Oz women erase ‘sandpapergate’ memories
MELBOURNE : In a year blighted by a ball-tampering scandal that brought the Australian men’s cricket team to its knees, the nation’s women have given fans no small reason to cheer.
Meg Lanning’s team secured their fourth World Twenty20 trophy in Antigua on Saturday, thrashing England by eight wickets to earn plaudits at home and abroad.
Though being paid a fraction of their male counterparts, the team’s achievements stand at odds with the men, who have lurched to four series losses across Test and one-day formats since ‘sandpaper-gate’ broke in Cape Town in March.
With the next Twenty20 World Cup only 14 months away on home soil, Lanning speaks of dynasty-building in much the same way men’s captains Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting did in decades past.
“We want to be a very consistent cricket team and I think we have done that over the last few years without the success at world tournaments,” Lanning said.
“So hopefully this win is sort of the start of something.
“I’ve got no doubt that this group is capable of something special.
“The T20 World Cup is in Australia in 2020, which is going to be massive (and) I think we’ve shown that we can be the world’s best team.”
The Antigua triumph was a ray of light in another gloomy weekend for Australian elite sport, coming hours after the men’s rugby team was walloped by England in London to complete their worst test season in 60 years.
Shortly after Lanning hoisted the winner’s trophy, Aaron Finch’s men’s T20 side were thrashed by six wickets in Sydney by Virat Kohli’s India. The result meant the teams split their three-match series 1-1.