From serving lattes in cafe to going on holiday: Meg Lanning returns to lead Australia against Pakistan

Australia captain Meg Lanning recently discussed her decision to take an indefinite break from cricket, revealing that she sought to experience a sense of normalcy by working in her local cafe and taking an overseas holiday. Lanning expressed that the break was necessary in order to recharge and refocus, allowing her to come back to the game with a newfound appreciation and enthusiasm.

Lanning spearheaded Australia's campaign to secure the ODI World Cup 2022 and the Commonwealth Games gold medal, before announcing her indefinite hiatus from cricket. She was absent from England's The Hundred and Australia's Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) competitions, as well as the T20I tour of India.

The 30-year-old, who will make her international return in the white-ball series against Pakistan, said: "Initially, I wasn't too sure how it was going to pan out. It was said to me that it was a good idea to take a break and I just wanted to switch off from cricket, get away and give myself a bit of time to think and work out where I wanted to be.

"There were no real timelines on anything right from the start. I came to the conclusion over a little bit of time (that she would return)¦ but there was one moment a few months back where I was like, 'Oh, no, that's definitely something I want to keep doing'."

"There's a fair bit I still want to achieve, so once I came to that conclusion, I started working towards where I might come back and what that might look like. But having the break, it was certainly something that I needed and it certainly freshened me up a lot."

To regain a sense of normalcy, Lanning worked at her local cafe, serving lattes, chatting with customers, and washing dishes. She also took the opportunity to travel around Europe, and to spend quality time with her friends, family, and beloved golden retriever, Mabel.

"(Working in a cafe) gave me a bit of a different perspective on things, going in not really knowing what the day was 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, really cool," Lanning said.

"There's certainly no shame in putting your hand up and saying you just need a little bit of a break, and you might need some help with that. That's something I haven't done a lot of throughout my career and then life in general, I've always been pretty guarded in what I've done, so that was a different experience for me and a new experience," she added.

Lanning's Australia will play three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Pakistan, commencing on January 15th. Following the limited-over series, Australia will shift their attention to defending their T20 World Cup crown.

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