Meg Lanning retires from international cricket

Australian women’s cricket captain Meg Lanning drew the curtains on her illustrious 13-year, 241-game international career on Thursday morning.

The announcement ends months of speculation surrounding her health and well-being after electing to take time away from the game due to an undisclosed medical issue, along with another six-month break previously.

After winning two ODI Cricket World Cups, five T20 World Cups, a Commonwealth Games medal, and three Belinda Clark Medals (2014, 2015, 2017) for most outstanding Australian female player, Lanning said her retirement had come at “the right time”.

“The decision to step away from international cricket was a difficult one to make, but I feel now is the right time for me,” she told the press.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to enjoy a 13-year international career.”

Lanning retires from the national side as one the best female batters the country has ever seen.

The superstar Victorian sits eighth on the all-time runscoring list in women’s One Day International matches, with Belinda Clark and Karen Rolton as the only Australians above her.

The 31-year-old also leaves the game with the most runs in a series by a captain, 254 runs in front of second place; the most runs by an Australian female in international T20 cricket; and the third-highest batting average in women’s ODI history.

Lanning retires having captained her country in 100 T20 international matches, the most in history, with more centuries in a career, individual series, and calendar year than any other player, as well as more hundreds against one team (New Zealand) than anyone else.

Captaining her country to five World Cup wins across the two white-ball formats, she played an integral role in an Australian women’s side that lost just two ODI matches between the 2017-18 series against England and the 2022-23 series against Pakistan.

Her retirement from international cricket opens the door for greater participation in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, where she captains the Melbourne Stars; the Women’s Premier League in India for the Delhi Capitals; and The Hundred Women’s competition for the Trent Rockets.

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