Australian women’s cricket captain Meg Lanning will take an indefinite break from the game, just days after she led Australia to gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The 30-year-old announced her decision on Wednesday in a Cricket Australia (CA) statement, citing “personal reasons”.

“After a busy couple of years, I’ve made the decision take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself,” Lanning said.

“I’m grateful for the support of CA and my teammates and ask that my privacy is respected during this time.”

Lanning will now miss The Hundred tournament in England and Wales, where she was due to represent the Trent Rockets.

CA’s women’s cricket head of performance, Shawn Flegler said they would fully support Lanning, and would make a decision on her participation in the domestic summer at a later date.

“We’re proud of Meg for acknowledging that she needs a break and will continue to support her during this time,” Flegler said.

“She’s been an incredible contributor to Australian cricket over the last decade, achieving remarkable feats both individually and as part of the team, and has been a brilliant role model for young kids.

“The welfare of our players is always our number one priority, and we’ll continue to work with Meg to ensure she gets the support and space she needs.”

Lanning is one of Australia’s most successful and respected cricketers, and became the nation’s youngest captain ever in 2014 at just 21 years of age.

In the past two years alone, she has lifted trophies for the T20 and ODI World Cups, as well as bringing home a Comm Games gold medal.

Australia’s next series will come when they travel to India in December for five T20s.

Experienced leaders such as Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy will likely take the captaincy reigns should Lanning remain unavailable.

PHOTO: 2020 ICC W T20 WC A v SL 02-24 Lanning by Bahnfrend is available HERE and used under a creative commons license. The photo has not been modified