Melbourne Stars announced that their skipper Meg Lanning will continue her indefinite break from cricket and miss out on the eighth season of Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
“Melbourne Stars Captain Meg Lanning will continue her indefinite break from cricket and will not play for the Melbourne Stars in WBBL08,” said a statement from the club.
The club respects her decision and asks that her privacy continue to be respected. Lanning had announced earlier in August that she will take an indefinite break from cricket, citing personal reasons. Lanning had just helped her team complete a successful Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign in Birmingham, in which the Aussies captured gold after defeating India by nine runs in the final.
She took a step back from the game after a busy period of two and a half years during which Australia continued their domination by winning T20I and ODI World Cup events and the Ashes series at home. The 30-year-old player set no timeline for her return but has received support from Cricket Australia.
“We are proud of Meg for acknowledging that she needs a break and will continue to support her during this time,” Cricket.com.au quoted Shawn Flegler, CA’s Head of Performance, Women’s Cricket as saying in a statement.
“She has 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 will continue to work with Meg to ensure she gets the support and space she needs,” the Head of Performance concluded.
In a written statement, Lanning had said: “After a busy couple of years, I have made the decision to take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself. I am grateful for the support of CA and my teammates and ask that my privacy is respected during this time.”
Lanning made her international cricket debut as an 18-year-old in 2010 and established herself as a premier batter of her side and women’s ODI as a whole. She scored a century in her second ODI and became the youngest Australian to hit a century in an international match. This was one of the many hundreds that followed.
Since taking over the captaincy in 2014, she has led Australia 171 times, behind Ricky Ponting and Allan Border. Lanning has represented the Melbourne Stars team in 54 matches. In these matches, she has scored 1,805 runs at an average of 41.97. Her best individual score for them is 97*. 18 half-centuries have been scored by Aussie star for Melbourne Stars.
Coming to the Women’s Big Bash League, it will start from October 13 onwards.
