Australia 'bruised but not broken' by skipper Meg Lanning's Ashes withdrawal

Australia skipper Meg Lanning has pulled out of the upcoming women's Ashes 2023 citing medical reasons, and as per coach Shelley Nitschke, that has left the team 'a little bit rattled’. Notably, the coach isn’t aware of what the 31-year-old is currently going through but hopes she recovers soon.

Notably, the cricketer took a break from the game in order to focus on her mental health in 2022, returned to lead Australia in the T20 World Cup and eventually managed to go all the way. Significantly, this will be the second Ashes series that Lanning will be missing after she sat out the 2017-18 series in Australia due to a shoulder injury.

“I'm sure they were a little bit rattled by the news, but I think Meg is in our thoughts. We also know that she wants us to go over there and get the job done. We've had some time to sort of get our head around it now, and having the girls up here this week, it's really nice to get them together,” Shelley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Meanwhile, in the absence of Lanning, opener Alyssa Healy will be leading Australia against England in the upcoming series. Speaking about the same, Shelley stated that Healy has done well as a captain in India last year, and thus, everyone in the team is confident with her leading the squad. She also mentioned that there are many experienced cricketers in the squad, and thus, it will not be a problem for them against England.

“[Healy] had a big couple of days herself to find out that she's captaining for an Ashes series, but I think the fact that she captained the team in India last year and did a fantastic job, the girls got around her, played some really good cricket, so I think she should take a lot of confidence out of that and I think she enjoyed it.

"I think we've got some really good leaders in the group. We've got a lot of experience in the group. I think one thing that we've been really good at over the years is just being able to adapt and take some knocks as they come. I've got the utmost confidence in our group to head across and hopefully get the job done,” she added.