Meg Lanning not to extend her contract with Melbourne Stars

The Australian captain Meg Lanning has decided not to extend her contract with Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) franchise, Melbourne Stars, ahead of the third season of the T20 tournament. The Aussie skipper is the highest run-getter in the history of WWBL and has a massive following. Lanning has already been ruled out of the rest of the summer after she underwent a surgery on her shoulder, earlier this month.

As per the latest developments, a cricketer is allowed to sign up for multi-year deals in the BBL. Even though Lanning is warming her legs in the dugout, the world’s number one ODI batter will catch many eyeballs going into the upcoming season. The franchises will look to add a valuable contributor, who also holds an edge over others in terms of leadership skills.

“Whilst Meg’s decision to the leave the club is very disappointing, we remain absolutely confident that the team we’ve formed is united and committed to the club’s long term future success,” Stars chief executive Clint Cooper noted. “We thank Meg for her contribution to the club over the past two seasons and wish her and her family well for the future” he added.

Increasing the fan base

The Women’s T20 league will be starting on December 9th, while the finals will be played on February 4th. The game will move to newer locations to attract more followers, in order to increase the fan base.”The eight additional BBL matches for this season have been scheduled to complement the existing regular season fixture, take the BBL and WBBL to more locations, and encourage more people to give cricket a go,” said CA Executive General Manager of Events and Leagues, Anthony Everard told Cricket.com.au.

“The opportunity to take matches to markets such as Launceston is particularly exciting as it represents the growing popularity of the Big Bash nationwide, and we are hopeful of extending the BBL’s footprint even further this season in partnership with the Thunder, Strikers and Renegades, who remain in discussions to take matches to new markets,” he added.