Legendary Australian skipper and 7-time world champion Meg Lanning retires from international cricket

Legendary Australian captain Meg Lanning brought curtains down on her illustrious 13-year-old international career. She is a seven-time World Cup winner. Incredibly enough, five of them she won as the leader of the team. She is also a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Australia's greatest run scorer across all women's formats.

The 31-year-old ends her international career with 241 matches for Australia – six Tests, 103 ODIs and 132 T20Is. She will continue playing domestic cricket, and tournaments like Women's Premier League and Women's Big Bash League.

Lanning said that she had been thinking about retirement over the last 18 months, during which she also took a couple of breaks from the game due to different reasons. According to the right-handed batter, she realised that it was the right time to retire over the course of the last 48 hours. Lanning also stated that she was feeling better after making the decision as she became clear about her future.

"I've come to the realisation that 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. I'm not someone who can do things half-in half-out. I've battled away a little bit trying to work all that out. But it sort of became quite clear, particularly over the last couple of days that this was the right call and what I'm ready for. Since I've made the decision I've certainly felt a little bit relieved, I guess, to have made a call and be a little bit clearer on what the next little bit looks like," Lanning was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

I took some time to be outside the cricket bubble, I'm open to trying new things: Meg Lanning

Furthermore, Meg Lanning said that the breaks she took from the sport, allowed her to understand what else is there for her to engage in. Moreover, she clearly indicated that she will keep herself engaged in Australia's domestic cricket. Hence, she isn't looking too far ahead at the moment and will be open to new opportunities or roles in cricket coming her way.

 "I'll continue playing domestically and I've got contracts with some teams so I'll keep going with that. I haven't thought too far ahead to be honest. I took some time to step away a little bit and be outside the cricket bubble and that's given me the opportunity to think about what else is out there. I certainly haven't got anything worked out. I'm excited for something new and something different. I'll keep playing domestically, but obviously with a little bit more time and opportunity to go and discover new things," Lanning said.

"It's all I've ever known really for 13 years and I've given everything to being as good as I can to help the team win. That's what it's really been about, team success, and how I can help that and I've given everything to it. And now it's time to focus on myself and see what else is out there," the 31-year-old continued.

I've probably been pretty narrow-minded for a long time in terms of what I wanted to do and in terms of cricket, but I've sort of opened up a little bit more to new opportunities. I don't really know what the future holds, but I'm open to trying new things and seeing where it sort of lands. I won't say no to anything," the Singapore-born concluded.

Lanning is currently playing in the Women's Big Bash League 2023. She is leading the Melbourne Stars in the eight-team tournament. The Stars have not had a memorable campaign as they have just won two out of the eight matches they have played. Lanning will be in action on Friday, November 10 , when Melbourne Stars lock horns with Sydney Thunder, in Sydney.