Cricket 2023: Meg Lanning moving closer to comeback

Meg Lanning pulled out of the women’s Ashes with an undisclosed illness and was left out of Australia’s squad to face the West Indies. But she could be on the way back.

Meg Lanning has reappeared from the cricket wilderness in a sign that her record-breaking career should be reactivated in the coming weeks.

The national women’s captain was not named in the Australian squad to take on the West Indies last week, but on Tuesday joined teammates at the SCG to shoot promotional footage for Fox Cricket, Channel 7 and other Cricket Australia partners.

Lanning was a shock withdrawal from the women’s Ashes series earlier this year due to an undisclosed illness, and despite Cricket Australia medical staff deciding not to return her to action via international cricket against the Windies next month, the 31-year-old is moving closer to a domestic comeback after playing in a warm-up match for Victoria against NSW.

Stand-in Australian captain Alyssa Healy said she wasn’t surprised Lanning was ruled out of a comeback against the Windies, but is confident her long-time teammate is on track with her return.

There could be no better sign of Lanning’s plans for this summer than getting back among her teammates in the backrooms of the SCG and providing content and interviews for Fox and Seven, which will broadcast the international and WBBL seasons.

“The fact that she’s here and giving everyone some content for the season is a really good sign and, in talking to her, I think she just really wanted to be around the people again and that’s probably what you miss when you’re injured or you’re missing from the team for a little bit. You miss the people and you miss your mates that you hang out with most of the year,” Healy told this masthead.

“I know everyone has enjoyed having her back around and seeing her smiling and happy, and hopefully we can see it on the field as well.

“There has never really been a timeline on (her return). From my perspective it was like if she is ready to go, then so be it. So it’s not a whole heap surprising that she’s not (in the squad to play the West Indies).

Captain Meg Lanning could be back for Australia’s tour of India in December. Picture: Marty MELVILLE / AFP

“The WBBL potentially will be a great opportunity for her to come back and get back in the swing of cricket. We’ve got a huge tour of India in December, so if she’s going to be on that, (she’d) love to play some cricket beforehand.

“She’s looking really happy and healthy and hopefully we can see her back out there.”

Healy on Tuesday signed a new three-year deal with the Sydney Sixers, suggesting the 33-year-old wicketkeeping superstar still feels she has plenty of time left at the top.

The absence of her name from the Sixers squad just weeks out from the start of the WBBL season was conspicuous, but Healy said the delay was simply her deliberating over whether to accept such a long-term deal.

Healy has selflessly signed one-year deals for some time not wanting her plans to affect the Sixers roster, but the club insisted on rewarding her for her loyalty and immense contributions to the organisation.

“It was funny in that all of a sudden I’ve turned down multi-year deals for a long period of time, just because I felt like I’d be letting the side down if I decided I didn’t want to play anymore and pulled out of my contract,” Healy said.

“It took Leah (NSW cricket boss, Leah Poulton) to tell me that’s not the case, that, ‘You can walk away whenever you want.

“There was never any real deliberation over where I was going, it was literally the length of the contract and from my point of view, it’s really exciting to see the loyalty on their side.

“I’m a highly loyal human being and I’ve always prided myself on being a one-club player wherever I’ve gone, and I still have more to contribute to the Sixers.”

Originally published as Cricket 2023: Meg Lanning moving closer to comeback