Meg Lanning, the former Australian skipper, will feature in The Hundred for the first time in its ongoing 04 edition. Ahead of her maiden stint, she discussed her international retirement and embracing a captaincy-free role in an interview with ESPNcricinfo’s Valkerie Baynes.
Lanning, a right-hand top-order batter, will play for London Spirit in the Women’s Hundred, making her debut on Saturday against Birmingham Phoenix. Running from July 23 to August 18, 2024, The Hundred is in its fourth season and features eight men’s and women’s teams from major cities across England and Wales.
Her sudden and shocking retirement from international cricket in November 2023, largely due to her health battles. In April, she revealed on the Howie Games podcast that she was over-exercising and under-fueling, running about 85-90km a week, which had become an obsession. Lanning says healing isn’t an overnight fix, but she now feels “quite good” with a better balance in life, though it’s “still a work in progress”.
Lanning shared that the key message for her is that solutions don’t come instantly, and everything doesn’t suddenly become perfect. She emphasized that life involves ups and downs and that she is still working through her own issues. Lanning acknowledged that she hasn’t figured everything out yet, but navigating these challenges is a part of life and can be tricky at times.
Lanning said, “The key message for me is, you don’t just all of a sudden work things out and everything’s cool,” Lanning tells ESPNcricinfo. “You go through your ups and downs and stuff and I’m still working my way through stuff as well. I certainly haven’t got it all worked out, but that’s part of life and trying to navigate that can be tricky at times.”
Lanning has played 241 international matches for Australia across all three formats, accumulating 8,352 runs and even claiming 5 wickets. Beyond her impressive batting records, her leadership qualities and tactical insights are invaluable, having led Australia to four T20 and one ODI World Cup titles.
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As captain, she has played 182 international matches, winning 146, losing 26, with 2 tied, 3 draws, and 5 no results.
In the ongoing edition of The Hundred, Lanning will not be taking on the responsibility of captaincy. At London Spirit, she will be captained by one of her rivals on the international stage, England skipper Heather Knight.
Lanning is looking forward to playing alongside Knight, acknowledging her extensive experience as both a player and a captain. She is eager to learn from Knight and to contribute to the team’s success.
“I’m looking forward to playing alongside Heather,” Lanning says. “She’s obviously very experienced as a player and a captain, so I’m looking forward to learning a little bit off her and just being part of a team really,” she said.
Lanning is particularly excited about playing without the responsibilities of captaincy, allowing her to focus on contributing to as many wins as possible. While she is ready to assist Knight if needed, she trusts Knight’s leadership abilities.
Quoting Lanning, “I haven’t done a lot of playing without being captain, so that’s something that I’m looking forward to, just rolling around as a player and trying to contribute to as many wins as I can. I’ll help Heather out if she needs it, but I don’t think she needs too much help. She knows what she’s doing.”
Lanning is enthusiastic about meeting a new team, becoming part of it, and playing with freedom, without the additional worries of captaincy.
She further added, “Just being able to be a player and enjoy that aspect of it and just enjoying meeting a new team and becoming part of that and playing with some really good freedom and not having all the other stuff to worry about, it’s something I’m excited to do.”
(Quotes sourced from ESPNcricinfo)
