zealand) and I'm enjoying my cricket," Lanning said.

"So, I guess there is a positive in everything and while it wasn't ideal to miss those games, I feel like I was able to take a little break and freshen up a bit."

The Australian-contracted players will enjoy a six-week break following the Rose Bowl series, another chance to refresh before what's looming as one of the most demanding nine-month periods they'll ever face.

In late June, Australia head to the United Kingdom for the multi-format Ashes, which will see them meet England in three ODIs, one Test and three T20Is between July 2-31.

They also have limited-overs series slated against West Indies (away) and Sri Lanka (home) in the ICC's future tours program ahead of the first standalone edition of the WBBL, which is due to begin in October.

When that ends, Australia's preparations for the 2020 T20 World Cup will ramp up with the tournament to start on home soil next February.

Lanning hopes her experiences this summer will help her – and her teammates – manage the demands of the year to come.

"There's no doubt that it's going to be something both individually and as an Australian group that we look at and try and manage," she said.

"We've been speaking about playing more cricket and that's really happening now, which is exciting for the game and we love that part of it, but it is going to mean we're going to have to be smarter with how we train and also playing games at domestic level as well.

"We're learning all the time as players and staff in terms of how to manage that best.

"It's an exciting period coming up but you definitely going to have to make the most of the little breaks that you get along the way to make sure we're as fresh as we can be."

CommBank ODIs v NZ 

February 22: First ODI, WACA Ground, Perth

February 24: Second ODI, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide

March 3: Third ODI, Junction Oval, Melbourne