Imagine captaining your country to a World Cup win at the age of 22, while personally turning in a decisive performance in the final four crunch matches. The deed would stand for the rest of your life.
That’s the scope of what Meghann Lanning, compulsorily abbreviated in the Australian style to Meg, has achieved.
When Australia played their first match at this year’s Women’s World Twenty20 she was 21 years old. Within two days it was her birthday; within ten she had set the world record for the highest individual WT20 score, and directed a young side to their country’s third consecutive world title.
This was her first tournament as captain, drafted into the job when Jodie Fields pulled out of the squad with injury. Not only that, Lanning batted at first drop throughout and scored more runs than anyone.
When I was 21, I was working hospitality, playing Grand Theft Auto and going out on the weekend to put my hands up for Detroit. Being world-class at anything other than eating those tubes of raw cookie dough never registered as a possibility. If you think green-and-gold pyjamas look silly, you should have seen my uniform.
Still, one of the great annoyances of being young is people’s surprise when you prove capable of doing anything. The condescension stinks like Lynx body spray. I won’t say I’m surprised by Lanning’s achievements. I will say I’m impressed.
One of the key factors in Australia’s win is that for them, youth does not equal inexperience. Lanning made her state debut at the age of 16. By 18 she was in the national side, then became the youngest Australian, man or woman, to score an international hundred in any format.
She helped Australia win a T20 World Cup in 2012 and a 50-over World Cup in 2013. She played through twin Ashes campaigns last year. By now, Lanning is a seasoned professional.
Nor is hers a singular story. Only three of fifteen Australian squad members are more than 25 years old. Many debuted as teenagers. By the first half of their 20s, those like Jess Cameron and Ellyse Perry have racked up hundreds of state and international matches. Eight players from this team were part of the previous T20 World Cup win, and six of them played in the 2010 edition.
Men’s cricket fetishises youth, treating teenage players as miracles, while the rest remain padawans until past their mid-20s. When Shaun Marsh and Alex Doolan toured South Africa this year, ‘young’ apparently expanded its meaning to include ’30-odd and not very good’.
Neither the Southern Stars nor Lanning make that kind of fuss about age. It’s simply part of how they get things done. And getting things done was exactly Lanning’s approach, dominating the last few games with the control that experience brings.
After a poor start, scoring 2 and 6 in Australia’s first two games, Lanning topped the tournament with 257 runs at 42.83. She had the sixth-best average, and the only one in the top ten not boosted by a not-out. She had the fourth-best strike rate, while no one else in the top eight scored over a hundred runs.
Her 33 fours and 8 sixes were the most by a distance. In fact 57 sixes were hit across the tournament, which means Lanning alone accounted for 14 per cent of them.
Her record innings of 126 from 65 balls helped in every category, with 96 runs in boundaries and a strike rate pushing 200. It was made against a weak Ireland side, but Australia needed to boost their net run rate to ensure they qualified, and Lanning needed a score. She produced in the most emphatic fashion.
Next came her 50 from 33 balls to set a bulky total for Pakistan, then a solid 29 from 22 in the semi-final against West Indies to carry Australia into the 13th over and towards a defendable 140.
In the final, Lanning rotated her bowlers shrewdly to keep England uncomfortable at the crease, eventually suppressing their possible score to a mediocre 105. Such totals can make nervous chasing though, if the batting side get caught in two minds.
Lanning’s 44 from 30 balls, including a couple of clean sixes, was just the tonic. Her team shrugged off two early wickets, and by the time she was out, the chase had been all but negotiated with minimum nerves.
In a Southern Stars team that relies on all-round contributions, such a dominant run with the bat is unusual. For it to come from a first-time skipper on such a big stage is hugely impressive.
Age is not a factor though. Aside from giving a huge boost to her reputation as an elite cricketer, Lanning has taken charge and guided her team to the top of the world. That’s the kind of composure that most of us could never learn, however old we get.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Another thing I've noticed is that the overall retention levels between junior and senior sport seems to me to be incredibly low for women compared to men. You get a lot of guys who play sports like cricket and soccer as juniors and then go on to play senior sport for years at whatever level they are capable of playing. Yet it seems to me that a lot more on the women's side, if they haven't "made it" by 16-17, then they are probably unlikely to still be playing the sport past their 18th birthday. You don't see all that many women playing sports of Saturday afternoons. About the only sport where you ever tend to see adult women playing is Netball, and I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of women who continue to play that well into adulthood is still significantly down on most men's sports, but that it's just got a significantly larger starting position that it can still sustain full competitions. I'm happy to be proven wrong on this, but that is certainly the impression I've got.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Most Women's sports will have the average age a lot younger than the Men's equivalent, and that is for two big reasons: 1. Women mature younger - an 18 y/o male player's body is still developing, and if they had a real growth spurt and got quite tall they may take a few years to really grown into their body, while it's not uncommon for women to reach their maximum height at 12-13 years old and be pretty physically mature by 15-16. 2. Professionalism - the money is not there to be able to sustain long term careers for women. So when the sport and the career or family clash, the sports career is probably not going to win out. As such, you see a lot of women playing sport at the top level very young, but probably dropping out in their early to mid-20s. It's a similar story in the W-League where a high percentage of players are teenagers.
Paula
Guest
Thanks for the prompt response Patrick... and for finding Meg's photo online.
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
I seem to recall them bowling at around 100 km/h. According to Google, the fastest ever women's bowler was Aussie Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who bowled at up to 125 km/h. She retired in 2007.
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
I don't think the young age of successful sportswomen is that surprising. Just look at the professional womens tennis circuit. They've had precocious talents for decades, winning grand slam tournaments at 16 and even competing preofessionally at 13. That's never going to happen in the male environment, where there really is a difference in men and boys.
JGK
Roar Guru
Out of curiousity, what speeds were the bowlers getting on the speed gun?
Ruminate
Roar Guru
Thanks Geoff, appreciate your candour. Maybe it might be worthwhile for the cricket desk (lead editor?) to diarise some form of content on the women's game, a quota you might say to help with exposure. I do understand the personal dilemma that you mention, but maybe CA could be asked to provide more content directly from players? Thanks for your efforts!
Stuart maurice
Guest
The greatest shame is that if you picked out 100 people randomly and asked them who was the aust womens cricket captain, at least 90 of them would not be able to answer. She also receives a fraction of what george bailey earns and is better performed. At least Fox showed us the semi and final while 9 couldnt give a toss about womens cricket. Meg and ellyse have at least put the sport into the spotlight and can at least get some sponsorship to support them. Others who were well performed ie sarah coyte survives on a pittance. At least theres money for women in golf and tennis.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Paula, it's unfortunately a perfect indicator of the issues facing women's cricket.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Yeah, I woke to find several messages alerting me of this. A mistake back-of-house. Absolute head-desk moment in the context.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Not my first, David, but I think the last time was the 50-over World Cup last year. You're right that the coverage is generally sporadic. During the Ashes and this World Cup I was assigned to cover the men's series, and its impossible to do both in any detail. The size of the potential readership dictates the allocation of resources, but better coverage equals interest equals readership.
Julian King
Roar Guru
It was perhaps the failings of our men's T20 team that put the spotlight onto the women's side. A fortuitous by-product of the boys' abjectness. Lanning strike's the ball very cleanly. Lovely to watch. That we are starting to learn names other than Perry is positive. Aussies have always backed winners. The moment the women cricketers can start doing their jobs full-time will be a great leap forward for the game. They deserve nothing less.
Ruminate
Roar Guru
Top article Geoff, 3 consecutive wins for the women's side is sensational! Meg is a star and hopefully the media in this country will endow the recognition that she and the other Southern Stars deserve. One thing that could be done by the Roar team is to ensure continuity of coverage. It seems to me that I see the odd article here and there but not ongoing coverage like the mens team receives. The Roar is in a strong position to contribute to correcting this. Geoff, I'm not sure if this is your first article on the women's team or one of many. I do hope that you continue to write about them. It would be good to see an interview when they return or even an article for a team member on their experience in Bangladesh from their perspective
Patrick Effeney
Editor
Hi Paula, that's fixed now. And it's a good point. The problem goes even deeper than you might imagine - I spent about 30 minutes yesterday looking for a photo of Meg I could use on the site. Aside from the one above, which isn't ideal (I wanted one from after the team had won!), there just aren't that many that are in suitable format for our site or that we have access to. We should always try harder to back up what our columnists are saying, lest we look inconsistent. Apologies about that.
Ali
Guest
The whole, very positive and well written, article is in support of women in sport. The image mix up is unfortunate but forgivable.
Paula Ward
Guest
Imagine captaining your country to a World Cup win at the age of 22, and a sporting website doesn't know what you look like? Please use a photo of Meg and not Ellyse Perry for this article. Poor form... but I guess it says it all when it comes to women's sport in Australia.
Happy Hooker
Guest
Well said Geoff.
Darwin Stubbie
Guest
You'd think at the very least they could get the correct picture to go with the story
bigbaz
Roar Guru
I've always believed if you're good enough your old enough. The men should employ the same strategy .