Former Australian women’s team captain Meg Lanning recently revealed the reason for her early retirement from International cricket. Lanning said that she was struggling with ‘weight loss and insomnia’ which led her to a shocking retirement. Notably, Lanning ended her international career last year in November at the age of 31.
Lanning clinched the T20 World Cup five times and the ODI World Cup two times. She withdrew from the Women’s Ashes last year for medical reasons and quit the national team in 2023. However, the Australian great took a six-month mental health break from cricket after winning the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham to work in a coffee shop but didn't disclose the reason at that time.
It sort of just spiralled and I was in denial: Meg Lanning
"It sort of just spiralled and I was in denial, even though everyone kept telling me something wasn't quite right. I was not in a place to be able to go on tour and play cricket and give the commitment levels required for that Ashes series, mentally and physically," Lanning told 'The Howie Games' podcast.
After a six-month break, she returned to the Australian team in January and secured victory at the T20 World Cup in South Africa and guided Delhi Capitals (DC) to the final during the first Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India.
‘I was over-exercising and under-fuelling’
The 32-year-old further said she was over-exercising and started losing appetite as she began eating only two meals a day after running around 90km a week which led to weight loss.
"I was over-exercising and under-fuelling. I got down to about 57kg from 64kg. I did not realise (it affected) my ability to concentrate. I didn't really want to see other people...I disengaged a lot from friends and family,” Lanning continued.
"It was just all out of whack and I kept sliding. At some point, it's got to stop.”
‘I would go to bed and not be able to sleep’
She further added that she struggled with insomnia as she could barely sleep just two hours every night and became moody and would often get annoyed.
"I dreaded night time because I knew I would go to bed and not be able to sleep," she said.
"That would make me so mad. I would just get more angry with myself. If you can't sleep, you can't do anything", She concluded.
After her international retirement, she has continued to play domestic T20 cricket and lucrative WPL in India. Lanning also captained DC in this year’s WPL. However, her team lost their second straight WPL title against Smriti Mandhana's Royals Challegers Bengaluru (RCB) in WPL 2024.
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