Meg Lanning says taking an prolonged break from cricket was simply what she wanted however one thing she by no means thought she would do as she prepares to steer the Australian ladies’s crew once more.
Lanning, 30, took day out from the sport final yr after captaining Australia to Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham in August, after main them to each accolade since 2014.
Monday’s ODI in opposition to Pakistan in Brisbane will likely be her first match again answerable for the Australian crew.
Lanning travelled, labored in a restaurant and listened to her personal ideas and emotions in her interval of rejuvenation.
“I have learnt a lot over the last six months,” mentioned Lanning, talking at Sunday’s launch of the Pakistan collection.
“Certainly part of it is how much that talking to people can help you work through what you are thinking about.
“I had plenty of help alongside the way in which from plenty of completely different folks and that definitely made it quite a bit simpler, however there’s definitely no disgrace in placing your hand up and saying that you just want a little bit of a break and also you may want some assist with that.”
Lanning said she came to the conclusion a few months ago that playing cricket was something she wanted to keep doing.
“I’ve liked the sport so long as I’ve been taking part in and there’s nonetheless a good bit I wish to obtain,” she mentioned.
“I really feel like I’ve quite a bit to present the sport each from a person perspective and with the crew as effectively. Just being again across the group yesterday, coaching and getting again into it has been actually thrilling.
“I can’t wait to get stuck back into it.”
Lanning mentioned folks confronted their very own circumstances, and making a choice like she did “can be difficult”.
“You never know what people are going through behind the scenes and that is important to recognise. Everybody deals with things in different ways,” she mentioned.
“I never thought I would take a break from the game. It is not something I anticipated would happen. For me personally it has been great. I think I really needed it.”
After her years in a structured skilled sporting surroundings, Lanning loved her time within the cafe “delivering coffees and cleaning the dishes”.
“It just gave me a different perspective on things, just going in and not really knowing what the day is going to look like,” she mentioned.
“It could be busy. It could be quiet. Having different conversations with the customers, I found that really cool.”
While Lanning mentioned there had been “no timelines” on her return, her timing has been impeccable.
“The T20 World Cup coming up (in February) is a massive tournament and once I decided I was keen to come back and play again, that made a lot sense to play in this (Pakistan) series and get some games under my belt heading into a massive tournament like that,” she mentioned.
