<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57908/meg-lanning/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Meg Lanning</a> has assured indigenous all-rounder star <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67023/ashleigh-gardner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ashleigh Gardner</a> of unconditional support on January 26 as the Australian side is set to play their second T20 against Pakistan in Hobart.&nbsp;While the match was initially scheduled to take place on January 27 &nbsp;at Canberra, it was moved to Hobart after the South African men&#39;s side decided to forfeit their series against the Aussie contingent.&nbsp;In a social media post, Gardner expressed her disappointment with the scheduling and stated that it is a &#39;day of hurt and a day of mourning&quot; for indigenous Australians.&#39;<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🖤💛❤️ <a href="https://t.co/xcXRciCFqU">pic.twitter.com/xcXRciCFqU</a>&mdash; Ashleigh Gardner (@akgardner97) <a href="https://twitter.com/akgardner97/status/1616941133770424321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2023</a></blockquote>Ahead of the first T20I, Lanning offered her support to the 25-year-old and declared that all the members of the Australian outfit would look after her and support her feelings.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s something that we can&#39;t control in terms of the scheduling and playing on that day. But something we would like to do is acknowledge the sadness and grief that day brings for First Nations people,&quot; she said on the eve of the first clash, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;re going to try to use the opportunity we have to educate ourselves and try to create a better understanding of what it means and their culture. It&#39;s a really united front in the group, and we all support Ash and her feelings around the day,&quot; she further added.&nbsp;The Australian team will be wearing indigenous jerseys along with socks and wristbands with indigenous colours for the match in Hobart.&quot;It&#39;s something that we&#39;ve been working on as a group for a number of years. We&#39;ve been trying to use every opportunity that we get to educate ourselves and try to celebrate the culture of First Nations people as well and try to make a point of that.&quot;We&#39;re doing a cultural tour the day before January 26 to learn a little bit more. It&#39;s something as a group that we&#39;ve spoken about for the past few years, and it hasn&#39;t just come up now. We&#39;ll continue to do that because we think it&#39;s important,&quot; she concluded.&nbsp;Australia is scheduled to play three T20I matches starting tomorrow against Pakistan as part of their preparations in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in South Africa, set to commence early next month.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Australian skipper admits it'll be tough for Gardner but assured the team would rally behind her in the second T20I on January 26 against Pakistan 

Meg Lanning

Ashleigh Gardner

Pakistan Women tour of Australia, 2023

Australia Women

Pakistan Women

We will support Ash and her feelings around the day: Meg Lanning

Australian skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57908/meg-lanning/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Meg Lanning</a> took <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/lanning-takes-indefinite-break-from-cricket-1660121339107" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">indefinite sabbatical from the sport</a>, and had no target of coming back either. Cricket Australia happily agreed to the same and even ensured that when Lanning <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/meg-lanning-returns-to-lead-australia-in-t20-world-cup-1673321292999" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">was ready to return, she would be leading the side</a>.&nbsp;The 30-year-old was an ever-present figure in the Australian dressing room for the last 14 years and while she took some time to adjust after being appointed captain in 2014, she has turned the team into worldbeaters, that includes winning a couple of T20 World Cups and more recently the Commonwealth Games. Such had been her impact that her return was awaited with bated breathe.When Australia take on the Bismah Maroof-led Pakistan women&rsquo;s side in the first of the three ICC Women&rsquo;s Championship ODIs at the Allan Border Field, Brisbane on Monday, it would be a grand comeback for Lanning, who now feels fully recharged after the break.&nbsp;&quot;Initially I wasn&#39;t too sure how it was going to pan out. I just wanted to switch off from cricket, get away a little bit, give myself a bit of time to think and work out where I wanted to be. Became pretty clear that I still wanted to play cricket and loved the game, just needed some time to be able to feel normal, have a bit less structure around what I was doing,&rdquo; Lanning said ahead of the Pakistan game.&ldquo;Having done that, I feel really refreshed and ready to go. I feel like I&#39;ve got a lot left in the game, both from an individual point of view and with the team. I&#39;m not sure what the future holds but would certainly love to keep playing as long as I can.&quot;During the break, Lanning moved away from the rigors of the professional sport and devoted her&nbsp; time to spending time for herself. She worked in Cafe and served coffees, bringing a different perspective to her life.&quot;Gave me a bit of different perspective on things. Just going in and not knowing what the day will look like - could be busy, could be quiet - and having different conversations with the customers, actually found that really cool. Having that little bit of freedom, a little less structure, going with the flow a little more, not getting too worried about things. Working at the caf&eacute; allowed me to do that and had a lot of fun.&quot;I came to the conclusion over a bit of time, but guess there was a moment a few months back where [playing on] was definitely something I want to doing. I love the game, have done as long as I&#39;ve been playing, and there&#39;s a fair bit is still want to archive. Once I came to that conclusion I started to work towards where I might come back and what that might look like. The break was certainly something I needed.Despite being a guarded person all her life, Lanning talked to a lot of people in the past six months which provided her a lot of knowledge about people from different walks of life.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;ve certainly learned a lot over the past six months&hellip;talking to people and how much that can help work through what you might be thinking about,&quot; she said. &quot;You never know what people are going through behind the scenes, that&#39;s something that&#39;s important to recognise. Everyone deals with things in different ways.&quot;I never thought I&#39;d take a break a game, it wasn&#39;t something I anticipated would happen, I was just playing and really loving the game and it&#39;s always what I&#39;ve done. But it&#39;s confirmed to me that I do love playing the game, it&#39;s brought me a lot of joy over the years. It&#39;s listening to what your feelings are and going with what you feel is best.&quot;Moving forward hopefully it&#39;s something I can continue to do, I certainly don&#39;t have everything worked out, but am committed to seeing what happens and learning along the way.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

During the break, Lanning devoted her time working in a cafe, which brought a different perspective to her life.

Feel like I've got a lot left in the game : Lanning

Australia keeper-batter <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58854/alyssa-healy/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alyssa Healy</a> has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against Pakistan due to a calf injury. Healy suffered the injury while batting in the fourth T20I against India at the Brabourne Stadium last month.According to Cricket Australia, the 31-year old will be ready for the T20 World Cup in South Africa next month and will continue her recovery while being part of the squad for the Pakistan series at home.Healy served as the world champions&#39; captain in place of <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57908/meg-lanning/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Meg Lanning</a>, who returned to the squad after a gap of six months following a mental health break.Australia will play three ODIs against Pakistan in Brisbane on January 16, 18 and 21 followed by the three T20Is on January 24, 26 and 29 in Sydney, Hobart and Canberra respectively.Australia are placed in Group 1 alongside Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. They will begin their title defence on February 11 against New Zealand.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Australia, however, are hopeful that Healy will be ready by the T20 World Cup next month

Alyssa Healy

Healy to miss Australia's T20I series against Pakistan

The Cricket Australia National Selection Panel have announced a 15-player squad for the ICC Women&rsquo;s T20 World Cup in February with the side playing three T20Is against Pakistan from 24-29 January. Meg Lanning, Australia&rsquo;s revered skipper, will be seen captaining after months of uncertainty about his future but her announcing return to the fold has eased some concern.Australia will be bolstered by the presence of Georgia Wareham who returns from a long layoff after rupturing her ACL in October 2021. Alyssa Healy is expected to overcome the calf injury she suffered in December in India by the time the World Cup arrives but she wouldn&rsquo;t play against Pakistan.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s always tough to narrow a squad down to just 15 players, but we&#39;re confident we&#39;ve picked a well-balanced side that&#39;s well placed for the series against Pakistan and ready to challenge for a third consecutive T20 title,&quot; national selector Shawn Flegler said.&quot;Seeing Meg and Georgia back in action for Victoria has been exciting. Both bring a wealth of experience to the group, which is always crucial during major tournaments. Georgia in particular, has had a tough run of injuries, but she&#39;s shown a great deal of resilience and her return is a real boost for the side.&quot;Nicola Carey, Phoebe Litchfield and Amanda-Jade Wellington have not been named after being part of the side that last played in India, while Kim Garth and Heather Graham hold their spots after making their T20I debuts in December.&nbsp;&quot;Alyssa and Jess are expected to be fully fit and firing after minor injuries as well, so we&#39;ve got a full-strength squad with plenty of variety with both bat and ball if required. Heather and Kim both impressed when given the chance during the India series, and we know they are ready to perform their role if the opportunity presents. Unfortunately, there was no room for Nicola, Phoebe or Amanda-Jade, but they&#39;re still well and truly in our plans and are on standby should they be required,&rdquo; Flegler added.Australia begin its World Cup defence on 12 February against New Zealand, before group games against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and hosts South Africa.Australia Squad&nbsp;Meg Lanning (c), Alyssa Healy (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia WarehamPowered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Australia begin its World Cup defence against continent rivals New Zealand on February 12

Georgia Wareham

ICC Women's T20 World Cup, 2023

Australia

New Zealand

Meg Lanning returns to lead Australia in T20 World Cup

The Australian women&#39;s cricket team have received a massive boost ahead of their Christmas and new year celebrations as <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57908/meg-lanning/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Meg Lanning</a> will return to lead the team after a five-month hiatus from the game.&nbsp;The 30-year-old took an indefinite break from the game to focus on her mental health after leading the team to a gold medal in the inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.&nbsp;&quot;Sometimes you just have to hit pause, step back and take a breather. That&#39;s certainly what I needed. The past 6 months have taught me a lot. I&#39;ve learnt so much about myself and who and what is important to me.&quot;I&#39;ve always played my cards pretty close to my chest. This experience has given me a greater appreciation of how opening up and talking to the people that care about you really can make the tough times feel easier. It&#39;s ok to ask for help and admit that you don&#39;t have everything under control.&quot;Having enjoyed some time and space, I feel refreshed and ready to play the game that I love in teams that I love. It&#39;s such an exciting time for the game and I can&#39;t wait to be part of it,&quot; Lanning said in her Instagram post.&nbsp;<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Proud of our captain 💚💛 <a href="https://t.co/CZIzHGRlLT">pic.twitter.com/CZIzHGRlLT</a>&mdash; Australian Women&#39;s Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/AusWomenCricket/status/1606057620250689537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2022</a></blockquote>National selector Shawn Flegler in a release from Cricket Australia, was delighted with Meg&#39;s inclusion and said, &quot;Meg brings so much to the side both on and off the field, and it&rsquo;s pleasing to welcome her back at such an important time with the T20 World Cup just over a month away,&quot;The Indian series allowed us to blood some new talent, and it&rsquo;s pleasing to be able to retain Kim and Phoebe for this series. Heather Graham, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Grace Harris, unfortunately, miss out; however, they all remain in contention for selection for the T20 leg of the tour and T20 World Cup.&quot;However, Australia will be without <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58854/alyssa-healy/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alyssa Healy</a>, who led the team in Lanning&#39;s absence in the first four games in Mumbai before a calf injury cut her tour. &nbsp;The wicket-keeper batter is still recovering from injury and will need some more time to attain match fitness, and the defending champions want to give her as much time as possible before the all-important World Cup.&nbsp;&quot;Alyssa will not recover from her calf injury in time, so that presents an opportunity for Beth to take the gloves in her absence,&quot; he further added.&nbsp;While <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64853/beth-mooney/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Beth Mooney</a> is expected to don the keeping gloves, Australia will be without their regular opening pair due to Healy&#39;s injury and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/61117/rachael-haynes/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rachael Haynes&#39;</a> retirement. Phoebe Litchfield is expected to earn her maiden cap in the absence of the regular openers.&nbsp;The three-match ODI series will be followed by the three T20Is against the same opposition as a build-up to the T20 World Cup in South Africa, starting February 10.Australia ODI squad:&nbsp;Meg Lanning (Captain), Tahlia McGrath (vice-captain), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel SutherlandPowered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The skipper was on an indefinite break post leading the team to a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games

PAKISTAN WOMEN TOUR OF AUSTRALIA 2023

Pakistan Women tour of Australia, 2023 | home

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