’It’s like playing an international every match’

There’s no greater proof of the standard of the WBBL than the 20 international players who are in quarantine to play in it.

Meg Lanning has returned to Melbourne Stars in this summer’s WBBL after two seasons with Perth Scorchers Picture: Getty Images

I’m often asked what the biggest shift has been in the women’s game in Australia since I started with the national cricket team a decade ago.

Is it the skills? The strength? The attitude towards training and the game itself?

All those factors have improved dramatically during that period but, if I had to call out the single most significant change, it would have to be the coverage.

The fact that the kids of today can watch their international and domestic female heroes on TV, read about them online and in the newspaper, hear about them on radio and interact with them on social media has been the most dramatic evolution in my lifetime.

Watch every WBBL match live and on-demand, only on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >

That coverage has helped inspire a generation to take up cricket and we’re starting to see those players make their way into elite cricket. And the news that there will be almost 60 per cent more WBBL games on TV this season compared with last makes me more hopeful than ever that we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of our growth and potential.

The surge has been apparent even in the relatively short lifespan of the WBBL. I remember there being discussion in the first season about whether our broadcast partners would televise the final. No one needs to ask that question any more. The WBBL is the best women’s domestic cricket league in the world and the broadcasters agree with the players that it’s a really good product.

I was reading an interview with Marizanne Kapp last week where she said playing in the WBBL is like playing an international match every game. I agree with that. Each match is an incredible test of players’ skills and temperaments and the quality seems to improve year on year.

If you needed further proof of how highly regarded the WBBL is these days, look no further than the 20 leading international players and coaches who have chosen to fly all the way to Australia during a pandemic and quarantine for two weeks to take part in the league.

That’s an amazing commitment. I had a taste of the quarantine experience travelling to Queensland from Victoria for Australia’s series against New Zealand and it’s not something you would choose to undertake unless you were absolutely passionate, focused and determined.

The key to making the most of quarantine is to be really precise with your time. Don’t waste a second in the small windows you get to train. You’ll have plenty of time to switch off once you’re back in your hotel room!

Another lesson I took out of quarantine was not to obsess over the things you can’t control. Sure, your preparation won’t be at quite the same level as normal, but you need to trust that everything you’ve done through the years will be enough when the moment arrives.

Your instincts take over once the game starts. Be OK with that.

Hub life was also full of learnings, and I’m sure they’ll apply to the WBBL, too. Living in a hub brings the squad closer and you learn more about each other than you would in an ordinary series. We’ve got a young, competitive team at the Melbourne Stars and I’m looking forward to bonding with them in the village.

Returning to the Stars after a stint in Perth has brought back a few memories of the first season of the WBBL. Back then, we quite often played two games in a day and sometimes served as the curtain-raiser to the men’s competition. The final was one of those matches. When you think our last two season deciders have been played to full houses, it just shows how far we’ve come in a short space of time.

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t convinced we had enough depth to sustain all eight teams back then. There’s no question about it now. What an incredible few weeks we have ahead of us.