The veteran batter from Australia has been one of their prime performers over the years and a prolific run-getter for Australia. Her average of 53.51 is the third-highest career batting average in women’s ODIs. Apart from her batting prowess, she has been an exceptional leader for Australia across formats.
She led Australia to a gold medal in women’s cricket at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year. Women’s cricket was included for the first time in the Commonwealth Games and it was played in the T20I format. She went on an indefinite break from cricket to focus on her mental health after leading her side to a podium (Gold) finish at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
However, she returned from her break ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in February, earlier this year. She had an impressive tournament scoring 149 runs at an amazing average of just under 50 (49.66). Apart from her returns with the bat, her exceptional leadership qualities helped Australia clinch their 6th T20 World Cup title.
She was also a part of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in India in March, earlier this year. She was picked up by Delhi Capitals in the auctions and later, she was named as the skipper of the side. She had an outstanding season with the bat, as she ended the season as the top run-scorer, bagging the orange cap with 345 runs to her name in nine innings at an impressive average of 49.28, playing a vital role with the bat at the top of the order, alongside Shafali Verma.
Her leadership qualities yet again came to the fore for the Capitals as she led her side to the finals of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. However, they ended up as the runners-up as they failed to defend a total of 132 against Mumbai Indians in the finals.
The next big thing after her success as the skipper in the inaugural edition of the WPL was the highly anticipated Women’s Ashes which was scheduled to take place in England later in June 2023. All eyes were glued on one of the biggest rivalries in sport as these teams were all set to lock horns against each other in a highly intense series. The visitors Australia suffered a huge blow just four weeks ahead of the Ashes as their regular skipper Meg Lanning decided to pull out of the Ashes citing medical issues.
Wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy was named as the stand-in skipper for Australia in Meg Lanning’s absence. They had a good start to the series by winning the one-off Test Match at the Trent Bridge, but eventually, the absence of their regular skipper Meg Lanning cost the visitors big time as they went on to lose the T20I as well as the ODI series, but just about managed to hold on to the Ashes courtesy of the evaluation system.
“It’s great to see her out. I think she’s in Sydney this week doing a heap of sponsor filming which is amazing, and from all reports, she’s progressing really well for the summer and I look forward to hopefully seeing her back in Aussie colours in October against the West Indies.” Stand-in skipper Alyssa Healy on Meg Lanning’s progress and her potential comeback series.