Women set to shine in cricket’s dark times

CRICKET: Australia captain Meg Lanning says her team, the favourites at the T20 world cup in the West Indies, can add a bright spark to the darkness surrounding the sport at home.

The world’s No.1 ranked side begins its Women’s World T20 quest against Pakistan in Guyana on Saturday morning (AEDT) as the sport in Australia remains under fire.

While the women are in formidable form, the mushrooming fallout from the Longstaff review into cricket’s culture and the poor onfield performances of the Australian men’s side have hurt the sport.

Lanning said while the drama at home had not affected her side or its focus, they were aware of their responsibilities.

“Hopefully there’s a lot of people following us back home and we can bring something really positive to the situation,” Lanning said.

“It’s obviously a tough time for Australian cricket but I’m sure there’ll be some positive stuff coming pretty soon.

“Hopefully we can perform really well here and have some success. The good thing is we don’t really need to change much about what we’re doing.

“We’ve got good systems in place, we’re all really enjoying what we’re doing, we’re really competitive and we have come over here to win, but we’re also aware of how to play the game and the way it should be played.

“Hopefully the cricket supporters and the Australian public can get behind us.”

The Aussies were beaten by the West Indies in the World T20 final in 2016, but Lanning said this was a different side.

“We don’t rely on one or two players, in the past perhaps maybe we have done that,” she said.

Star left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen took three wickets in a warm-up game against Pakistan on Tuesday in her second match since September knee surgery, and 20-year-old pace bowler Tayla Vlaeminck also impressed.

“Selection will be difficult,” Lanning said.