Australia women’s team captain Meg Lanning to take indefinite break from cricket for personal reasons

Australia women’s cricket team captain Meg Lanning has surprisingly announced an indefinite break from all forms of cricket. Lanning will be taking a break from the game due to personal reasons. Her announcement comes just days after she led Australia to their maiden gold medal in women’s cricket at the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games 2022.

Lanning has been an incredibly successful captain for Australia and has had a stellar international career so far. She led Australia to a memorable triumph at the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 followed by a stunning victory at the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup. 

Australia defeated India by 9 runs in a thrilling final earlier this week to clinch the elusive gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Lanning is now set to miss The Hundred where she was scheduled to play for the Trent Rockets and might miss the Women’s Big Bash League which is set to get underway in October this year.

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Lanning informed Cricket Australia about her decision and revealed she wants to take a break from cricket to spend some time focusing on herself. “After a busy couple of years, I’ve made the decision to take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself. I’m grateful for the support of CA and my team-mates and ask that my privacy is respected during this time,” Lanning said in a statement. 

Lanning, who made her international debut for Australia in 2010, is one of the most decorated cricketers to have played for the country. She was named Australia’s captain for the first time at the age of just 21 in 2014 and has since led the team to an incredible 135 victories in 171 international matches.

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Lanning has only missed five matches in her international career so far. She has played 6 Tests, 100 ODIs and 124 T20Is in her career so far, amassing 345, 4463 and 3211 runs in the three formats respectively.  Cricket Australia’s Head of Performance Shawn Flegler said the board will continue to support Lanning.

“We’re proud of Meg for acknowledging that she needs a break and will continue to support her during this time. She’s been an incredible contributor to Australian cricket over the last decade, achieving remarkable feats both individually and as part of the team, and has been a brilliant role model for young kids,” said Flegler.

“The welfare of our players is always our number one priority, and we’ll continue to work with Meg to ensure she gets the support and space she needs,” she added.