Meg Lanning, Australia women’s team captain has said that despite the uncertainty surrounding next year’s ICC Women’s World Cup, she and her team will be ready for the tournament.
Australia won the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil in March, but since then, have been unable to play any cricket because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The women’s 50-over World Cup takes place in February-March 2021 and Lanning is keen on reclaiming the title. “At this stage, we anticipate the World Cup to go ahead as scheduled (early next year) but have to wait and see how that plays out,” she said via video conference.
“We’ve got a plan in place for what it looks like but also fully understanding things can change pretty quick.”
The 28-year-old added that the plan right now is to get involved in state programmes to keep up with training and make most of the resources at hand.
“We’re going to fully immerse ourselves in the state programme over the next few months, there’s no Australian camps in Brisbane because we can’t get there. But here in Victoria, we’ve got great facilities, we’re looking forward to being involved in the state programme which is something we’ve not been able to do for a number of years given our schedule.
“We’re well prepared, we’ve got enough resources to get done what we need to and then adjust to what our schedule gives us.”
We’re looking forward to being involved in the state programme which is something we’ve not been able to do for a number of years given our schedule.
While it is difficult to stay focussed with no live cricket at the moment, Lanning is certain that the talented bunch of players she leads will be able to swing in action even with fewer preparations.
“The group we’ve got, we’ve played a lot of cricket together over a long period of time and if it (the coronavirus) means we’ve only got a short time to prepare and get ready (for the World Cup), I’ve got no doubt we’ll be able to do that. We’ll be ready to go.”