Meg Lanning has been named the Melbourne Stars captain for the WBBL following her off-season move back to the club after a spell with the Perth Scorchers.
Lanning, the Australia captain, will replace Elyse Villani in a move that had long-been expected after she returned to the Stars in July. She previously captained the side in the first two seasons of the WBBL before switching to the Scorchers.
“I’m looking forward to leading the Melbourne Stars again and building on the great work Elyse Villani has done,” Lanning said. “It’s a privilege to be captain and we’re pretty happy with how our squad looks ahead of the tournament. More than anything, I’m really looking forward to getting back to playing cricket, firstly with Australia and then with Stars in WBBL.”
The Stars, who last week announced the signing of England duo Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver, have completed their squad for the season by signing allrounder Bhavi Devchand who is also a former Scorchers player.
“I think we’re in a pretty good place. In recent seasons we’ve been able to make some competitive totals with the bat but have struggled to take key wickets and really break a game open,” head coach Trent Woodhill said.
“We’ve made some changes for this season which I hope will start to make that difference at key points in matches. I’m delighted Meg has agreed to return to the captaincy, and I’d like thank Elyse for her leadership over the last 12 months – she has done a fantastic job.”
“Bhavi has already had WBBL experience in Perth and gives us greater depth which will be important with the workload ahead.”
The WBBL, which will be played entirely in Sydney, is due to start on October 25.
Melbourne Stars squad Meg Lanning (capt), Katherine Brunt, Nat Sciver, Elyse Villani, Mignon du Preez, Annabel Sutherland, Lucy Cripps, Bhavi Devchand, Alana King, Holly Ferling, Erin Osborne, Tess Flintoff, Georgia Gall, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum.