After English Skipper Heather Knight and Indian Skipper Mithali Raj voiced their opinion about women’s cricket having a 5-day test match, now Aussie captain Meg Lanning has come forward stating the same thing.
Meg Lanning, known as “The Megastar”, has played 4 Test matches, 82 ODIs, and 107 T20Is for Australia. She is a top-order barter who took the charge as the captain in 2014 at the age of 21, making her the youngest ever captain in Australia’s history. Lanning holds the record for the most Women’s One Day International centuries and is the first Australian to score 2,000 Twenty20 International runs.
Lanning said that having a 4-day match decreases the chances of getting a result especially if the weather conditions are not favorable. She said this after India vs England Test, which ended in a draw, in which rain played a major role. She wants the test matches to be a 5-day contest like their male counterparts have.
Shouldn’t there be a 5-Day Women’s Test Match instead of 4? 🙄#ENGvIND #ENGWvINDW
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 19, 2021
Lanning voiced her opinion while talking to media in Melbourne, she said, “I think it probably makes sense to take it out to five days, we saw in the last two, the Test match we played against England and the one just recently with England and India that there was a little bit of rain around and once that happens, it makes it pretty difficult to get a result.”
“So, I think pushing out the five days makes a lot of sense and I think you will get more results and then teams pushing for that,” she added.
Lanning believes that India playing a test match abroad will be a good advertisement for women’s cricket and hopes that it becomes a regular feature and not just a one-time thing.
India is currently in England and has played a one-off Test, which ended in a draw and 3 ODIs, England won the series by 2-1, in their series so far. They will be taking on the home team in a 3 T20I contest from July 9 in Northampton.
India will travel to Australia in August end and will be quarantined before hitting the gyms and practice sessions. Australia is going to host India for a multi-series tour. Starting with ODIs, they will play 3 ODI matches starting September 19, then comes the one-off pink ball test from September 30, and then will end the tour with the 3-match T20I series.
“It’s really exciting that they’ve (India) agreed to play in a Test match and they’re very willing to do it having played England as well. I think it’s only going to move the game forward and increase the awareness of the game both here and in India as well which I think is a really important part of it,” Lanning said.
Just like everyone else, the 29-year-old Australian captain too is super excited for the day-night test and cannot wait to play with the pink ball against India.
“Personally, I’d love to play a Test match in India. I think that would be a great test and a really good challenge and something I’d love to happen in the not-too-distant future. Hopefully, this Test match being part of the series against them is not just a one-off, hopefully, it’s the start of something that will continue into the future as well,” Lanning said.
The last time India played against Australia was in the ICC T20 World Cup final in March last year which the hosts, very conveniently, won.
Source: cricket.com.au