'Can't think of a better T20 innings' - Mott reflects on Lanning's masterclass

While Lanning's team has given her a lot to be proud of in the multi-format Ashes so far – they've retained it by an unassailable 10-2 lead – lack of personal success with the bat must've plagued her mind.

As it turned out, the Australia captain produced a blistering knock of 133* in the first of the three T20Is played in Chelmsford – the highest individual score in Women's T20I cricket – bettering the previous best of 126, which she had jointly held with the Netherlands' Sterre Kallis.

Mott, who has been observing Lanning closely of late, talked about the Australia skipper's initial disappointment, adding that her hunger for a big innings helped her put up a landmark performance.

"You knew something big was around the corner," Mott said after Australia wrapped up a record 93-run victory to claim an outright Ashes series win. "Anyone who’s watched her play through her career, you’ve got to speak to her as a coach sometimes and say, ‘Well your bad trot is averaging 30, most people don’t get that luxury, so keep it in perspective’.

"Even the way she got out in the Test match, she was really disappointed with that, she really wanted to cross off something big. She’s made a hell of a statement and put a total out there we could have only dreamt of at the start."

Lanning's 63-ball innings was studded with 17 fours and seven sixes, powering Australia to their highest ever innings total in T20Is. Mott regarded it as the best T20 innings he's ever seen, marking proper cricketing strokeplay as a standout attribute.

"I don’t think words will really do it justice," Mott said of Lanning’s knock. "I was part coach, part fan through that innings. The word masterclass comes out, but that innings, I just thought it was a fantastic thing for people to watch. It was pure batting, she never looked like slogging at all, she played cricket shots, she went through the gears up and down, she was ruthless and when we needed a boundary she took the right option.

"I can’t think of any better (innings), as a T20 innings to dominate a good bowling attack. I don’t think England bowled that badly, it was a great wicket and a fast outfield but those shots would find the boundary on most fields."

Mott further praised the 27-year-old, who he feels sets high standards for herself, constantly striving to get better in every aspect of her game. "Meg is something really different, she plays balls most players can’t play behind point," he acknowledged. "She generates pace – when you get people from the men’s team come and watch her play, they sit in awe of the way she can put pace on the ball behind the wicket.

"She’s incredibly hard on herself, after all, that the only thing she’ll be worrying about is her misfield in the last over. That’s why she’s so good, her standards are so high."