Lanning wants Australia to enjoy their game, play with a smile

Meg Lanning, the Australia captain, said she and her side were excited at the chance to lift another title, and wanted to enjoy themselves while giving it their best shot.

“I'm just really excited to be playing in a World Cup semis and now a final,” she said on Friday, 23 November, ahead of the big match against England. “This is why you play the game. You want to be involved in games like this. We've spoken a lot as a group about enjoying our cricket and really having a smile on our face and just embracing the opportunity that we've got.

"It's been a theme of ours over the last year or so to make sure we're enjoying each other's company, enjoying the stage that we're on, and really just having that smile on our face and taking the game on because that's what suits this crew the best. I think we've shown that over the last little bit, that it works for us, and we'll be doing the same thing tomorrow night."

Australia may be the No.1 side, but England are the ones with the trophy, having won the 50-over World Cup. The teams share a long rivalry, and Lanning expects familiarity with the opposition to be an advantage for both teams.

“There's no hiding anymore. Every team knows everything about the individual players, and we know each other a little bit off the field as well," she said. "We're very aware of the challenge we've got in front of us, coming up against a really good team, and we're really excited about that.

“They're great rivals of ours. We play them a lot and really respect them as a team. Hopefully, it's a great game, but we can come out on top.”