Australian all-rounder Anna Lanning will play for Warwickshire Women and Birmingham Bears Women in the 2016 season as the Club’s first overseas player.
Anna (21) plays for Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash League and Victoria Spirit in the Women’s National Cricket League, and was awarded the prestigious Una Paisley Medal in 2014/15 for her impressive form for club side Box Hill CC; where she took 22 wickets and scored 446 runs. She is also the sister of Australia Women’s Captain and world number one bat Meg Lanning.
I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity to come and play for Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears.
Anna Lanning
Anna Lanning said: “I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity to come and play for Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears. It will be a fantastic experience playing in different conditions to Australia and a great learning curve for my game.
“I’ve seen recently that we’re going to be playing our first matches at Edgbaston this season, which is a tremendous opportunity and I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing with and against some of the best players in the world.”
Warwickshire CCC has extended the Birmingham Bears T20 name to the women’s team for 2016, with two matches scheduled at Edgbaston as part of two T20 double header days, which include a men’s and women’s fixture.
On Sunday 19 June Birmingham Bears Women will take on Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston after Ian Bell and the men’s team face Lancashire Lightning. The second double header will be played at Edgbaston on Sunday 17 July with Birmingham Bears Women against Lancashire following the men’s team against Leicestershire Foxes.
She has played at the highest level of the domestic game in Australia and we look forward to welcoming her to the Bears.
Darren Franklin, Head of Women’s Cricket
Darren Franklin, Head of Women’s Cricket at Warwickshire CCC, said: “We’re very excited about the 2016 season and having Anna join the squad is a tremendous boost as we look to build on our runner-up spot in last year’s NatWest Women’s T20.
“She has played at the highest level of the domestic game in Australia and we look forward to welcoming her to the Bears in the coming days.”
Anna’s signing was supported by David Smith from Complete Cricket Agency. He said: “Anna is a quality cricketer and will be desperate to showcase her talents in the premier division of the ECB Women’s competition. To have established this link in Australia will only benefit the Bears further in years to come”.
