'We are going over there to win gold' - Australian skipper Meg Lanning on Commonwealth games plans

Australian skipper Meg Lanning has revealed her team’s major motto walking into the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022 as she said that the World Champions would be looking to win the gold medal. The Commonwealth Games are set to host women’s cricket for the first time, starting from July 29 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.

The mega event will witness the sport making a return as cricket has not been played in Commonwealth Games since 1998. Even back then, it was the men’s 50-over game that was played and now women’s cricket is set to make debut this season. Eight teams have earned a spot on the global stage and will play in the 20-over format, with the games being granted T20I status.

“We are going over there to win gold, there’s no doubt about that. We go out there to win every game that we can and the first Commonwealth Games medal up for grabs in women’s cricket is certainly something we’re striving for,” Lanning was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Australia have been slotted in Group A and comprises three more teams – India, Pakistan, and Barbados. The Meg Lanning-led Australian side is the current World Champion in both the ODI and the T20I formats and they will surely be the favourites for the competition. The skipper, however, wishes and aims to reach the same level of long-term consistency in T20I cricket as they have in ODIs.

“It’s something we have spoken about as a group as a whole and also within our skill groups as well, in terms of how do we get that little bit better and push the boundaries that little bit more than we have in the past. We have got a couple of things we have been working on both as a team and individually as well,” stated Lanning.

To represent Australia on a big stage is really exciting: Meg Lanning

Australia will be playing a tri-series against hosts Ireland and Pakistan before they start their Commonwealth Games campaign against India in their first match scheduled on July 29. With Matthew Mott departing to become England men’s white-ball coach, Meg is confident that the team will continue to play their brand of cricket under the guidance of interim coach Shelley Nitschke.

“It is going to look and feel slightly different with Shell in charge as opposed to Motty. But both similar messaging in terms of how we want to play the game, take the game on, we certainly want to go out there and be aggressive and play with a lot of freedom. Being part of that bigger Australian team is something we really want to embrace. To represent Australia on a really big stage, a new platform for the game to be able to reach a new audience is something that is really exciting for the sport,” Lanning concluded.