Meg Lanning steps down, Sophie Molineux to lead Victoria

Australian Women's skipper Meg Lanning has decided to step down from the captaincy role of her domestic side. She will be replaced by all-rounder Sophie Molineux as the next Victoria captain.

Her decision comes after Lanning was unable to devote enough time to the Victorian stateside for the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) after taking over captaincy duties in 2014.

In her statement, Lanning spoke about looking forward to spending time with the youngsters in the Victorian squad.

"It's been a huge honour to captain Victoria and I love representing my state. The Victorian squad has some fantastic young leaders and I'm excited to continue working with them in the seasons ahead," said the 30-year-old.

Molineux, who leads the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), is currently out of the national setup due to an injury, which saw her lose her central contract earlier this year.

The Victorian-born Molineux was pleased with her appointment.

"Coming from country Victoria, it's a privilege to be named captain of the state. I've really enjoyed the challenge of captaining the Renegades and am looking forward to the years ahead with Victoria."

"Playing with and learning from Meg since I started at Victoria has been a great experience, she has an incredible understanding of the game, hopefully I'm able to take some of that into my own game," added the 24-year-old player.

Cricket Victoria's head of female cricket, Sharelle McMahon, lauded Lanning's contribution and looked forward to seeing the side develop under Molineux.

"We're fortunate to have Meg's leadership skills to support Sophie and the full squad in years to come. Sophie has done a fantastic job leading the Renegades and has long been seen as a leader within Victorian cricket. This is an excellent opportunity to further her leadership skills with our playing group.

"Nicole Faltum did a great job stepping into the role last season and will continue to play an important role supporting Sophie," McMahon concluded.

Under Lanning, world champions Australia will look to win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, which will include Women's T20 cricket for the first time in the Birmingham 2022 edition.