Aussie stalwart Meg Lanning hands over Victoria’s captaincy role to Sophie Molineux

Melbourne, July 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) Australia women's cricket team captain Meg Lanning on Monday stepped back from her role as skipper of the Victorian side as two-time ICC T20 World Cup winner Sophie Molineux took over from one of country's most successful cricketers.

Left-arm spinner Molineux had also captained the Melbourne Renegades to the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) finals in her first campaign as captain last year.

The 30-year-old Lanning, who recently guided Australia women to their record-extending seventh 50-over World Cup title in New Zealand, was named captain of Victoria as a 22-year-old in 2014 and believes it is the right time to hand over captaincy to a new candidate.

"It's been a huge honour to captain Victoria and I love representing my state. The Victorian squad has some fantastic young leaders and I'm excited to continue working with them in the seasons ahead," said Lanning.

Cricket Victoria's head of female cricket Sharelle McMahon said Lanning endorsed Molineux as the outstanding candidate.

"Meg's been an amazing Victorian captain for a long period of time and we're excited about the future leadership potential in the squad," McMahon said.

"We're fortunate to have Meg's leadership skills to support Sophie and the full squad in years to come. Sophie has done a fantastic job leading the Renegades and has long been seen as a leader within Victorian cricket. This is an excellent opportunity to further her leadership skills with our playing group.

Molineux said it was a great opportunity.

"Coming from country Victoria it's a privilege to be named captain of the state. I've really enjoyed the challenge of captaining the Renegades and am looking forward to the years ahead with Victoria.

"Playing with and learning from Meg since I started at Victoria has been a great experience, she has an incredible understanding of the game, hopefully I'm able to take some of that into my own game.

"It's an exciting time for Victorian cricket, we have a really talented young squad who have been working hard over the off-season."

Victoria kick off their Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) season on September 23 in South Australia as part of an extended 12-game home and away season.

Source: IANS