Belinda Clark praises Meg Lanning as Australia star returns

Australian captain Meg Lanning made her return to cricket on Thursday (January 5) during the Women's National Cricket League 2022-23 season for Victoria Women. The former Australian World Cup-winning captain Belinda Clark welcomed the fellow cricketer and predicted that Lanning would highlight the next two years.

The 30-year-old batter's last international appearance came in August 2022 when she guided Australia to the Gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Then she shocked the cricket world with the announcement of an indefinite break from international cricket to focus on herself. She withdrawn from the Hundred 2022 and also missed the Women's Big Bash League 2022. 

But now she made her return to cricket via Australia's domestic one-day tournament and scored 29 runs off 32 balls while opening an innings against New South Wales Women. Belinda feels that Lanning's break was a brave thing and said that she is hoping for some great cricket from the current Australian captain.

"It was brave from Meg to step away when she realised that she needed to step away. You can come back refreshed, and I'm hoping Meg's got some great cricket in front of her. Cricket's a game that requires you to be switched on the whole time, so I think you'll see some great Meg Lanning highlights in the next couple of years. She'll be great. I'm really pleased she's back," Belinda Clark said to reporters.

Lanning was caught out on Lauren Smith's delivery but the star all-rounder Ellyse Perry smashed 147 runs off 125 balls and captain Nicole Faltum scored 107* to help Victoria score 321 runs against New South Wales. Then Tess Flintoff and Perry shined with the ball to restrict the opponents to 233/8 to earn an 88-run victory, only second win this season.

Lanning was appointed captain in 2014 and since then, she has guided Australia to victories in two T20 World Cups, a one-day World Cup in 2022, and the Gold medal at Commonwealth Games. During her break, Australia toured India in December 2022 and won the five-match T20I series by 1-4 under the leadership of Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath. Lanning is part of Australia's squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan starting on January 16.

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