Meg Lanning, who recently led the Australia women’s team to CWG 2022 gold medal, has decided to take an indefinite break from cricket, citing personal reasons. Lanning made her debut in 2010 and has had a busy two-and-a-half-year period on the field.
She takes a break after a busy time with the Australian team which won both the T20I and ODI World Cups, as well as a home Ashes series. The 30-year-old's decision to take time away from cricket, with no fixed date for her return, comes with the full support of Cricket Australia.
"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.
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,” said Shawn Flegler, CA's head of performance, women's cricket.
In a written statement, Lanning said: "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 teammates and ask that my privacy is respected during this time."
Since first taking on the captaincy as a 21-year-old in January 2014, Lanning has led Australia 171 times. She has played 6 Tests, 100 ODIs, and 124 T20I matches. She has scored 345, 4463, and 3211 runs respectively with a total of 17 centuries.
The indefinite exit of Lanning and the recent resignation of Mott is indeed a blow to Australia's leadership, however, interim head coach Shelley Nitschke looks to have quickly proven her quality, as Australia women's team won the Commonwealth Games gold.
Australia has a wealth of experienced players in Rachael Haynes, Healy, Ellyse Perry, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, and Megan Schutt with Haynes captaining the side whenever Lanning has missed games.
(cricket.com.au inputs)
