‘Have to prep my pre-WPL final team talk!’: How a cafe gig made serial finals winner Meg Lanning become more relaxed, and ruthless

“Let’s f***ing go!”
The last set of words Meg Lanning said to her Australian team ahead of the T20 World Cup final last month. “There were a few swear words in there and Meg doesn’t swear a lot,” said a pleasantly surprised Megan Schutt on the pre-match pep talk after Lanning skippered Australia women to a fifth ICC title. More than any other captain in the hory of the sport.
The Australian captain has cut a relaxed figure at the 2023 Women’s Premier League as she became the first to lead a team into the brand new league’s final. And it was thanks to the coffee aficionado within her who decided to take time away from the sport after the high of a Commonwealth Games gold medal last summer. Gigging at a Melbourne cafe.
“It just gave me a different perspective,” Lanning tells The Indian Express. “I’m a very competitive person. Winning is a lot more fun than losing. All I’d known was cricket. I was very structured and very organized. Every decision was made for me. Where to be, what the schedule is and what not. Just going and working an eight hour shift in the cafe, where each day you’re not sure who you are going to meet or how it’s going to pan out like. I actually enjoyed that aspect of it. Having conversations with the customers that would come in to have their daily coffee and cake.”

The ICC Women’s #T20WorldCup 2023 Champions 🏆#AUSvSA #TurnItUp pic.twitter.com/VA40x0VCdl
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 26, 2023
Has the break liberated her with the bat? To go for the boundaries, quite a few of which have been on display from the current leading run scorer at the Women’s Premier League? “I’m playing with a bit more freedom,” Lanning agrees. The Delhi Capitals skipper, who has 310 runs in eight innings, shares that while being ‘very serious’ and ‘tunnel visioned’ about cricket did help her for a long part of her career, it needed the change. Change that has helped her embrace the ‘organised chaos’ that is the WPL.
“It’s been busy, no doubt about that. The business of it all, it’s been different. Especially off the field, with the media and the shoots. It’s a really important role for us in growing the game. It’s what makes the WPL and IPL so special.” For Lanning, the off the field extravaganza is also crucial in getting to know her players better. Something she prioritizes over on the field tactics.
“The on field tactical stuff, you get better at the more you do. A lot of it is instinct. But, the biggest part about being a captain, I think, is knowing all your players and trying to bring everybody together. Off the field plays an important role. When people feel comfortable and happy and they’re enjoying themselves, then they play their best cricket. It is one of the reasons why we (DC) have done so well. The fact that we’ve gelled and got along so well. That’s something that I’ve worked over time as it is way more important than on field stuff.”
Even if it means doing the signature SRK pose in front of Gateway of India in the Bollywood city? “I did not know what I was doing,” she laughs. They just asked me to do it and I was like, ‘Sure, I’ll do that.’” Lanning recalls one of her recent shoots with the DC squad, a big hit on the internet. “I’ve heard…I’ve heard (facepalm).”

Want to hear about the time Meg Lanning broke the internet 🤔
Our skipper and Alice Capsey share their views on that ICONIC moment 😅#YehHaiNayiDilli #SRK pic.twitter.com/KIBnRaTFP7
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 22, 2023
On the field, DC pipped Mumbai Indians in the points table on the last day of league stage to book a direct ticket for the summit clash, thanks to a healthier net run rate. Building it started with their first game itself, a 60-run win against Royal Challengers Bangalore that saw the opening duo of Lanning and Shafali Verma add 162 runs. The biggest partnership in the league so far.
“Batting with Shafali has been one of the highlights of my WPL. I’ve enjoyed standing at the other end,” says Lanning. “Some of the shots she plays, nobody else can do that. She has relaxed me a fair bit. All I’m saying to her is, ‘play to your strength, look to hit the ball nice and straight.’ When she does that, she’s a really dangerous batter.”
“We’ve played very-very differently. But it helps us. It means the opposition has to adjust, depending on who’s on strike. I’m glad she’s on our team because when she’s on, it’s pretty amazing to watch.”
While Shafali opening with the bat was a given for DC even before the tournament began, Lanning and the think tank haven’t turned away from taking out of the box calls as well. One such being the constant backing of Taniya Bhatiya, a special keeper in the playing XI. Bhatiya, who has featured in all eight matches for Delhi, has only been able to add five runs on the board. Under the scanner for her batting woes, she delivered four stumpings in Delhi’s last league stage game against UP Warriorz to inspire a five wicket win. Does it mean that in a format where every run counts, there’s still space for a special keeper in the lineup? “I think there can be,” comes the reply from Lanning.
“Especially when the keeper is very good, which Taniya is. She’s been clean throughout the tournament and taken every chance that she can. The wicketkeeper plays a very important role in T20 cricket because you need to take every chance that you get. I think the way we planned for that role has been really good for the team. It suits the lineup that we’ve got at the moment.”
Captaincy wasn’t on the radar
For a captain’s arc that is as successful as Lanning’s, it all started without prior experience when she was ‘thrown into the deep end’ and named as the national team skipper in January 2014. Australia’s youngest captain.
Delhi Capitals Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning celebrate their win during the 2023 Women’s Premier League (WPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Gujarat Giants and Delhi Capitals at DY Patil Stadium, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, March 11, 2023. (PTI Photo)
“I didn’t do any junior teams or anything like that,” she says. “Leadership and captaincy was never something I gave any thoughts to. I had a lot of help around to do that, which was important as I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I’ve sort of evolved with my leadership over the years.”
The Victoria player has been known for her ‘upfront and genuine’ take on the game. Top scoring for her side and donning the orange cap after an eight wicket loss to Mumbai Indians, Lanning told the broadcasters, “I’ll take a lot of blame for our batting in the 2nd half of our innings, took up too many balls early on, couldn’t capitalise. Feels a bit silly wearing it (orange cap) to be honest.”
Looking back at the instance, she goes, “When you get something wrong, accept it, admit it. Take responsibility for it. As a leader, it’s important to show that to your team to say that it’s okay to make makes. Cricket is a great leveler. The moment you think you’ve got it all worked out, it comes and bites you back pretty quickly. The more you can get your head around that and be okay with that, move on to the next game, the next training, the better you’ll be.”
Meg Lanning holds the T20 World Cup trophy and looks at her winner’s medal after winning the final against South Africa in February 2023. (AP)
With the big game coming up on Sunday, a day after she turns 33, Lanning has the opportunity to promote deja vu. An Australian captain winning the first edition of a T20 franchise league in India. As the late Shane Warne did in IPL 2008. Surely a big pep talk is in the brewing? A PG-13 version she delivered in Cape Town exactly a month back?
“Ummm, I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll have to do a bit of prep. It’d be pretty relaxed, I’d imagine. There’ll obviously be some nerves from the group heading into it. It’s very normal. Enjoy the experience of a final, that’ll be my main message. You don’t know how many you’re going to play in your career,” says the serial finals winner.