Meg Lanning reveals eating battle behind early retirement

Australian cricket’s most decorated captain Meg Lanning has revealed the unhealthy relationship with food and exercise that led to her retirement from international cricket aged just 32.

In an interview for the Howie Games podcast, Lanning opened up for the first time about a private struggle she did not share with teammates nor even family for long periods, even though her weight loss from “over exercising and under fuelling” was visible to many.

Lanning played in seven winning World Cup campaigns and was captain for six. She first took a break from the game following the team’s gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She then returned for yet another World Cup triumph – in South Africa early last year – before withdrawing from the squad for the 2023 Ashes tour and finally announcing her international retirement late last year.

“I was over exercising and under fuelling. I got to the point where I was doing about 85-90km a week. I was in denial. It became a bit of ‘I am going to show you’ sort of thing,” Lanning told Mark Howard. “It sort of just spiralled. 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.

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