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Former Australia skipper Meg Lanning is focused on success in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) after stepping down from international duties.
On Saturday, Lanning will mark her return to the venue where her cricketing journey began. The 31-year-old alongside former cricketer Rachael Haynes will be honoured with a celebratory lap of Adelaide Oval prior to the series opener between Australia and West Indies. Lanning who has been a part of Australia's seven World Cup triumphs as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, dropped a hint that she might continue in domestic cricket next year as well. "I've never won a WNCL title with Victoria, which is something I'd love to do at some stage. Having helped Victoria into third place on the WNCL ladder with back-to-back wins over South Australia Scorpions in Adelaide this week. I haven't thought too far ahead, past this season," Lanning told cricket.com.au. "But I love playing for Victoria and always have, so if I can be useful to the group on and off the field then maybe I'll keep going," Lanning added. The right-handed batter went on to talk about her new cricket life and the pressure of playing in the domestic circuit. "I've enjoyed just rocking up to play and not thinking too much about it. For as long as I can remember, every game I played had a lot of pressure and expectation, even when you'd go back to state cricket as an Australian player you feel the pressure to perform and make sure you're using that time," Lanning said. "Now I can be a little bit more relaxed and focus on other players as well, and try and help them as much as I can which is what I've really enjoyed with the Victorian team. We've got quite a few young girls in there and it's been nice to think about it from their perspective a little bit, and also talk about some of the experiences I've had. Then I can just go out there and bat when my turn comes," Lanning added. Lanning who decided to retire from international cricket last year talked about playing in Australian colours but her energy levels dropping down eventually led to her stepping away from her role. "I loved every moment of it, but I put everything into my career and got to the point where I didn't have too much energy to give, and the commitment levels required to play within that Australian team are significant," Lanning said. "I guess I didn't really have that any more, so stepping away and having a bit more time to focus on other things has been nice," Lanning added. (ANI)
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