'More to achieve': Lanning charts new course

Serving lattes in a local café and a rare overseas holiday proved just the taste of normality Meg Lanning needed during her six-month hiatus from the game.

The Australian captain is back and ready to lead her country in Monday's first one-day international against Pakistan, declaring herself refreshed and raring to go after the first significant, non-injury related break of her 12-year international career.

Lanning announced she was walking away from the game indefinitely just days after Australia won Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham, and speaking to reporters in Brisbane on Sunday, she revealed it was never a done deal that she would return at all.

"Initially, I wasn't too sure how it was going to pan out," the 30-year-old said at the launch of the CommBank series on Sunday.

"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'."

Lanning only missed one international series during her break – December's five T20Is in India – while she also sat out the Weber WBBL|08 and a handful of state domestic games.

Once she knew what she wanted, and with the lure of next month's T20 World Cup in South Africa on the horizon, returning for this month's six matches against Pakistan made sense.

"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," she continued.

"But having the break, it was certainly something that I needed and it certainly freshened me up a lot.

"I still love the game and playing, I just needed some time to be able to feel a little bit normal, to have a bit less structure around what I was doing (and) having done that now I feel really refreshed and ready to go."

Lanning's break from a lifestyle of constant training and travel, where almost every move is mapped out via a scheduling app, gave her that time and space she needed to feel like a 'normal person'.

It involved chatting to regulars as she waited tables and washed dishes at her local café – a far cry from leading her country on the world stage – alongside travel in Europe, simple quality time with friends and family, and long walks with her golden retriever Mabel.

"It was just completely different," she said. "I've been playing at the international level for 12 years and just doing that the same thing over that period of time, so it was nice to have a bit of a change up.

"I didn't have any plans when I went on the break, it was just seeing how I felt and do whatever I felt like doing at the time, and I think that's done me the world of good.

"(Working in a café) 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.

"Having that little bit of freedom and less structure around what I was doing and going with the flow a little bit more and not getting too worried about things, I really enjoyed that."

Lanning admitted she had never thought a break would be on the cards for her, having thrived on competing at the highest level since debuting for Australia aged 18.

For someone who typically holds her cards close to her chest, learning to open up to those closest to her, and to ask for help, has been one of the major lessons she has learned from her time away.

"I had a lot of support along the way from a lot of different people and that certainly made it a lot easier," she 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.

"But I've learned a lot from it and, moving forward, hopefully it's something I can continue to do."

Lanning sent a video message to her teammates during their tour of India in December to share the news of her return, and their excitement at welcoming their leader back this week has been palpable.

In news that will delight both them and Australian fans, Lanning believes her break will ultimately extend her career.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, when asked if she had gotten a second wind. "I feel like I've still got a lot left to give the game both from an individual point of view and with the team as well.

"I'm not sure what the future holds but I certainly would love to keep playing as long as I can."

CommBank ODI Series

Monday Jan 16:Allan Border Field, Brisbane 10:05am

Wednesday Jan 18:Allan Border Field, Brisbane 10:05am

Saturday Jan 21:North Sydney Oval, 11:05am

Buy #AUSvPAK ODI tickets here

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland

Pakistan ODI squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan