Delhi Capitals is directly into the Finals of the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League after completing at the top of the points table. The skipper Meg Lanning took to the stage to share words during an interview to The Week.
Talking about the spearheaded entry into the finals, she said, “The next few days will be pretty quiet, I think we played two games in two days, so it’s important that we rest and recover. I think it’s a good thing we have got a bit of break before the final. So, we can have a break and have a couple of training sessions and get al geared up for the finals.”
“I think you just got to start something and see how it goes and then building it from there and I feel like the WPL has been quite a few years in the making and just chatting to some of the Indian girls as well, they have been looking forward to this moment for a long time so it’s great that it’s finally here.
“It can continue to improve and grow and that will provide such great opportunities for players around the world but importantly here in India as well to be able to show their skills and show a real pathway for young girls coming through. So yes, it’s been fantastic sop far; it’s been a lot of fun and I have got no doubt that it’s just the start and it will continue to grow over the next few years.”
Having in mind the other T20 leagues going on around the globe at different times and scenarios, she commented, “It will certainly rival the WBBL I think. The WBBL in Australia has sort of set the tone and the standard I guess for domestic leagues and that’s been really great for the growth of the game within Australia and given some good opportunities to international players as well.
“It’s great now that there are more opportunities to do that, so the WPL really does just provide another opportunity for women and girls to cricket, really big stage and get rewarded for the investment that they put into the game and getting better.”
“I remember when I first started playing for Australia. We played one or two series each year and usually it was against New Zealand because they were very close by. We got paid a very small amount. I was studying full-time, I just came out of school; a lot of girls were working full time and cricket was just sort of something that we were able to fit in around that, so you fast forward to today and we are playing all year round, both at home and abroad and there are so many opportunities to play the game.
“Try to be as good as you can on and off the field, so I have enjoyed the journey. I think that’s what makes it so special and great to be a part of now is the fact that we went through that stage. Early on in my career I guess to get to the point we are now, and I hope that in ten-twenty years’ time it’s deemed better again for the young players coming through because that’s important too that we don’t just stay still.”
Speaking on the possibility of T20 leagues like WPL bridging the gap between Australia and rest of the world, she remarked, “I think it will speed up quite a bit. I think it’s great for the game obviously. We want to keep winning as much as we can that’s our aim and we’ll continue to do our best but I think there are also other factors that are really important and we need to keep growing the game around the world not just in Australia, not just in England and India.
“All the countries really make the game what it is and they are vitally important to the growth of it so I think competitions like this will certainly help that. It will allow players to learn of some of the best players in the world and we are learning as just as much as some of the local Indian players as they are from us so it’s a two-way street there is no doubt about that. I think that’s what makes these tournaments so fun and great to be a part of is meeting new people and getting to know them and just learning about cricket but also different cultures and personalities away from the game.”
Commenting on the need of whether test cricket too needs to be pushed and preserved, she noted, “As players we would love to play more test cricket, it is tricky to fit into the schedule because we do play a lot of the short format stuff, but we would love to play more. India want to play England and even South Africa are sort of looking at it so that’s great I think the more nations we can bring into that fold the better there are challenges with it and I sort of understand that we need to be mindful of that but you know if we can just continue to have those conversations and when the opportunities pop up to be able to fit in a test match and play them.”
