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Meg Lanning surprisingly announced her retirement from international cricket at the age of 31 earlier today (November 9). The Australian women's cricket team star represented her nation in six Tests, 103 ODIs and 132 T20Is.
She owns the record for being the most successful captain in women's cricket history, having led Australia to four T20 World Cup titles, one ODI World Cup crown and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Born in Singapore, Meg Lanning amassed more than 8,000 runs for Australia in international cricket. She recorded 15 centuries and 21 half-centuries in the ODI format, while in T20Is, she registered a couple of hundreds and 15 half-tons.
West Indies legend Ian Bishop summed her career up in the most perfect way possible on X:
"There are a handful of batters in the game that made me stop what I was doing, just to watch them play. Meg Lanning was one. My fondness, appreciation and love for the women’s game grew exponentially because of her artful batting and leadership."
In this listicle, we will look at three reasons why Meg Lanning is the GOAT (Greatest of all time) of women's cricket.
#1 Meg Lanning won 5 ICC trophies as captain
It is the dream of every cricketer to win at least one ICC trophy in his or her career. To do it as a captain is the icing on the cake. MS Dhoni won three ICC trophies in men's cricket and is considered the greatest captain of all time.
Interestingly, Meg Lanning managed to win five ICC trophies as the Australian women's cricket team captain. She won four T20 World Cup titles. The first one came in 2014, and the next three were successives ones in 2018, 2020 and 2023.
Lanning also guided Australia to the Women's ODI World Cup trophy in 2022. Later in the same year, she led her nation to a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
#2 Meg Lanning has the highest average among women's cricketers with more than 4,000 ODI runs
Lanning achieved enormous success in the ODI format of women's cricket. She aggregated 4,602 runs in 102 innings at an average of 53.51 and a strike rate of 92.20. The Australian star recorded 15 centuries in the 50-over format.
Notably, Lanning holds the record for the highest average by a women's batter with more than 4,000 ODI runs. Former Indian captain Mithali Raj is the only other batter to average more than 50.
#3 Highest run-scorer for Australia in women's T20I history
Lanning's brilliance was not just limited to the ODI format. She led the Aussies from the front in the T20I format as well, scoring 3,405 runs at an average of 36.61 and a strike rate of 116.37.
The 31-year-old is the all-time leading run-scorer for Australia in women's T20I cricket. Alyssa Healy is next on the list with 2,621 runs. Only New Zealand's Suzie Bates has scored more runs than Lanning in T20I cricket. She has 4,021 runs to her name in the shortest format of the game.
