Captain, Australian women’s national cricket team

Meg Lanning is an Australian Cricketer and current captain of the Australian women’s national cricket team.

Nicknamed ‘the Megastar,’ Lanning is renowned as a trailblazer for the game, with a string of ‘firsts’ to her name.

In 2006, as a 14-year-old, she made history as the first girl to play First XI cricket for an Associated Public Schools team. It was unusual for a Year 9 student to make the selection, and unheard of for a girl. On a team of boys, young Meg Lanning stood out, with her blond ponytail poking from beneath her helmet.

Lanning says playing against all-boy teams meant she was out of her comfort zone at times. But challenging expectations, and breaking records, was something she’d get used to.

At 18, Lanning made her One Day International (ODI) debut, and in just her second game became the youngest Australian to score an international century. A year later she broke the record for the fastest century by an Australian, in a mere 45 balls.

Lanning went on to become the youngest player to captain Australia in 2014, at the age of 21.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in 2015 she was named the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World and went on to captain her side to victory in the Ashes. To top off this impressive run, in March 2018 Lanning became the first Australian, male or female, to score 2000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals.

She currently holds the record for the most centuries in women’s ODIs in a career, with 12.

Coaches put Meg Lanning’s success down to her drive to continually challenge and improve herself. Although women’s cricket attracts a smaller salary than men’s, it’s grown rapidly in popularity, largely thanks to the commitment of stars like Meg Lanning. She says she is proud to play her part in the evolution of the game, and to inspire young women and girls to play cricket.

Create your own interpretation of this artwork with our colouring-in sheet(PDF, 694.7 KB).

Illustrated by Alice Lindstrom.

The Metro Tunnel’s blue tunnel boring machine was named after Meg.