Australian captain Meg Lanning has re-signed with the Melbourne Stars for another three WBBL seasons.
The new contract will see Lanning stay in the green until the end of WBBL|11. The decision comes after she captained Australia to their third consecutive T20 World Cup win in South Africa.
Unfortunately despite all her cricketing accolades, she is yet to add a WBBL title to her name.
The furthest the Melbourne Stars came was in WBBL|6 (2020-21). After finishing first in the regular season, they unceremoniously lost to the Sydney Thunder in the final.
"I've been lucky enough to enjoy a lot of team success in my career but I haven't enjoyed the ultimate success in the WBBL yet so that is a huge motivating factor for me," Lanning said in a media statement.
"Despite not making finals last year, to see this young, exciting group grow as the tournament wore on was excellent to see.
"This team has huge potential, and I can't wait for WBBL|09 to roll around."
Lanning will return to WBBL|9 after missing the entire previous season. Due to personal reasons, Lanning stepped away from cricket entirely.ย However, she is still the club's all-time leading run-scorer with 1,805 runs at an average of 34.
One of the best female players of all time, Lanning never struggles to impress on the big stage. In all forms of international T20 cricket, Lanning has amassed 3,405 runs at an average of 36.61 and a strike rate of 116.37.
Eyeing to bring a title to Melbourne for the first time, she will line up alongside fellow Australian teammates Annabel Sutherland and Kim Garth