Meg Lanning, the captain of Australia’s women’s cricket team, stunned everyone on Thursday by declaring her immediate retirement from international cricket. Lanning, who won five ICC Women’s T20 World Cup crowns and two ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup trophies, retires from cricket at the age of 31, having scored over 8,000 runs for her nation in all formats. Scroll down to read Australia Captain Meg Announces International Retirement.
Australia Captain Meg Announces International Retirement
Lanning told the ICC, “The decision to step away from international cricket was a difficult one to make, but I feel now is the right time for me. I have had the incredible good fortune to pursue a 13-year career abroad, but I feel that it is time for me to move on to something else at this moment. I am proud of what I have accomplished and will always treasure the times I have spent with teammates along the journey. Team success is the reason you play the game.”
“I am grateful to Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, my family, and my teammates for their support in enabling me to compete at the highest level in the game I love. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to all of the fans who have helped me throughout my worldwide career, she continued.
Lanning’s first ICC championship came from the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, and then in 2013, he won the 50-over World Cup in India.
The incredibly reliable right-hander succeeded Jodie Fields as captain at the beginning of 2014, and she never looked back. During a glorious period for Australian cricket, she skillfully led her team to five ICC titles and 182 matches.
Lanning was declared the 2014 ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year and the 2015 ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Under Lanning’s cautious eye, Australia won more titles, and the formidable captain also guided her nation to a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Lanning amassed 17 international hundreds in her career, 15 of which were in 50-over cricket. In 2017, she achieved a career-high 152 not out in a match against Sri Lanka in Bristol. With 15 centuries, she leads the field in women’s ODI cricket; her nearest competitor is New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates, with 12.
Lanning played her final international match earlier this year when she aptly guided her team to the T20 World Cup championship in South Africa.
Lanning amassed 345 runs at an average of 31.36 in six Test matches. His greatest individual score was 93, which included two half-centuries.
She amassed 4,602 runs at an average of 53.51 in 103 ODIs. Lanning finished 102 innings with a top score of 152*, 15 centuries, and 21 fifties.
Finally, Lanning amassed 3,405 runs at a strike rate of over 116 and an average of 36.61 in 121 innings throughout 132 Twenty20 Internationals. Her top score was 133 not out, and she scored two hundred and fifteen fifty runs.
