WPL will end Australian dominance: Lanning

The inaugural event ended on Sunday, with Lanning's Delhi Capitals losing to Mumbai Indians in the last over of a tense final in front of 50,000 spectators at the venerable Brabourne Stadium.

The progress of the five-team competition, with its exposure to a worldwide TV audience, made clear the WPL will have as dramatic an effect on women's cricket as the Indian Premier League (IPL) has had on the men's game.

Skills with bat, ball, and in the field will be transformed and international schedules rewritten to accommodate its financial power.

A comparatively immature sport, with fewer earning opportunities and a minimal Test program, women's cricket is likely to change rapidly.

That might mean it revolves around the WPL and spin-off events - or it could lead to a wider expansion of a sport currently dominated by the shorter white-ball formats.

Lanning says the event was "on another level" to any she had previously played, adding: "Hopefully this is just the start and there's a lot bigger things to come which is really exciting."

Saturday was her 31st birthday and Lanning - who recently took a four-month break from cricket to recharge - told BBC podcast Stumped: "I can't see any reason why I can't play for four or five more years, it is just whether that is something I want to do.

"I haven't thought too much. But especially with new opportunities like the WPL coming up, you really want to be part of that.

"We've worked really hard over a long period of time to get the game into a good spot now, and hopefully it continues to grow. I want to be part of it for a little bit longer."

The financial rewards on offer may be a factor.

Lanning went for a modest $US140,000 ($A210,000) in the auction, below four of her Australia teammates, but after top-scoring with 345 runs is likely to command a higher premium next time.

This year's highest earner was India's Smriti Mandhana on $A650,000 but she had a poor tournament, with West Indies' Hayley Matthews ($A75,000) the star signing.

It is not, however, just about the money.

"It is important the payments continue to grow - that investment is really important, but as players we think there is a lot more to it than that," Lanning says.

"One of the things we talk about a lot in the Australian team is trying to have an impact on the global stage.

"We play the game because we love it and we want to keep improving it and carry on growing the game."

That growth, she adds, means other countries narrowing the gap to an Australia side that has won the last five major tournaments.

"Tournaments like this will speed that up a fair bit," she says.

"As an Australian team we think it is important the global game is growing. It is not just about us winning all the time, we want to win all the time - there's no doubt about that - but there is more at play that just that."

India will benefit most, with the requirement to play seven domestic players in most scenarios likely to have a similar effect to that the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) had in deepening Australia's player pool.

"It is very similar to international standard and with the experience and exposure we have in the WPL it will keep the Indian team in good stead and probably go on and win the World Cup," Lanning's Capitals teammate Shikha Pandey told Stumped confidently.

Expansion of the WPL seems inevitable.

There are currently five franchises (the IPL has 10, having begun with eight) and the player pool, globally and in India, may not support more at present even if this tournament has tempted new investors. But it will come.

More immediately, the next step is home-and-away matches. This tournament was staged in Mumbai and nearby New Mumbai, much to the home team's benefit.

"It made sense to play in one place this time, but I'm looking forward to playing in front of home fans in Delhi in years to come," Lanning says.

Expansion means a longer tournament, eating into player commitment and the time available for other events.

Already the likes of Lanning and fellow Australia international Beth Mooney have withdrawn from this year's draft for England's Hundred - in which the highest fee is Stg 31,250 ($A55,000).

The WBBL ought not be under imminent threat, with Australia internationals' salaries topped up by central contracts, but a 44-day tournament with a final attended by 6478 people is not much of a drawcard compared to Sunday.

The alternative view is the WPL's success will draw a new global audience to the women's game, increasing attendances and TV rights, and simultaneously driving a rise in standards as more young players aim for a career in the sport.

Not that the senior ones intend to make way easily - after years toiling in relative obscurity, this is their time.

The player of the match in the final and the eliminator was England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is five months younger than Lanning.

"It's been a cool experience, everything I was looking forward to," Lanning says.

And it is just the start.

Australian Associated Press