Australia women’s cricket captain Meg Lanning retires from internationals

Meg Lanning, Australia’s captain, has announced her retirement from international cricket, saying she has lost the “spark” required to perform at the elite level and that she wants to move onto something new.

The 31-year-old will continue to play domestic cricket in the Women’s Big Bash League and the Women’s National Cricket League – and potentially the Indian Premier League – but called time on Thursday on her hugely successful international career.

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Over the course of 13 years she lifted more World Cup trophies than any other captain in the history of the game. She won seven World Cups in total, the most recent earlier this year, and scored 8,352 runs from 241 international matches – including 17 centuries.

“I no longer have the spark or motivation to do what needs to happen at this level, so for me it’s time to move on,” the three-time Belinda Clark medallist said at an emotional press conference in Melbourne.

“It’s been my life essentially for 13 years, and I know nothing other than that. I’ve learned so much and had so many incredible opportunities to do that, and I’m sad that it’s finishing up but I’m very much ready for something new.

“It’s time to move on and go on and experience other things other than playing cricket which I’m really excited about.”

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said Lanning had been “one of the best players in the world over a long period of time”.

“Meg has made an immeasurable impact and led a generation which has helped revolutionise the game,” he said. “Under Meg’s leadership, the Australian women’s cricket team has built a legacy of global dominance and has been at the forefront of growing the game and inspiring the next generation of cricketers all around the world.”

Lanning said “I guess I feel like I’ve got nothing left to achieve on the international stage and for me I can’t be half in or half out with anything, so I guess that’s where I’ve landed with this decision.”

The Victorian took an indefinite break from cricket in August last year days after leading Australia to a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At the time, she said it was “to take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself”.

Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy was appointed vice-captain of the team when Rachael Haynes retired in September 2022, but was immediately elevated to captain when Lanning’s absence stretched into last summer.

Lanning returned at the start of this year to lead Australia to their third straight T20 World Cup in South Africa in March, but two months later was ruled out of the Ashes in the English summer due to medical reasons.

At the time, Shawn Flegler, Cricket Australia’s head of performance for women’s cricket, described her withdrawal as “an unfortunate setback for Meg” and “she understands the need to put her health first”.

On Thursday, Lanning said the previous 18 months had given her a chance to think about her place in the game, as well as other things in life.

“I guess I’ve got a bit of a different perspective on how I saw the game and how I felt about playing it. I was always really driven by team success and trying to help the team. I’ve probably been trying to convince myself a little bit over the last 18 months why I should keep playing and what it is that I want to achieve.”

The Australian team had an 80%-win rate under Lanning and set the world record for consecutive wins in ODI cricket with 26 victories between 2018 and 2021.