Image Credit- CA
Megan Schutt never imagined she would represent
Australia in 200 games.
However, she is ecstatic about the possibility of
reaching the landmark when Australia plays South Africa on Saturday at the
Adelaide Oval, her cherished home ground, in the first game of the three-match
one-day series.
“It makes you feel a bit old, to be honest,”
Schutt, the 31-year-old quick, told reporters on Friday. “Game one, I
didn’t even expect to play that in my lifetime. So to get to 200 is pretty darn
cool and having it at Adelaide Oval is fate in itself and extremely
special.”
“I love the game,” she said. “It’s a
stupid game and there’s so much more failure than success but I just love it. I
love the people that are involved in it, and it’s a game that keeps evolving as
well. I keep striving to be better. Being a fast bowler in a batter’s game is
quite tough but I kind of like the challenge.
“The most rewarding part is being a bowler and
having played that much cricket, there’s not many players around that have
played as much cricket as I have. I guess not being an express pace bowler
helps me, but [reaching 200 games] as a bowler is probably a special
achievement.”
Schutt, who made her international debut in an ODI in
December 2012, said she would continue playing “as long as my body holds
out and as long as Cricket Australia want me”.
“Admittedly, it’s a bit harder to get out of bed
in the mornings,” she said. “But I’ll keep pushing hard in the gym,
doing what I can, and if I keep getting a contract, I will keep playing.”
“I mean, 86,000 people at the MCG; I was
super-sceptical that we were going to get 20,000,” she said. “That
was a real life-changing moment for me and something I’ll always remember. If I
had to bank one moment in my life, it’s probably that.”