Australia’s long-serving women’s cricket captain, Meg Lanning, is taking a break from cricket, with no timeline for her return. The announcement comes days after Lanning led her all-conquering national team to the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham.

“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,” said the 30-year-old Lanning in a Cricket Australia statement. “I’m grateful for the support of CA and my teammates and ask that my privacy is respected during this time.”

Lanning will miss the upcoming edition of The Hundred in England where she was due to represent the Trent Rockets, but the Australian team is not due to play again until December when they make a Twenty20 tour of India. CA said Lanning would take a period of indefinite leave effective immediately.

CA head of performance, women’s cricket, Shawn Flegler, said: “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.”

Lanning has been a mainstay of the national team since her debut in 2010 and took over as captain in 2014. She has been on two winning World Cup squads (2013 and 2022) and four successful World T20 squads 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020).

Lanning’s decision comes five days after the long-serving national rugby team captain Michael Hooper began an indefinite break for personal reasons, returning home from the Wallabies trip to Argentina.

Other Australian players to have stepped away for personal reasons in recent times have included Sophie Molineux and Amanda-Jade Wellington and, in the men’s game, Glenn Maxwell, Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson.

Source: The Guardian

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