Australia's Meg Lanning to take indefinite break from cricket

Melbourne: Australia women's cricket team captain Meg Lanning has said she will take an indefinite break from the sport due to personal reasons.

Lanning recently led Australia to the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Over the course of a busy two-and-a-half-year period, Australia won the ODI, T20I World Cups and the Ashes over England.

In a statement, 30-year-old 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."

Lanning's decision to take time away from cricket, with no certainty over her return, comes with the backing of Cricket Australia.

"We're proud of Meg for acknowledging that she needs a break and will continue to support her during this time," said Shawn Flegler, CA's head of performance, women's cricket.

"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 made her debut in 2010 as an 18-year-old and has since established herself as the premier batter in ODI cricket. In just her second ODI, she cracked a hundred to become the youngest Australian to register three figures in an international.

In 2014, she was handed the captaincy duties as a 21-year-old. She's led Australia 171 times - lesser than only Ricky Ponting and Allan Border.

Australia's next assignments are home ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in January.

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