Australian captain Meg Lanning arrives home to bask in World Cup glory
The World Cup trophy hasn’t been far from Australian captain Meg Lanning’s hands for two days and now it’s arrived home.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australian captain Meg Lanning was reluctantly preparing to hand over the World Cup trophy for permanent display at Cricket Australia headquarters in a cabinet overflowing with silverware after a stunning period of success.
The Aussies arrived home on Tuesday, with the skipper declaring a break was next on her team‘s agenda after putting “a lot of physical and mental energy” into their dominant tournament in New Zealand.
Australia went unbeaten at the World Cup and spent the past two days celebrating victory over England in Sunday’s final, with the trophy itself central to the celebrations.
“We enjoyed having it with us the last couple of days and were just looking at it and knowing we have earned it,” Lanning said on arrival at Melbourne airport.
“We looked after it on the plane. We’ve had a pretty clear goal of what we wanted to achieve and to do that in the way we did is really special.
“It will go back and sit pretty proudly in that office at Jolimont.”
It will sit alongside two T20 World Cup trophies, won by Lanning’s team in 2020 at the MCG and by Aaron Finch’s men’s team last November in the United Arab Emirates.
Having been in New Zealand since late February, which included seven days quarantine in Christchurch, Lanning said she and her teammates were looking forward to a break before dialling in preparation for a new challenge, Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham.
“We put a lot of physical and mental energy in to this campaign and we’ll have that break then come back after that, and that’s what we have to sort through, what do we want from the next couple of years, how we can improve.
“The Comm Games is going to be really exciting, it’s new for us, something we haven’t done before.
“Then the World Cups keep coming, T20 next year, there’s no chance to stop and think you’ve got it all covered.”
Lanning was reluctant to declare her team the best ever despite boasting the two trophies, a world-record run of 26 ODI wins and just one loss in 39 50-over matches since October 2017 before the 2022 world title.
“That’s hard to comment on,” she said.
“There have been some amazing players who have really contributed to the game and we are in a privileged position to be able to create another chapter in those memories. It’s hard to compare.
“It’s been a five-year journey, we have evolved a lot as a team. To be able to play that well and go through undefeated is a testament to the hard work we put in.”
Originally published as Australian captain Meg Lanning arrives home to bask in World Cup glory
Convicted rapist set to play cricket in Aus
A cricketer who has been banned from playing cricket in England and Wales for 10 years will be allowed to play in Western Australia.
New World Cup challenge awaits Aussies
Australia hasn’t lost a T20 to New Zealand for more than three years, but something is happening to the Kiwis at the World Cup.