Lanning keeps Stars in focus but Aussie return remains unclear

Meg Lanning says she remains unsure what her future holds at international level, insisting her current focus is on her long-awaited return for Melbourne Stars in the Weber WBBL.

Lanning is set to play her first match for the Stars since November 21, 2021 on Thursday night when she leads the club in their tournament opener against the Sydney Sixers at North Sydney Oval.

The 31-year-old missed last season while she took a break from cricket.

Lanning was then ruled out of Australia's Ashes campaign and ODI tour of Ireland earlier this year due to undisclosed medical issues, and also missed the recent white-ball matches against West Indies with the right-hander instead making her return to elite cricket via domestic one-day games for Victoria.

Australia have a multi-format tour of India looming in December, followed by a home multi-format series against South Africa.

Speaking to reporters for the first time since her return on Tuesday, Lanning said she had not yet looked ahead to a potential international return, or a resumption of the role as Australian captain she has held for almost a decade.

"I haven't really got that far, to be honest," Lanning said.

"I'm just worrying about this next couple of weeks with the Stars.

"And I still feel like I've got a little bit to give but what exactly that looks like, I'm not sure.

"I'm looking forward to Thursday night against the Sixers and (I'll) just go with the flow and try and make sure I keep enjoying it and having fun doing as well as I can and we'll see where we go from there."

Lanning said she had not watched much of the Ashes but had followed the scores and kept in touch with teammates throughout a fiercely contest multi-format series that ended locked at eight points apiece.

"I just let them be and try and do their thing, and I was focusing on getting myself into a really good spot and I feel like I've done that," she said.

"So I'm just excited to get out and play."

The right-hander returned for Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League last month and scarcely looked to have skipped a beat, hitting 51 from 48 deliveries against Western Australia in her first game back.

She followed that up with scores of 35, 51 and 73no.

"I didn't bat for a fairly long time," Lanning said.

"(I did) a little bit leading into WNCL and I have played a lot of cricket over the years so I do feel like the skillset is there, it's just about getting into a confident position and feeling good in my mind that I can go out there and play, and I feel like I'm in that position now.

"I love batting, I'm very competitive and I want to do well and I want to help the team win so it was nice to spend some time out in the middle with Victoria.

"It's a totally different competition now, the WBBL but I feel confident heading in and looking forward to getting out there and playing."

While Lanning was not part of the recent series against West Indies, with deputy Alyssa Healy continuing her role as stand-in captain, the Victorian did catch up with her teammates and coach Shelley Nitschke at a media camp in Sydney last month.

Speaking on the ABC's Offsiders program on Sunday, Healy said she was hopeful Lanning would return to the green and gold at some stage.

"The positive sign is she's been playing for Victoria and been dominating," Healy said.

"Everything is really positive and all we want to see is Meg back playing cricket and enjoying herself and judging by her form over the last week or so, she's in good nick so we're looking forward to welcoming her back when she's ready.

"She's taken ger time away from the game which I think was really important for her in the moment, but in saying that … we had a big team meeting (in Sydney a couple of weeks ago) about some things post Ashes and she was a part of that and a part of the discussions and she was quite vocal in there.

"They're really positive signs for the group that she's still engaged and hopefully we'll see her back but it's in her own time."

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