Ashes blow: Lanning ruled out due to medical issue

Australian captain Meg Lanning has been ruled out of the Ashes due to an undisclosed medical issue, in a blow to the visitors’ aspirations of retaining the urn.

Cricket Australia says Lanning, on the advice of medical staff, has been withdrawn from the touring party “due to a medical issue which requires management from home”. Lanning is intensely private and few people know about the matter beyond CA’s medical staff and those close to her.

Meg Lanning is out of the Ashes due to a medical issue.Credit: Eddie Jim

Not even her teammates were told of the exact nature of the issue when they had the news of her withdrawal broken to them on Friday. This will be Lanning’s second extended break from the game in the past 12 months.

Star wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy will take over as captain and all-rounder Tahlia McGrath steps up to take the vice-captaincy.

It is not clear when Lanning will return, but she will not feature in the mixed-format series starting with a Test match at Trent Bridge on June 22.

“It’s an unfortunate setback for Meg, and she’s obviously disappointed to have been ruled out of the Ashes; it’s a significant series for the team, and she’ll be missed, but she understands the need to put her health first,” CA’s head of performance (women’s cricket) Shawn Flegler said.

“Meg will remain at home where she will continue to work with medical staff with the aim to return to playing as soon as possible.

“We ask that Meg’s privacy is respected at this time.”

Cricket Australia has not named a replacement for Lanning, as reinforcements will be available on the concurrent Australia A tour.

Lanning spoke of her need to reflect on her life outside of cricket when she returned from an extended break from the game last August after leading Australia to Commonwealth Games glory in England. She spent time in San Francisco, and also worked in a Melbourne cafe as part of a self discovery process.

After missing the WBBL, she returned to national colours in January and captained her country to a third Twenty20 world title in South Africa in February.

“It just gave me a bit of a different perspective on things,” Lanning said. “Going in not really knowing what the day is going to look like. It could be busy, it could be quiet, and just having different conversations with the customers and things like that, I actually found that really cool.

“Just having that little bit of freedom, a little less structure around what I was doing and going with the flow a little bit more. Working at that cafe just allowed me to do that, and I had a lot of fun while I was there.

“I’ve been at the international level for 10-12 years, and doing the same thing over that period of time, it was nice to have a bit of a change up.

“I didn’t have many plans when I went on the break, it was just to see how I felt and do whatever I felt like at the time, and I think that’s done me the world of good, and I’m really excited and pumped to be back.”

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.