New Delhi: Witnessing an ICC tournament and there is no talk about Australia – the indomitable force – is that even surreal? Wake up. We exist in the 21st century where the Australian mentality is to win at any cost. In 2024, the Oceania nation bagged 18 gold medals at the Paris Olympics, which is the most for Australia in the history of the prestigious sporting landscape.
Cricket is among the popular sport Down Under, and don’t talk about England here, unless you want to drag yourself into a banter, which can turn into a spat at anytime. Australia’s success in ICC tournaments is unanimous across gender or age-group. Since the start of 2023, the country has bagged four ICC titles and it is on the verge of adding a fifth in the United Arab Emirates later in the month.
Without any further ado, let’s address that the Alyssa Healy-led Australian women’s team will be chasing a record seventh T20 World Cup in its ninth appearance in the biennial event. For the layman, Australia have played in seven out of eight T20 World Cup finals, having lost just once in 2016 against the West Indies.
Since then, the women from Down Under have left no stone unturned to reclaim its legacy with sheer dominance. Australia defeated three different opponents in the past three editions of the T20 World Cup held in three different continents.
Meg Lanning’s take on Australia’s success mantra ahead
The vital cog behind the massive success of the Southern Stars won’t be seen on the pitch anymore. In case you wonder who is being referred to? Hold on. And if you’ve already made the guess then your wait is over. It’s Meg Lanning – the most successful captain in ICC tournaments in men’s or women’s cricket. The Victorian guided her national team to four T20 World Cup titles (2014, 2018, 2020, & 2023) and one ODI World Cup (2022).
She has gone past the commitment levels with the game, as she likes to admit in her interaction with The Sydney Morning Herald. What does the Aussies need to do to carry their momentum in the ICC events sans Meg Lanning. In the words of the former skipper, a way must be discovered to battle through the tough stages.
“The teams that can do that the best will be successful, and that’s why Australia’s been so successful in winning the key moments and battles when you’re under the pump,” Lanning was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
12 of the 15 members from Australia’s last crown in South Africa have been named to defend the title or chase the fourth one on the bounce. However, current captain Alyssa Healy doesn’t sit with the notion of teams defending their title.
“You don’t come here to defend the title, that’s not what the World Cup is about, you come here to win it,” Healy said during the Captain’s Day on the eve of the tournament opener.
The Australian wicketkeeper-batter is very well aware of the fact that their opponents will come to hunt them in order to end the dominance at the global stage.
“It’s a real positive for our group in that regard, they don’t see it as a real concern. It’s actually a driver, and I think that’s a really pleasing place to be,” she said.
What will it take for Australia to continue to dominate ICC events?
Australia maintained a winning streak of 24 T20 International matches from October 2021 to July 2023. In the last 14 months, Australia have lost five matches in the shortest format, but they enter the tournament with seven-match-winning streak, displaying a solid buildup in the title defence.
The question is will it be the same Australia that was under Meg Lanning? Why not. The match-winners like Healy, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Ashley Gardner, Grace Harris, Megan Schutt, and Alana King will be available to contribute for another glorious chapter waiting in the UAE.
One shouldn’t ignore the fact that Australia had six World Cups and two T20 World Cups before Lanning took over the reins in 2014. And not that the team has missed the title under the Singapore-born player’s leadership – 2016 T20 World Cup and 2017 World Cup. It’s just that the Australian spirit of fighting at the big moments to define what sports means to them back in their country.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ash Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: The Australian women’s team, for the first time in a decade, will step into an ICC tournament without Meg Lanning as the captain. The question is whether the Aussie juggernaut can prevail or not in the United Arab Emirates this month. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
