Just scroll through the Internet and you might end up getting just a short report or footnote of Meg Lanning’s superlative hundred against India at the Wankhede in 2012. After all, she has had an illustrious career, comprising countless brilliant knocks. Truth be told, that wasn’t even her maiden international hundred.
Yet, we have to talk about this breezy innings. Lanning started on a good note in that game and then converted it into a bigger score. Eventually, she ended up with 128 off a mere 104 deliveries. At the age of just 19, Lanning had put on a splendid exhibition of how to construct an innings. She had shown glimpses of her insatiable hunger for scoring runs.
2012 now feels almost like a bygone era. In that period of 12 years, Lanning won multiple ICC trophies as the captain of Australia. When she hung up her boots from international cricket, she also walked into retirement life as one of the finest batters the game has seen. Having achieved almost everything, Lanning could have also quit the game altogether, especially in the backdrop of her health issues.
Lanning had this to say about her health problems. “I was over-exercising and under-fuelling,” she told the Howie Games Podcast. “I got to the point where I was doing about 85-90km [running] a week. I was in denial. It became a bit of an obsession. It was because I could escape mentally. I would throw the headphones in, I wouldn’t take my phone with me. I would have my Apple watch with me and listen to music. Nobody could contact me. I really liked that because I felt like I was in control.
“I felt like I was eating. I was still eating. But I’m much more aware of it now. I was not eating enough. I’d eat maybe a couple of meals a day if I was lucky and they weren’t significant. It didn’t start off as a deliberate thing. It just became a bit of a new normal.”
Champions, though, are of a different breed. Lanning still has the motivation to lead and play for franchise sides across the globe. The desire to still compete at the highest level could be gauged by how Lanning was down in tears after Delhi Capitals slipped to their second consecutive defeat in a Women’s Premier League (WPL) final, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
A few months after that, she was a part of the playing XI that hoisted The Hundred trophy. For a player who has collected so much silverware as the Australian captain, it was interesting to note that this was the first time Lanning had been part of a franchise-winning side.
It might be true that her reflexes have slowed down a bit. Lanning’s body could be reacting a little slower while picking the length. It could be evidenced by her batting stats in the recent past. Lanning averaged just 17 for London Spirit in the Hundred this year. In the 2023-24 WBBL, Lanning wasn’t even in the top 20 in the batting charts. The only saving grace was the WPL 2024, where she accumulated more than 300 runs.
The numbers make you wonder what the reason could be behind Lanning still playing the game. It has to be recalled that she took up the sport at the age of 10 as she fell in love with it. For her, cricket is akin to an imaginary lifelong partner, and she perhaps can’t stay away from it. And her struggles to contribute with the willow in hand in the twilight of her career won’t put a red mark on her legacy. Fans would still remember as one of, if not, the greatest.