Meg Lanning has gone from having no leadership experience to being declared the best captain in world cricket
For someone who had never captained a side before being thrust onto the national stage in the lead role, Meg Lanning is doing OK. ELIZA SEWELL looks at Lanning’s rise from limited leadership to being one of the best skippers in the game.
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For someone who had never captained a side before being thrust onto the national stage in the lead role, Meg Lanning is doing OK.
The almost 27-year-old cricketing great has led Australia in all forms of the game since 2014, but it was a cameo experience captaining the one-day side that provided a first taste — and still makes her laugh.
She was 21 and had only just been elevated to the vice-captaincy when veteran skipper Jodie Fields was injured during the home Ashes series in January 2014.
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“I got thrown into it, I hadn’t done any captaincy in my junior pathway, to be honest I hadn’t even thought that I wanted to do it, it wasn’t something that I’d thought too much about,” Lanning said.
“I sort of was making it up as I went along, but I think that in a lot of ways helped me because I am generally a pretty ‘go with the flow’ person, I play on instinct.
“It meant I didn’t have any preconceived ideas … it all happened very quickly.”
On Sunday the two-time World Cup winning captain will lead Australia as the Aussies take on New Zealand at the Junction Oval seeking a 3-0 Rose Bowl clean sweep.
She remains a captain who trusts her instinct.
“I’d much rather try something and it not work than sit back and do nothing,” Lanning said.
“I feel like if you sit and wait in the game of cricket you won’t get very far.”
What’s changed most is her off-field persona.
“On the field is the easy part,” Lanning said.
“Off the field in terms of relationships and trying to get the most out of players and helping to bring the team together, that’s probably been the area I needed to improve the most.
“Just learning about what’s involved in getting the best out of players, the extra conversations … I think that’s where I’ve improved the most. I just didn’t know any of that side of things.
“You need to get to know people and understand what they like and don’t like.
“Naturally I’m pretty to the point and that suits some people but maybe others don’t really respond that well to that.
“Understanding that everyone’s different and not everyone’s like me has been a challenge, but I think I’ve improved a lot.”
On Saturday night Lanning will be honoured at her old school Carey Grammar with the unveiling of a plaque, alongside Graham Yallop among others, recognising Carey alumni who have led Australia.
Just this month she was named ‘captain of the year’ by respected cricket website Cricinfo.
“It’s not something that I look for, but I guess it’s nice to be recognised probably more for the team success that we’ve had over the last year or so,” Lanning said.
“The team makes me look pretty good in terms of captaincy; I don’t need to do too much.”
Originally published as Meg Lanning has gone from having no leadership experience to being declared the best captain in world cricket
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