Born on March 25th 1992 in Singapore, is current Test, ODI and T20I captain of Australia, Meghann Moira “Meg” Lanning. Shortly after she was born, Meg’s family moved to Australia and settled into Victoria after a brief stint in NSW.
Meg wasted no time in making a name for herself with her forceful blade playing in the school boy’s team at age 14. Hot on her heels, younger sister Anna, two years her junior.
At the Adelaide Oval Lanning made her debut for Victoria in 2008 at the age of 16 under the captaincy of Sarah Edwards (later Elliott). It was a team of future and current Australian stars, Elyse Villani, Jess Cameron, Mel Jones, Rachael Haynes, Clea Smith and Julie Hunter.
This attacking young batter was getting noticed and Meg was selected to play for Australia in the Under 21s, the Shooting Stars, against New Zealand in late December 2009. By now she had earned the nickname, “Megastar”.
Meg’s ODI debut for Australia came in 2010/11 where the youngster opened the batting with veteran Shelley Nitschke, making just 20 from 38 balls.
“Shelley calmed me down. Obviously very experienced. A feisty character. The English were giving me a bit of stick. She’d jump in and give them a bit back.”
It would be one of Lanning’s lowest scores in ODI cricket. Her fifteen centuries puts her at the top of the all-time list. She has played in three World Cups, winning in 2013, losing in the semi-final to India in 2017 and the 2022 tournament in New Zealand.
In that same summer of 2010/11 Meg played in her T20 International debut. Meg has played in five T20 World Cups, winning one as a player (2012) captaining the team to victory three times (2014, 2018, 2020) and losing finalist in 2016. That is a formidable record as player and captain.