Australia’s Ash Gardner calls Meg Lanning’s decision to take leave from Cricket ‘brave’, predicts more players will do the same

More elite Cricketers will follow Australia Captain Meg Lanning’s lead and take personal leave from the sport, her international teammate Ash Gardner says.

After Australia’s Commonwealth Games campaign climaxed with the gold medal in August, Lanning began an indefinite absence from Cricket in order to recharge and focus on herself.

Her break will span the whole of the WBBL season, which begins on Thursday, with the 30-year-old offering no guarantee of a top-level return.

Lanning’s absence comes after a hectic 12 months for the Australian national team.

Since August last year, they have contested a multi-format series against India, the Ashes, the ODI World Cup, a T20I Tri-Series with Pakistan and Ireland, and the Commonwealth Games.

Those international demands come on top of the players’ domestic Cricket commitments.

These moves are not limited to the Women’s game, with England star (now test captain) Ben Stokes retiring from ODI Cricket in July because of what he describes as an “unsustainable” Cricket schedule.

Gardner has played more than 100 matches for Australia under Lanning’s captaincy and said the long-term skipper’s hiatus would not be the last of its kind.

Sophie Molineux, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Hannah Darlington are among the high-profile players to have taken mental-health leave in recent years and Gardner said the captain’s decision to do the same was a powerful one.

“It’s a really good message to the wider community to speak up,” she said.